Bajhang – Medicinal plants have started disappearing in Khaptad National Park in recent times owing to open grazing. Khaptad National Park is the only national park where cattle are allowed to graze openly. Various types of medicinal plants were found earlier in the national park. It is believed that the tradition of grazing cattle has started with the objective to avoid the impact of the herbs’ smell to human beings. But the open grazing practice continued even after the national park was established.
“The problem has been surfacing due to open grazing. Landslides have been occurring frequently. Water hasn’t been able to infiltrate underground,” said Tilak Devkota, a senior official at the Khaptad National Park. Buffer Zone Management Committee member Hirendra Bahadur Raut added that many herbs have started vanishing.
“The regular movement of cattle will affect the biodiversity, and the environment for herbs will also not be conducive,” he said.
Landslides have been occurring over and over again here. Bio embankments have also been constructed to prevent the landslides. The grazing has not only affected the land but also the development of herbs. Chances are very low for the herbs growing in the place where the cattle have already grazed.
“The key problem is the goat. There used to be Himalayan bamboo (Nigalo) everywhere. Goats can go everywhere. There are many people who domesticate the goats,” said Hem Bahadur Bista, a local of Khaptad Channa Rural Municipality.
The National Park is now planning to stop open grazing. The national park has also started imposing people for grazing and it has been increasing the fine every year. The grazing has been decreasing after the national park started charging the people.
“The grazing was open in the past. Now, we charge the people for grazing. People can graze three months in a year,” Devkota said.
National Park and Buffer Zone have the equal responsibility to conserve the biodiversity of the Khaptad National Park. Positive coordination between national park and buffer zone for the conservation of biodiversity is essential. The biodiversity of national park will be at stake if the national park and buffer zone could not work in coordination. Buffer Zone Management Committee member Hirendra Bahadur Raut said that the grazing could not be stopped at present. “We cannot control open grazing immediately. The grazing has been decreasing gradually,” he said.
“Buffer Zone is supposed to bridge the gap between the national park and human settlement. There is a provision that the national park should provide 30 to 50 percent of its income to the society for the development of Buffer Zone. Khaptad is the low income generating national park among all the national parks of the country. The park has not been able to provide financial assistance to develop the society,” Raut said.
“We have not been able to operate a special program due to lack of budget. The income is low in the national park. That is why, we cannot operate a big program,” said Devkota.
Buffer Zone Management Committee is also on the side to stop open grazing in the national park. But the work could not be done at a go. Awareness is quite essential for the same.
“We could have operated a program, had we been able to raise awareness among the people. We need budget to operate the program. That’s why, we are facing the problem,” said Raut.
People, however, have not expressed their readiness to stop the grazing immediately at the places where they have been grazing their cattle for many years.
“We will decrease the grazing if the concerned authority has plans to attract the tourists. We will have some income if the tourists come to visit the national park. The living standard of the poor people will also be uplifted,” Devkota said.
Khaptad is an important place in terms of biodiversity. It is regarded as the pocket area for the herbs. But no one has conducted any study on what kind of herbs are found in the national park. We can find 346 types of flowering herbs and seven types of non-flowering herbs in Khaptad National Park. One can find 287 types of birds, 23 types of breastfeeding animals and 17 types of reptiles among others in the national park.
The temperature in the national park will reach up to 25 degrees Celsius in summer and plunges to minus 14.2 degrees Celsius in winter. Khaptad lake is another attraction of the area.
