SANN News
The Terai Arc Landscape initiative, a collaboration between local communities and government and civil society groups, has been recognized as one of seven UN World Restoration Flagships. This initiative aims to protect a biodiversity hotspot shared by India and Nepal that was rapidly degrading due to poaching, habitat loss, degradation, and human tiger conflict. The Terai Arc Landscape, stretching across 2.47 million hectares, relies on over 7.5 million people and a variety of wildlife, including tigers, rhinos, elephants, black bucks, buffaloes, crocodiles, and birds.
The initiative, launched in 2001 by the Government of Nepal, has already brought back a forest area 13 times the size of Kathmandu and nearly tripled its tiger population to 355 from 121. In the entire Terai Arc landscape, the population more than doubled to 1,174. Partners in the project include 40,000 local community members engaged in community-based anti-poaching units, citizen science, nature-based tourism, and as forest watchers, improving the livelihoods of almost 500,000 households.
With its recognition as a World Restoration Flagship, the Terai Arc Landscape will now be eligible for technical and financial UN support towards plans to restore an area of almost 350,000 hectares in India and Nepal, or 70 times the size of Nepal’s capital. The initiative recognizes the interconnections between people and nature and addresses environmental challenges across sectors such as agriculture, forestry, and economy. As a World Restoration Flagship, the Terai Arc Landscape is recognized as one of the best examples of large-scale and long-term ecosystem restoration in any country or region, embodying the 10 Restoration Principles of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
