Chitwan National Park :: World Heritage Report

At its twenty-first session, the Bureau noted this site's success in conserving the great one-horned rhinoceros. The Park celebrated its 25th year anniversary in 1998. However, the management of the Park is faced with problems of pollution of the Narayani River due to industrial sewage discharged into that River by private enterprises located outside the Park. An increase in the natural rate of mortality of the rhinoceros in 1998 remains unexplained and is perhaps attributable to the possibility that the population consists of a considerable number of older individuals. The National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act has been recently amended to ensure that 30-50% of the tourism revenues from the Park are used for development projects benefiting local communities. The Bureau was informed of the interest of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation of Nepal to use the large volume of scientific data available on ecological and managerial aspects of Royal Chitwan for setting up a systematic monitoring regime for the Park.

The Bureau recommended that the Centre and IUCN co-operate with the State Party to design and implement international assistance projects for mitigating the impacts of the pollution of the Narayani River. The Bureau urged the Centre and IUCN-Nepal to co-operate with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation to establish a systematic monitoring scheme for tracking long-term changes in the ecology, and the management regime of Royal Chitwan.