the buffer zone
Farms, families and wildlife
The poetry route In the buffer zone. Farms, families and wildlife is an output of the research project Save the Tiger! Save the Grasslands! Save the Water! located in the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) of the Bardia National Park in Nepal. The poetry route is based on artworks and poetry created by community members of Dalla, Madhuvan and Parsenipur, Geruwa in the Terai Buffer Zone of Bardia National Park, Nepal.
In the project’s work package, Landscape Stewardship for Water and Grassland Management Strategies, we explore innovative strategies to increase community-based stewardship by rural families in the buffer zone. This research responds to the societal challenges of competing claims over natural resources and uncertainties and risks in rural communities’ living environments. Rural families in the Terai Buffer Zone “rely heavily on forest resources for a living and are always vulnerable to wildlife attacks since they share the same forest landscape” (NTNC, 2022). Regional ambitions of agricultural productivity, biodiversity ambitions and general welfare result in harsh dilemmas realizing wildlife conservation in areas where people face poverty, unemployment and social inequality. The National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) collaborates closely with the government and other stakeholders to build community conservation capacities, focusing on the management committees and buffer zone users’ committees and groups.
As human-wildlife interaction has many narratives, and attention to a rural livelihoods perspective is not omnipresent, the project focuses on rural communication services and socialecological learning to contribute to a stewardship perspective. The poetry route In the buffer zone. Farms, families and wildlife is a collaboration between NTNC, Nepal and the research group Communication, Participation and Social-Ecological Learning (CoPSEL). A community art approach such as the poetry route departs from the concept of social imagination to articulate everyday conversation by opening avenues for people to individually and collectively express their social environment beyond conventional structures. The combination of artworks and text communicates values, principles, dreams, motivations, institutions and rules of the community and opens a dialogue to reflect on the perceived reality and ambitions of the involved communities for the landscape as a communal space of people and wildlife. The aim to integrate rural livelihood and wildlife conservation perspectives in the buffer zone of Bardia National Park in the TAL will remain complicated. However, creating access to dialogue is a step towards listening and coming to grips with the challenges of a complex reality.
References
Bista, P. R., Witteveen, L., Tumbahangphe, A., Fliervoet, J., Verspui, W., Paudel, U., Subedi, N. (2024) Community art and communication: crafting sustainable landscape stewardship in Terai Arc, Nepal. In Lie, R., Acunzo, M., Cardey, S., van de Fliert, E., Tirol, M. S., Witteveen, L. & Samonte, P., (Eds). 2024. Collaborative change: Towards inclusive rural communication services. Rome, FAO. Pp. 19-37 https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/dc9b65ff-4bfd-4595-9c0be53e17f5d803
National Trust for Nature Conservation. 2022. Annual Report 2022. National Trust for Nature Conservation, Kathmandu, Nepal https://ntnc.org.np/publication/annual-report-2022
Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences
(Dutch Research Council)
Save the Tiger! Save the Grasslands! Save the Water!
This poetic inquiry is an initiative of the National Trust for Nature Conservation, Nepal (NTNC) and the research group Communication, Participation and Social-Ecological Learning (CoPSEL), Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands. This research is part of the project Save the Tiger! Save the Grasslands! Save the Water! which is funded by the Dutch Research Council NWO. This poetry route is a collective expression of community voice, which is produced in the buffer zone of Bardiya national park in February 2024
In Dalla, Madhuvan - Amin, Min Bahadur, Pitthu Ram, Chandra Bahadur, Rajendra, Bir Bahadur, Ram Bujhawan, Parashuram, Shalikram, Indra Devi, Sapana, Sharmila, Smarika, Gauri, Jyotika, Mangal, Ram Krishna, Puniram, Jog Bahadur, Hom Raj, Durga Nath, Ashok Ram, Saroj, Govinda, Ramraj
In Parsenipur, Geruwa - Krishna Gopal, Unti, Parbati, Kabita, Birma, Anita, Asharani, Binod, Prabi, Basanta Raj, Shyam Lal, Bhagi Ram, Viku, Jitram, Purare, Ram Krishna, Kisan Bahadur, Badhuram, Dukharam, Lahanu, Varthari, Kabiraj, Tarajung
