RANIBARI COMMUNITY FOREST - A BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION LEARNING CENTRE AT KATHMANDU VALLEY, NEPAL
With the support of BirdLife International Tokyo and other organizations, Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) is running Biodiversity Conservation Learning Center at Ranibari Community Forest (RCF), Kathmandu.
Ranibari Community Forest: RCF is located at the north western part of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, is one of the few remaining natural forest patches. This is probably one and only community forest in urban setting of Nepal. The forest is floristically rich for native plant species as well as for home for many migratory and residential birds. The 6.95 hectare area of forest is surrounded by dense human settlements. Since there are no other open areas and parks in vicinity it receives tremendous pressure as a recreational site and large number of people visits the community forests every day. One of the main issues underlying this problem is the inadequate awareness and understanding among the public and decision-makers about the value of a clean, green environment for urban residents and importance of nature conservation. Thus RCF can be developed as a model biodiversity conservation learning center that will benefit the local people and students of Kathmandu and adjacent cities like Patan and Bhaktapur.
Objectives of the project
Main objective is to conserve the urban biodiversity managing the RCF as model forest for bird and biodiversity conservation learning center. The specific objectives are as below:
To achieve the proposed objectives following activities will be undertaken:
Though the current project was just for a year, BCN has decided to implement the program for longer period of time. For this, BCN has already signed MoU with Ranibari Community Forest User Groups with the support of District Forest Office, Kathmandu for another five years to establish RCF as bird and biodiversity conservation learning center.