Accelerating Community Engagement in a Wildlife Corridor: A Case Story from the Khata Corridor, Bardiya, Nepal
Tara Prasad Gnyawali (ELP 2014) | Former Senior Livelihoods Expert, WWF-Nepal, Nepal
October 17, 2025
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Background
The Khata Corridor connects Nepal’s Bardiya National Park (BNP) with India’s Katarnia Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS). It is an essential biological bridge that enables wildlife movement across the transboundary landscape. When the Bottleneck and Corridor Restoration Project (CBRP) began under the Tarai Arc Landscape (TAL) program in 2001, the focus was on infrastructure and institutional development—schools, health posts, forest range offices, drinking water, Eco-clubs, small irrigation, solar lights, biogas and training centers.
While these efforts improved facilities, many wildlife-affected families—particularly poorer and marginalized households—felt excluded from the benefits. Their grievances and limited participation weakened local ownership, leading to fragmented corridor connectivity and growing pressure on forest and habitat resources. By 2003, it was clear that infrastructure alone could not ensure coexistence. A long-term TAL Strategic Plan (2004–2014) was therefore developed, linking biodiversity conservation with local livelihoods.
Understanding the Context
The Khata Corridor is home to Indigenous Tharu people, hill migrants, and small farmers whose livelihoods depend heavily on nearby natural resources. Frequent human-wildlife conflict, water scarcity, and soil degradation—exacerbated by climate change—created frustration toward conservation projects. Protecting wildlife and forests sometimes felt like a threat to their own survival. Forest dependence for firewood, fodder, and farming materials remained high. Fear of wildlife limited access to schools, markets, health services and mobility. These intertwined environmental and social challenges required an approach that was practical, socially inclusive and responsive, and mutually beneficial.
Entry Points and Challenges
Wildlife conflict, changing land use, and erratic weather patterns had fragmented the landscape. Crop damage, livestock losses, and even human casualties were common. Retaliation killings, and poaching reflected growing grievances among affected families. At the same time, deforestation, over-grazing, poaching and soil erosion continued to degrade the corridor ecosystem. It became clear that coexistence would only be possible if local people saw direct livelihood benefits from conservation.
My Role and the Community Engagement Approach
Between 2004 and 2019, while serving as Senior Livelihoods Expert at WWF Nepal, I helped initiate a participatory Community Engagement Strategy supported by WWF UK, WWF Finland, and WWF US. Our aim was to integrate conservation and livelihoods so that both people and wildlife could thrive together. Through consultations and participatory analysis with community institutions—Community Forestry User Groups (CFUGs), Buffer Zone Committees, and local government—we identified key livelihood needs and conservation challenges. Together, we designed a Sustainable Livelihoods Strategy that became the foundation for integrated corridor management.
To strengthen coping capacity, communities received training in agro-base, off-farm and skill-based livelihoods, eco-tourism, agroforestry, and high-value and unpalatable crops. Conservation-linked activities included Eco-Clubs, Community-Based Anti-Poaching Units (CBAPUs), Rapid Response Teams, wildlife relief funds, and crop and livestock insurance schemes. This integration allowed households to gain income while actively contributing to wildlife monitoring, forest patrols, and eco-tourism. The integrated approach-built trust, enhanced tolerance toward wildlife, and demonstrated that conservation could directly support well-being.
Lessons and Reflections
The most powerful lesson was that livelihood improvement and conservation success must advance together. When local people experience tangible and visible benefits, their sense of stewardship grows naturally.
[Photo credit: blog author Tara Prasad Gnyawali]
Figure 1: Key Informant Interview (KII) at Khata Corridor, Bardiya Nepal/Tara Pd. Gnyawali
During one Key Informant Interview (KII) episode, a 74-year-old Tharu woman told me, “We prefer tigers to leopards. Tigers usually don’t take our goats from the yard, and their presence keeps away leopards and foxes.” Her words reflected an extraordinary shift—from fear to coexistence—achieved through awareness and trust. Over two decades, community-based conservation has proven effective in restoring ecological functionality in Khata. Awareness, livelihood support, and accountable community institutions are now cornerstones of sustainability. While challenges remain—resource pressure, climate shocks, increasing tiger, corridor’s carrying capacity and population growth—the progress made has shown that coexistence is possible when conservation includes people at its heart.
Conclusions
Active community engagement has restored the Khata Corridor’s ecological function and ensured ecosystem services remain intact.
Livelihood integration helped communities understand and support long-term conservation goals.
Indigenous knowledge and tolerance toward wildlife are vital foundations for coexistence.
Tangible and visible community benefits are essential to sustain community engagement and trust.
Endnotes:
1. Author served as Senior Livelihoods Expert, WWF Nepal (2004–2019).
Profile Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-prasad-gnyawali-88a44391/
Email: taragnyawali@gmail.com
[Blog preview photo credit: blog author Tara Prasad Gnyawali]
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