Submit your Article

After catastrophic Bhotekoshi floods caused immense loss of life and property, Nepal is pushing for access to the international Loss and Damage Fund to recover from one of its worst-ever climate crises. Prime Minister Balendra Shah and civil society leaders are strongly advocating for urgent climate justice.

Following the destruction of several human settlements, the Nepal government formally dispatched a request letter to the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. The board has initiated informal discussions on how to respond to Nepal’s appeal.

Spokesperson at Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “Nepal contributes a negligible share of global emissions, yet our people bear a disproportionate burden of the impacts of a warming Himalayas.  Nepal has consistently drawn international attention to this reality, including through the first edition of the Sagarmatha Sambaad and through various international forums, said the spokesperson. 

The spokesperson further said: “The lesson is clear: climate justice, effective early-warning systems, disaster preparedness and resilient reconstruction must move from commitments on paper to concrete action on the ground. We have already written a letter to the Co-Chairs of the Board of Loss and Damage Fund for immediate support. The Fund was established at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt in 2022, with early pledges from countries like the UAE, Germany, the USA, and Japan totaling $700m. It was formally adopted at COP28 in Dubai in 2023. While the Fund has now received $820m in total global pledges, only half of that amount has actually materialized.

Experts estimate that Nepal may receive around $20m in the coming months. However, experts stress that at least $100bn must be allocated annually by 2030 to meaningfully address global natural disaster losses.

A recent report by Oxfam and the CARE Climate Justice Center highlights a troubling trend: developing countries are now paying more back to wealthy nations in climate finance loan repayments than they receive in actual aid, as 65 percent of climate funding is delivered in the form of loans rather than grants.

Support for vulnerable nations remains uncertain as global priorities shift toward conflict and rearmament. The United States has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement and scaled back climate funding, while European nations are redirecting financial resources into defense and security arrangements. Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether emerging economies like China and India will contribute to the Loss and Damage Fund.

In the COP1, Nepal and other least developed countries are likely to strongly raise the issue of climate justice. Nepal faces injustice because its contribution to the global greenhouse is negligible fraction. Over the past few decades, Nepal has been raising this issue for a long time.

Developed nations largely built their wealth on a post-industrial coal boom that released massive greenhouse gas emissions. Major developed economies—including the G7 nations, Australia, and European Union member states—built their wealth on carbon-intensive, post-industrial growth fueled primarily by coal. Because this historical reliance on fossil fuels generated a massive share of global greenhouse gas emissions, these nations bear the central financial responsibility for driving and funding the current global climate transition. 

Nepal’s wildlife conservation success story is typically told through its most celebrated achievements: the remarkable recovery of the tiger population, the steadfast protection of the one-horned rhinoceros, and the country’s sustained efforts to safeguard its large mammals.

But government records tell a different, more complicated story. Data and reports from Nepal Police, Nepali Army, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) and wildlife-related organizations and research papers reveal that wildlife crime extends far beyond these iconic species.

Pangolin, red panda, turtle, deer, bird, wild boar, monitor lizard, monkey, kalij pheasant, himalayan monal (danphe), himalayan goral, fish, gharials, and other lesser-known creatures regularly appear in seizure and crime records. Wildlife products have been recovered not only in protected areas and border districts but also in major cities and Kathmandu itself.

The threats are equally diverse, ranging from organized trafficking and deliberate poaching to opportunistic hunting, live-bird markets, accidental capture, and poisoning.

Between fiscal years 2019/20 and 2024/25, the Nepali Army recorded 14, 27, 22, 31, 44, and 26 wildlife-crime incidents respectively. The number more than tripled over five years before declining slightly in the most recent period covered.

These figures, however, cannot be read as a direct measure of the actual scale of wildlife crime. They represent cases detected and recorded by authorities, and an increase can reflect greater enforcement capacity and detection rates just as easily as it can signal rising criminal activity.

In fiscal year 2023/24, the records include the killing of a red panda in Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, alongside hunting of frogs, kalij, and ratuwa deer. The following year, authorities recorded incidents involving frogs, turtles, danphe, jackals, musk deer, and goral, among others. The most recent data contain further cases involving chittal, wild boar, golden monitor lizard, fish, peacock, and naur.

The pangolin: A warning sign on the illegal trade network

Among lesser-known species, the pangolin offers perhaps the strongest evidence of a continuing illegal trade. Nepal is home to both the Chinese pangolin and the Indian pangolin. The Chinese pangolin is classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, and all pangolins are protected under wildlife legislation and listed in CITES Appendix I. Yet pangolin products repeatedly appear in enforcement records.

Police’s five-year data contain seizures of pangolin scales and pangolins in several provinces. In Bagmati, records include 25 kilograms of pangolin scales, dead pangolins, and additional seizures of hundreds of grams and one kilogram of scales. Police records also show a much larger seizure in Koshi involving 209.199 kilograms of pangolin scales.

