The Terai is a belt of lowland at the foot of the Himalayas, stretching across southern Nepal and northern India. It contains tall grasslands, wetlands and forests, and is home to endangered species such as the Bengal tiger, the greater one-horned rhinoceros and the Asian elephant.The region is also densely populated, and there is conflict between conservation and human needs:• forests are cleared for farmland, settlements and roads, and trees are cut for timber and firewood
• livestock grazing degrades the forests and grasslands
• habitats are fragmented, isolating small populations of animals
• poaching of tigers and rhinos for their body parts
• human-wildlife conflict: animals damage crops, kill livestock and sometimes people.Management: the Terai Arc Landscape programme, supported by the governments of Nepal and India and WWF, links protected areas (such as Chitwan National Park in Nepal) with wildlife corridors of restored forest. Corridors allow animals to move between reserves, increasing gene flow and reducing inbreeding.Local people are involved through community forestry: user groups manage forests themselves, harvesting timber, fodder and firewood sustainably. Other measures include anti-poaching patrols, compensation for losses caused by wildlife, alternative energy such as biogas to reduce firewood use, and income from ecotourism.These measures have been successful: numbers of tigers and rhinos in Nepal have increased markedly, with Nepal's tiger population more than doubling since 2010.
• livestock grazing degrades the forests and grasslands
• habitats are fragmented, isolating small populations of animals
• poaching of tigers and rhinos for their body parts
• human-wildlife conflict: animals damage crops, kill livestock and sometimes people.Management: the Terai Arc Landscape programme, supported by the governments of Nepal and India and WWF, links protected areas (such as Chitwan National Park in Nepal) with wildlife corridors of restored forest. Corridors allow animals to move between reserves, increasing gene flow and reducing inbreeding.Local people are involved through community forestry: user groups manage forests themselves, harvesting timber, fodder and firewood sustainably. Other measures include anti-poaching patrols, compensation for losses caused by wildlife, alternative energy such as biogas to reduce firewood use, and income from ecotourism.These measures have been successful: numbers of tigers and rhinos in Nepal have increased markedly, with Nepal's tiger population more than doubling since 2010.