The extinction discourses continued to emerge and reemerge during early1970s not only by foreign wildlife experts but also communicated by Nepali experts. For instance, Mishra (1974) reported that in the past 20 years, rhino numbers have decreased from 800 to 200. The wild buffalo population is only about 40 in number, the elephant population is no more than 30, and the tiger number has reduced to 300 from a large population. Consequently, the government of Nepal, with the financial and technical support of the UNDP, the UN-FAO Technical Assistance Program, WWF and the US Peace Corps, started the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Project in 1973 (Bolton 1975a; Mishra 1974). Under the project, Marvin Bolton, an ecologist, conducted an ecological survey in the RCNP for several weeks in 1974 and 1975 to prepare the first management plan of RCNP.
The plan represented the park as the "most important component," a "unique example" of "ecological representation," and the "faunistically richest part" of the
country. More specifically, the report mentioned that the second largest population of the "endangered" one-horned rhino of the world inhabits the park. He noted that the park also has a large "endangered" tiger population, an "endangered" gangetic dolphin and a
"seriously-threatened" gharial crocodile population (Bolton 1975b, 7) (see also Mishra 1974), which were already in the endangered IUCN Red Data list by then ( Bolton 1975b, 7). Similarly, the report highlighted that the park was the “most pleasant and attractive
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parts of Nepal’s lowland” and could be the main sources of foreign exchange through a healthy tourist industry. The report also praised the outstanding progress in suppressing “poaching", maintaining boundaries and the establishment of office infrastructure after the establishment of RCNP. The management plan predicted that “the most valuable forest and wildlife” will be gone forever without further strict protection and management from the onslaught of a growing human population. The population in Chitwan was already 180,000 and was expected to double in 20 years (Bolton 1975b, 3-7).
The project aimed to effectively manage renowned wildlife habitat and to increase “endangered” wild animal populations such as rhino, tiger, gharial and others (IUCN 1968, 1974; Mishra 1974). The report mentioned that in the case that the number of wild animals increases so as to exceed the “carrying capacity of the park appropriate steps should be taken to reduce the population to a safe level” (Bolton 1975, 29). In RCNP, he demanded that “it must conform to the strict criteria of a national park, excluding all human settlements” (Bolton 1975a, 176). In addition, surveillance strategies such as the establishment of outposts for military guards, monitoring and foot and elephant patrolling by park guards, and fines and punishments for law infraction were proposed. The report also recommended the establishment of a park administration and mobile anti-poaching force. Writing about high mountain parks, Bolton not only mentioned the importance of legal and spatial strategies, but also emphasized the cooperation of people for the
protection of wild animals. He writes “there will have to be legal restrictions within the parks, but hopefully much will be achieved by voluntary cooperation and planned zonation of activities” (Bolton 1975a, 176).
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In addition to the emphasis on the development of the tourism industry and allowing tourism concessionaires within the park for the economic development of the country, the plan emphasized the importance of convincing, informing, and educating all people including local people, public staffs, and leaders about the importance and value of wildlife protection and management (Bolton 1975; Mishra 1974). The report proposed diverse strategies to educate and regulate all peoples’ behavior and understanding. First, the plan recommended "conservation education and publicity" for conservation and to increase people’s awareness of "the value of their nature environment" (Mishra 1974). It included a plan of communicating conservation ideas through radio, news media,
publications, books, essays, and films. The plan aimed "to acquaint the nation with the country's conservation and environmental requirements and problems" (Bolton 1975, 7). In addition, they emphasized conservation, wildlife, and forestry-related courses at
Tribhuvan University and affiliated campuses. The plan recognized the ways Peace Corps volunteers and the US and the UK universities were helping conservation research and in disseminating wildlife and conservation education. Major research was carried out by the US institutions such as the Smithsonian, Michigan State University, USA and Cambridge University, UK. (Bolton 1975, Mishra 1974). Second, it recommended that the national park office maintain good relations with local people by helping to reduce wildlife conflicts with farmers or by compensation for crop depredation for instance. Third, it recommended relaxing resource collection and national park access rules. It suggested relaxing rules for gathering forest resources such as annual thatch grass collection from the park but recommended high vigilance by military guards to reduce people’s impact on wild animals. It also recommended that local people should not be needlessly
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antagonized when livestock encroached the park area because local support is very important. However, he suggested setting fines for cattle entering the NP boundary as it will reduce the livestock encroachment inside the park. Fourth, he recommended the sharing of park proceeds with local panchayats to gain local support and forming a local coordinating committee (Bolton 1975b, 1975a).