Proejct Title : Conservation of Wetland around Pokhara Valley

Goal : To promote sustainable conservation and utilisation of wetland resources and develop Rupa lake as a model of wetland management. 

Objectives:

• To identify and document native wetland biodiversity and develop community level conservation action plans
• To strengthen community capacity and promote community-based management of Rupa lake wetland resources for conservation and sustainable use
• To create awareness amongst the target groups about the importance of wetland biodiversity management for sustainable livelihoods
• To identify alternative income generating opportunities in lake and watershed area based on local plant and animal genetic resources like-marketing local fish and white lotus, goat keeping, coffee plantation and organic vegetable farming etc for reducing poverty and improving livelihoods of the local people

Major Achievements :

• Documentation of wetland biodiversity
• Conservation blocks and nursery of important wetland dependant species and live gene bank
• Bio-engineering and plantation
• Green foot trail and wetland information and resource centre construction

Geographical focus : Lekhnath Municipality, Rupakot VDC, Majhathan VDC, Hansapur VDC

Collaborators : World Vision, Seed Foundation, SWARUP-Nepal, NARC fisheries and Rupa fisheries cooperative

Duration : October 2005 to September 2007

Funding agency : IUCN, Netherland (Small Grants for Wetland Programmes)

Project Team : Abishkar Subedi, Erica Udas, Indra Pd Poudel, Gita Adhikari, Shreeram Subedi, Dr Pratap Kumar Shrestha, Bimal Raj Regmi, Diwakar Poudel