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Behaviour Change Campaign

To establish human wild life coexistence in the buffer zone of the National Park, awareness sessions were organized in the fringe areas to encourage behavioral change among community members. A total of 70 awareness sessions were conducted in the southern buffer zones of Bardiya and Banke National Parks, with a focus on safeguarding community members from encounters with Asian Wild Elephants, Royal Bengal Tigers, Common Leopards, Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros, and Sloth Bears. In total, 2750 community members, including 1300 females and 1450 males, were participated in these sessions.

Community youths were mobilized to lead awareness sessions within their communities, reaching forest product collectors, grazers, fishermen, firewood collectors, and school students. Given that many human-wildlife conflict incidents result from human error and encounters in forested areas, the awareness sessions emphasized changing human behavior. Recommendations included avoiding illegal solo trips into the forested areas, adapting alternative livelihoods, collecting forest products in groups, and understanding wildlife behavior. Human wildlife conflict cases are reported gradually less in numbers after the awareness session in the community and school.