Res. Project (M.R.M.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (School of Resource and Environmental Management) / Simon Fraser University.

Res. Project (M.R.M.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (School of Resource and Environmental Management) / Simon Fraser University.

abstract: The main purpose of this dissertation is to examine the effects of migration and household capitals on agricultural and energy transitions in the setting of rapidly changing socioeconomic and environmental conditions of Chitwan, Nepal. The environmental aspects of agricultural and energy transitions are also discussed to weave the changes in the livelihoods of rural households into the discourse of sustainable development, especially in the context of underdeveloped countries. The data used for the analysis is the Chitwan Valley Family Study which has been collected since 1996 at the individual and household level with the focuses on agriculture and family. The results from first difference model and multilevel logistic regression model using discrete-time event history approach deliver a couple of important messages for the future plans for local and national development. Most of all, migration plays an important role in the livelihoods of rural households in Chitwan. It might not have a direct impact, but the findings indicate that social and financial remittances from migration interact with how a household utilizes their current capitals under a given context for the future. Particularly, available labor in a household, prior investment in agriculture, exposure to modern life style, and what other people do, all these factors moderate the association between migration and the transitions. The implications of these results on sustainable development for the future of Chitwan and Nepal in the coming years are discussed afterwards. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sociology 2014

This study analyzes the remaining suitable habitat of the one-horned rhinoceros, Rhinoceros unicornis, in Royal Chitwan National Park of Nepal. An April 2003 Landsat image was classified into eight land cover types: wetland, sand, water, mixed forest, sal forest, agriculture, settlement, and grassland. This image was converted into habitat suitability maps using cover, food, and water. The rhinoceros prefers grassland habitat with oxbow lakes and closed canopy during the monsoon season. Nominal values of five parameters were used to create a map of habitat suitability index. The map was categorized into four habitat classes: highly unsuitable, unsuitable, moderately suitable habitat, and suitable. Landscape metrics, patch metrics and class metrics associated with habitat were determined through the use of FRAGSTATS.

The dissertation research examines the socio-economic and political effects of community-based conservation initiatives within the Bagmara buffer zone community forests of Chitwan National Park, Nepal. In particular, the study investigates the role of buffer zones creation in structuring the way rural property rights have been defined, negotiated, and contested, in reinforcing or reducing patterns of ethnic dominance and exclusion, and in influencing how cultural identities are constituted and renegotiated. Using a political ecology framework with a specific focus on theoretical concepts of environmentality and territorialization, I conducted 12 months ethnographic and quantitative survey field research in the buffer zone communities of Chitwan National Park. I focused on documenting socioeconomic conditions and livelihood practices, and interpreting the meanings of residents’ lived experiences. In addition, I critically examined state and non-state conservation and development practices to understand how they work to produce identities, livelihoods, and landscapes in the park’s buffer zone. The ethnographic study documented diverse impacts of community-based conservation initiatives. One of the major effects is the distribution of costs and benefits, specifically elite capture of community forest and tourism benefits. Second is the existing conflict and potential conflict over the control of access, benefits, and territory based on social and cultural identities. Third is the reproduction of caste, ethnic, and class hierarchies. Fourth is the militarization of communities in and around the buffer zone and community forest. Fifth is the production of environmental and non-environmental subjects such as illegals and poachers. Finally, the sixth is the commodification of conservation spaces and subsequent ecological impacts. The research concludes that the discursive representation of humans and non-humans and the discourses and practices of economic development and biodiversity conservation produced and reproduced a number of negative social, political, and ecological consequences in the buffer zone of CNP. This dissertation concluded that the conservation and development practices are territorial projects to govern people and nature.

This research deals with the challenges of the conservation of tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) in the Chitwan National Park of Nepal and aims to be a model for tiger conservation in the tropical areas of other tiger range countries. Despite the high level of public concern and major investments during the last few decades for conservation, wild tigers continue to be under grave threat, and their preservation now requires, more than ever before, using reliable ecological knowledge for their conservation interventions. In this dissertation, I investigated various factors that affect on tiger conservation in this park: population status of prey, dietary patterns of tiger and its impact on sympatric carnivores (e.g., leopard) and increasing human-wildlife conflicts, effects of habitat structures and human disturbances on prey and predator species abundance and distribution.