Protected area records tell a similar story. In fiscal year 2023/24, authorities seized 208 kilograms and 76 grams of pangolin scales at Makalu-Barun National Park. In fiscal year 2025/26, Chitwan National Park recorded the seizure of a live pangolin.

These are not isolated incidents. A 2021 study, ‘Illegal Trade in Pangolins in Nepal: Extent and Network’, which examined pangolin seizures from 2015 to 2020, recorded 56 seizures involving 154.12 kilograms of pangolin scales, along with live and dead pangolins and whole hides. The researchers estimated that at least 209 pangolins may have been killed and traded during the period. Kathmandu accounted for 29 of the 56 recorded seizures, while districts adjoining the capital and those bordering India and China emerged as critical nodes in the trade network. The research also found people from 26 districts involved in pangolin poaching, underscoring the importance of local actors at the beginning of the trafficking chain.

Conservationist Kumar Paudel, founder of Greenhood Nepal, says pangolins are now among the most frequently seized species in Nepal. But he cautions against automatically interpreting the increase in seizures as an increase in trafficking. “Either law enforcement agencies have become more aware about pangolins, resulting in an increased detection rate, or the demand in the trade itself is increasing,” he said. “So, it is not very conclusive, but what is certain is that pangolin seizure reports have been increasing in recent years.”

Kathmandu at the center

Kathmandu repeatedly appears in wildlife-crime records. Police data include pangolin scales, red panda skins, turtles, musk deer bina, rhino horn, and other wildlife products seized within the Kathmandu Valley.

Paudel notes that districts connected to Nepal-India and Nepal-China border routes tend to record more seizures, while Kathmandu acts as a major transit and collection hub.

Tulshi Laxmi Suwal, founder of the Small Mammals Conservation and Research Foundation, says Kathmandu Valley has also appeared in records involving snow leopards, red pandas, musk deer, pangolins, and turtles.

The NTNC describes Nepal as both a source and transit country for species including tigers, rhinos, snow leopards, red pandas, and pangolins. It identifies remoteness of trading routes, limited coordination, inadequate skilled human resources, and insufficient technology as key challenges to wildlife-crime enforcement. NTNC says its wildlife-crime work includes strengthening frontline capacity among the Army, Police, Armed Police Force, customs officials, and protected area authorities, as well as supporting community-based anti-poaching units and transboundary cooperation.

Paudel says commercial pangolin trafficking is ultimately driven by external demand, while local people are often involved in capturing the animals. “Poaching is not something that outside people come and do,” he said. “Poaching happens with the help of local people, but the trade is not progressing due to the locals; it is completely driven by external demand.”

Suwal says many cases involving small mammals are opportunistic. A person may encounter an animal and kill or capture it for a small amount of money without being part of an organized trafficking network. Pangolins are particularly vulnerable during the monsoon, when water entering their burrows can force them to emerge, Suwal explained. Some people may kill them out of fear. Others may consume them. Still others may collect their scales after hearing exaggerated claims about their value.

Suwal says misinformation is an important part of the problem. People may carry even small quantities of pangolin scales toward Kathmandu because they believe the scales can fetch enormous sums of money. At the same time, many may not understand that pangolins are protected or that wildlife offences carry serious penalties.

Red pandas: Protected on paper, vulnerable in practice

Unlike many lesser-known species, the red panda has attracted substantial research and conservation attention. Yet it continues to appear in crime records.

Police records include five red panda skins in Lumbini, four in Karnali, and five in Kathmandu Valley in 2021/22. The volume of seizures dropped sharply in 2022/23, with only one red panda skin recorded in Koshi. In the subsequent fiscal year 2023/24, the downward trend continued with just one red panda skin seized in Bagmati. In 2025, the red panda made headlines after one died from stress and trauma following an attempted theft from the Central Zoo.

WWF Nepal identifies the red panda as one of its six focal threatened species, alongside the tiger, greater one-horned rhino, elephant, pangolin, and snow leopard. WWF says red panda habitat in Nepal extends beyond protected areas and faces threats including habitat loss, fragmentation, human dependence on forest resources, roads and hydropower development, forest fires, climate-related hazards, and poaching.

Research published in 2020, ‘Landscape Variables Affecting the Himalayan Red Panda Ailurus fulgens Occupancy in Wet Season Along the Mountains in Nepal’, examined red panda occupancy across Nepal’s mountains. The study found that landscape variables influenced occupancy, and, significantly, the researchers noted that the government’s spatial data were restricted because releasing precise locations could create poaching risks.

