Making sense of conservation behaviours in Mustang, Nepal

Integrated Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs) have been undertaken in many countries due to expectations of their supporting both natural resource sustainability and livelihoods. However, they have been challenged by critics over the years, who claim that conservation goals take precedence over local development in practice, thereby worsening the vulnerability of resource-dependent people. Nonetheless, one ICDP implemented in Nepal, the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), has been largely regarded by researchers and practitioners as an ICDP success case. Under the authority of a conservation-oriented NGO, ACAP, the ICDP engages local communities participatory for resource management. One community within ACAP has been found to have a substantial timber surplus that satisfies conservation goals, but could also become a sizeable and sustainable source of income for local development. We interrogate the rules and practices of timber management in this community to explore the why behind this practice, discussing how modes of environmental governance aimed at producing behaviors to manage natural resources in particular ways (‘environmentalists’) feature in the seemingly conservation-oriented de jure rules and de facto practices and in authority relations in and around the community.

Relationship between Social Carrying Capacity and Tourism Carrying Capacity: A Case of Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

The paper aims to examine the relationship between social carrying capacity and tourism carrying capacity in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), Nepal (along the popular Annapurna Base Camp Trail). Carrying Capacity is a key indicator in assessing the sustainable tourism development at a given place. The study used Survey Research Design to obtain information from tourist and local residents. From the research, it was evident that the visitors were highly satisfied with the tourism activities, along with conservation and development activities at ACA. Similarly, local residents were satisfied with the development of tourism in ACA, yet they perceived crowding, and congestion, cultural degradation as some impending challenges in the near future. Social Carrying Capacity in the ACA has not exceed its threshold, even though this popular trekking destination has been witnessing robust growth in the number of tourist in the region post armed-conflict (1997-2007). Hypothesis test result indicate that the relationship between dependent variable [Tourism Carrying Capacity (TCC)] and independent variable [Social Carrying Capacity (SCC)] has a positive correlation. Adequate and appropriate management intervention by the Nepal Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC)/Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) there has been well-planned and sustained tourism growth in the region.