Manaslu Conservation Area (MCA), declared on December 28, 1998, is the third and the youngest conservation area in Nepal. His Majesty's Government of Nepal has handed over the management responsibilities to the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation for the next 10 years. This is the second Conservation area the Trust is managing besides the Annapurna Conservation Area.
Since 1986, Nepal adopted a new and innovative approach in protected area management. Instead of dislocating the local people of a region for the sake of biodiversity protection, conservation areas make the local people responsible all natural resources in the region as its custodian. People, therefore, become both the principal actors and beneficiaries to see that the resources are utilized in a sustainable manner to benefit future generations.
The concept of integrating local people in the conservation and sustainable use of resources was first initiated in the Annapurna Conservation Area. The Annapurna Conservation Area Project launched by the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation has successfully demonstrated that conservation and development can be mutually complementary to each other for meeting both the environmental concerns and basic human needs of the local people.
The King Mahendra Trust started its field programs in the Manaslu region since January 1997 through the Manaslu Eco-tourism Development Project under the loan assistance of the Asian Development Bank to His Majesty's Government's Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation - Second Tourism Infrastructure Development Project. One of the objectives of the Manaslu Eco-tourism Development Project is to improve the capacity of Manaslu area to support tourism in an environmentally benign manner.
Manaslu, a mountainous region in north Gorkha District, has a fragile natural and cultural environment. In order to conserve the unique environment and extremely rich biodiversity, a protected area status "conservation area" was given to the Manaslu region.
The area was neglected in terms of infrastructure development, which has directly affected the livelihood of the people. The local people have been deprived of the benefits of proper bridges and trails. Most of the 56 villages do not have safe drinking water supply or electricity. Education and health services are almost non-existent. Since no other economic opportunities are available, they have to depend on marginal agriculture, animal husbandry and exploitation of natural resources for survival. As agriculture cannot sustain their livelihood, a high dependency on natural resources is constantly straining the capacity of the ecosystem. Tourism, due to the restricted area status of the six VDCs adjoining the Tibet Autonomous region of China, is limited to 1,000 trekkers per year, but, due to the difficulty of the terrain and the need to go in organized groups, only about 60 percent of the quota is subscribed. The local people do not enjoy the benefits from even these low numbers, as the groups are self-sufficient in their requirements before they start the journey from Gorkha.
The Manaslu Conservation Area has a lot to offer to the trekkers. From the beautiful scenery of the majestic Himalayan ranges and high altitude glacier lakes to rich biological and cultural resources. The culture is equally attractive and most follow the Buddhist religion. The region possesses a rich cultural heritage with several large Buddhist monasteries like Shringi Gompa in Bihi, Mu and Rachen Gompas in Chhekampar. Local examples of the harmony between religion and environment conservation can be seen throughout the region, as lamas from monasteries have prohibited the locals to hunt wildlife. This has helped the wildlife to prosper and is a prime habitat for the elusive snow leopard, gray wolf, musk deer, blue sheep and the Himalayan Thar.
The King Mahendra Trust is implementing various field programs in the region to motivate and mobilize the local people to take a lead in managing their own resources. The local Conservation Area Management Committees are entrusted with the responsibility of managing the natural resources of their region to get benefit from the utilization and to that the utilization is done in a sustainable manner.
The research aims to keep data on the biodiversity and the socio-economic conditions in the region. Therefore, documentation process is on going in order to record the change in the physical, as well as, on the general attitude of the local people.
As in ACAP, the main backbone of all the programs is Conservation Education. Extensive extension programs are underway to motivate the local people that they are an integral part of the undertaking. Without their active participation and support, no program, however novel or well designed is going to achieve the success that they desire.