Another study on red panda trade in Nepal, ‘What is Driving the Increased Demand for Red Panda Pelts?’, found that recent seizures suggested increased trade in pelts, while the reasons behind demand remained unclear. Researchers identified poverty-induced easy-money motives, inadequate knowledge of red-panda-related crime, and communication problems around awareness campaigns as possible factors contributing to supply.

The live market

Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN)’s 2024 survey of wild bird trade in 49 urban centers found 41 bird species being kept for sale. Thirty-one were species found in Nepal, while 10 were imported from elsewhere. Nineteen of the species recorded were listed in CITES Appendix II.

Kiran Gosai, senior research officer at BCN, said the most frequently observed birds included budgerigars, scaly-breasted munias, tricolored munias, rose-ringed parakeets, and cockatiels. Kathmandu and Pokhara were identified as major hubs, while Birgunj, Dewangunj, Mahendranagar, and Dhangadhi were identified as collection points serving surrounding areas, including India.

The Army data show similar activity. Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve recorded unauthorized transportation of birds in 2021/22, while 2022/23 data showed the transportation of 135 parrots. The 2023/24 record also includes live kalij being transported from Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park.

According to vulture expert Ankit Joshi, there is no significant pattern of deliberate vulture hunting, trafficking, or poaching in Nepal. But vultures are dying from unintentional poisoning.

Turtles present another example. Suwal says turtles can be caught accidentally while people are fishing. Rather than releasing them, some may sell them in markets. In such cases, the person handling the animal may not even know which species it is or whether it is protected.

The Army records also show the scale of the task facing protected area authorities. Hundreds of people are recorded as having been arrested in national parks, wildlife reserves and hunting reserves, in individual years.

In 2020/21, for example, Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park recorded 1,488 people controlled, while Rara recorded 198, Banke 172, Chitwan 127, and Bardiya 105. But these figures should not be interpreted as hundreds of wildlife traffickers. They include people involved in different types of violations, including illegal collection of forest products, wildlife hunting, and transportation.

Personnel deployed for conservation duties work in difficult terrain and weather, and face operational challenges ranging from logistics and communications to conflict with communities and dangerous wildlife. The Army data show that 120 personnel deployed in conservation duties have died, with many others injured. Shortages of accommodation, transport, communications, and medical infrastructure persist, while floods, landslides, and snow can disrupt operations. The Army notes that changing techniques and technologies used in wildlife crime create additional challenges.

The Army also identifies specific areas of concern across the protected area network. Chitwan’s identified risk areas include parts of the buffer zone and Nawalparasi. Banke’s include parts of the Chure and buffer zone. Parsa has identified risk locations in both core and surrounding areas. Shuklaphanta, Bardiya, Makalu-Barun, Sagarmatha, Koshi Tappu, and Dhorpatan also have locations identified as vulnerable to wildlife crime.

Shifting from awareness to livelihoods

The experiences of two community forests around Kathmandu provide a different picture.

Dipendra Thapa of Taudolchhap Community Forest in Suryabinayak-8, Bhaktapur, said the community has not seen pangolin hunting or trafficking. There have been some cases of kalij being hunted and sold to restaurants, he said, but pangolin-conservation programs have improved awareness and involved young people.

Sushila Ale Magar of Laglagepakha Community Forest in Chandragiri-3, Kathmandu, similarly said residents had previously lacked awareness about pangolins but are now involved in conservation and rescue efforts. She said the community has not seen pangolin hunting and trafficking cases.

Suwal argues that communities living close to wildlife need more than awareness campaigns. They need education, livelihood opportunities, and tangible benefits from conservation. “If we can do things that provide them some benefit from it,” she said, conservation efforts are more likely to reduce poaching and trade.

That approach is consistent with NTNC and WWF-like agencies’ wildlife-crime strategy, which emphasizes community engagement and support alongside institutional capacity, technology, and transboundary cooperation.

The NTNC’s 2025 annual report, for example, described community-based pangolin research in 16 community forests across Chitwan, Gorkha, and Makwanpur, noting that much pangolin habitat lies outside protected areas and therefore requires work with community forests.

The next phase of conservation

Nepal’s tiger and rhino successes should not be dismissed. They show that sustained investment, political commitment, scientific monitoring, law enforcement, and community participation can produce measurable conservation results.

The evidence gathered for this reporting suggests that pangolins, red pandas, birds, turtles, and other species are not absent from the conservation system. They are present in the laws. They are present in government records. They are present in research. They are present in community programs. And, increasingly, they are present in seizure records. But their threats are different. Treating all the problems as the same wildlife-crime issue would be as ineffective as ignoring them.

The question Nepal now faces is whether it can build a conservation system that is sufficiently species-specific, data-driven, and community-centered to respond to different threats. The country’s own records show that wildlife crime already extends well beyond the tiger and rhino. The challenge is to make sure conservation policy does the same. Because the true test of Nepal’s conservation success is not only whether its most famous animals survive. It is whether the animals that receive less attention can survive, too.

