India–Nepal Cross-Border Environment Safety Partnership

India–Nepal Cross-Border Environment Safety Partnership

Why in News? 

Recently, India and Nepal signed a new environmental partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost cross-border cooperation in forests, wildlife, biodiversity conservation and climate action, helping protect shared ecosystems and manage environmental challenges together.

Key Provisions of India–Nepal MoU on Environment Safety

• Biodiversity Conservation: The MoU provides for joint formulation of biodiversity conservation strategies at the landscape level, focusing on shared ecosystems along the India–Nepal border such as the Terai Arc, Kangchenjunga and high Himalayan landscapes, and prioritises six transboundary species including elephants, tigers, rhinoceroses. 
• Protected Area Management: It mandates cooperation in strengthening forest governance and protected area management, ensuring coordinated policies, shared monitoring and improved habitat management to sustain ecological integrity.
• Wildlife Corridor Restoration: A core provision is the restoration of wildlife corridors and other interlinking areas to create transboundary conservation landscapes, critical for species migration, genetic exchange and climate resilience across the border. This includes synchronized efforts in the Valmiki-Chitwan and Dudhwa-Bardia complexes to maintain viable breeding populations.
• Combating Forest & Wildlife Crime: The agreement includes measures to combat forest and wildlife crime, with commitments to joint action, intelligence sharing, and cooperation through mechanisms like the South Asia Wildlife Law Enforcement Network (SAWEN) to curb poaching and illegal wildlife trade. 
• Capacity Building: It provides for capacity building of frontline staff, exchange of technical expertise and best practices, and joint training programmes to enhance enforcement capabilities and improve biodiversity conservation outcomes.
• Promotion of Smart Green Infrastructure: The MoU supports the promotion of smart green infrastructure in biodiversity hotspots and establishes provisions for structured data-sharing on wildlife movement, threats and conservation trends, enabling evidence-based management and planning.

Significance of this MoU

• • Landscape Conservation Shift: This agreement marks a departure from isolated projects to a unified landscape-level strategy. It focuses on the 51,000 km² Terai Arc Landscape, ensuring that conservation efforts are synchronized across the 1,850 km shared border.
    • The MoU is significant for protecting the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL), spanning over 900 km across India–Nepal. TAL supports nearly 50% of the world’s remaining wild tigers and about 7,500 Asian elephants.
  • Species Recovery Protocol: The MoU establishes specific recovery protocols for six high-priority species: the Royal Bengal Tiger, Asian Elephant, One-horned Rhinoceros, Snow Leopard, Gangetic Dolphin, and Vulture. This coordination is vital for species that frequently cross international boundaries.
  • Reducing Human–Wildlife Conflict: Border districts in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Nepal’s Province-2 frequently report crop damage and human casualties due to elephant and tiger movement. Joint corridor restoration can significantly reduce HWC incidents, which currently affect thousands of households annually in these regions.
  • Restoration of Corridors: Significance lies in the formal commitment to restore biological corridors, such as the Khata and Laljhadi. These linkages connect Nepal’s Bardia National Park with India’s Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, preventing genetic bottlenecks and allowing safe migration of megafauna.
  • Wildlife Crime Deterrence: The MoU strengthens the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) network by enabling real-time data sharing. This cooperation is crucial for dismantling international smuggling rings targeting rhino horns and tiger parts across the porous border.
  • Global Biodiversity Leadership: This bilateral agreement reinforces both nations’ commitments to multilateral treaties like the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA). It positions India and Nepal as regional leaders in achieving the “30 by 30” global conservation targets.

• Climate Resilience: The Himalayan region is warming faster than the global average. Joint action helps manage risks from Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) and forest degradation. Nearly 3,000 glaciers in Nepal feed Indian river systems, making shared climate adaptation strategies vital.

Other India–Nepal Transboundary Wildlife Conservation Partnership 

• India–Nepal Transboundary Wildlife Corridor Monitoring: In Nov 2024, both countries agreed on joint monitoring and patrolling in the Lagga Bagga Corridor, linking Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (India) with Shuklaphanta National Park (Nepal) to track tigers, rhinos and elephants and share camera-trap data.

• Earlier 2010 Wildlife Protection Accord: In 2010, India and Nepal signed an accord through TRAFFIC/WWF networks to protect forest habitats and coordinate national tiger plan implementation, including joint patrols and information exchange to curb illegal wildlife markets.

• • Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) Program: This initiative manages 5.1 million hectares across the border, successfully tripling Nepal’s tiger population to 355 and doubling the shared population to 1,174 through corridor restoration.
  • Kanchenjunga Conservation Area: A transboundary protected area (TPA) that facilitates the migration of red pandas and snow leopards between eastern Nepal and India’s Sikkim and West Bengal. 

• Kailash Sacred Landscape Initiative: This trilateral collaboration between India, Nepal, and China manages the high-altitude ecosystem surrounding Mount Kailash. It prioritizes landscape-scale conservation and environmental monitoring to protect culturally significant biodiversity and the source of four major Asian rivers.