Two workers trapped inside a tunnel at the Trishuli-3 ‘A’ Hydropower Project in Nepal following the devastating flood in the Bhote Koshi river last Wednesday have been rescued alive on Friday, 10 days after the incident. 

A technical team comprising Nepal Army personnel successfully rescued Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan after rescuers heard human voices coming from inside the tunnel this morning.

According to Engineer Shriram Neupane, the Nepal Army team intensified rescue operations immediately after receiving the information. 

Sah and Maharjan, who were rescued alive from the tunnel 10 days after the incident, have been sent to a hospital for necessary treatment. 

The Nepal Army has stated that the condition Sah is stable.

The 32-year-old Sah is from Saptari and was employed in the mechanical department of the hydropower project. 

He has been brought to the Nepal Army Hospital in Chhauni for further treatment.

​Kabir Maharjan is a mechanical supervisor. According to the Nepal Army, Maharjan cannot move his hands and legs.

Meanwhile, search and rescue operations are continuing at the project site. 

More than 150 people are still feared trapped in tunnels at hydropower sites along the river.

After being rescued, Sah called his maternal uncle to inform him that he is safe at the army camp.

Family members received further information about his condition after Sah informed them that he is safe at the army camp.

Meanwhile, the condition of Maharjan is critical.

Immediately after being rescued, he was airlifted to Birendra Army Hospital in Chhauni. He is undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital.

The death toll from the August 26 flash flood has reached 1,290, with more than 5,000 people missing. So far, only 95 bodies have been identified and handed over to their families. The number of injured has reached 5,384. Over 21,000 security personnel have been mobilized for search and rescue operations, successfully rescuing more than 12,000 people from the flood-affected areas.

The Nepal government has decided to observe a day of national mourning on September 7 to honor those killed in the disaster. Meanwhile, 217 students and 15 teachers belonging to educational institutions in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading districts remain unaccounted for.

Prime Minister Shah stated that search and rescue efforts are ongoing at affected hydropower projects where workers might be trapped. Under the leadership of the Nepali Army, experts from India, China, and Korea are currently assisting on-site.

The Nepal government has released a preliminary business recovery package for entrepreneurs impacted by the flood. Authorities decided to cancel the registration of commercial and cargo vehicles that were damaged beyond repair or swept away. Furthermore, if business owners wish to import replacement vehicles, a full customs duty exemption will be provided. However, imports are unlikely in the near future due to extensive road damage and fears of recurring floods.

At the border, 114 Nepalis trapped on the Chinese side arrived back in Nepal via the Tatopani crossing.

The Prithvi Highway remains closed due to a massive landslide at Krishnabhir in Dhading. Authorities are working to open alternative routes to secure supply lines. Kathmandu is already facing a severe cooking gas shortage; the government announced it will prioritize individual households over hotels and restaurants. Despite the crisis, prices for cooking gas have risen.

Concurrently, the Bagmati Provincial Government has begun repairs on the Bhimphedi–Kogate–Sisneri road to ease transport delays. The provincial government also decided to provide free education through Grade 12, along with accommodation, to children who lost their parents in the flood.

 To support the impacted travel sector, the Nepal Tourism Board launched the "Nepal Calling" campaign. The campaign emphasizes that while specific areas were affected, most of Nepal continues to live, work, travel, and welcome visitors. "Nepal is not closed," the Board stated. "This is a time to stand with Nepal, this is a time to visit Nepal, and Nepal is calling."

The government has also decided to provide advance payments to affected insurance policyholders through the Rasuwa Flood Recovery Package.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Shisir Khanal conducted a diplomatic briefing for the Kathmandu-based diplomatic corps regarding the disaster. He noted that the resources required for rebuilding will be substantial. "

As these requirements become clearer, the Nepal government will communicate them through established official channels, and we will look to our international partners for support in rehabilitation and reconstruction," he said. He added, "Nepal contributes a negligible share of global emissions, yet our people bear a disproportionate burden from the impacts of a warming Himalaya."

International assistance continues to arrive, with India and China sending emergency relief materials across multiple consignments. Meanwhile, the Nepali Army appealed to the public to respect the privacy, dignity, and mental well-being of affected children when sharing photos and videos on social media.

One week after the disaster, Nepal is pushing the agenda of climate justice on the global stage. In a Facebook post, PM Shah stated that Nepal is suffering heavy punishment for mistakes it barely contributed to, adding that the flood is a direct consequence of global warming.

"We have been telling the world for a long time that climate change is having a massive impact on the Himalayan region, and the glaciers are melting," Shah wrote. "The consequences extend far beyond the Himalayas, reaching all the way to the ocean coasts. The very fear we held for so long has now turned into reality as a devastating flood in."

 Kamal Dev Bhattarai, Editor