Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 192521704

Creating a Community Conservation Corridor for Pangolin Protection in Southeastern Nepal

This project will conserve pangolin across four districts in southeastern Nepal by integrating pangolin conservation into an existing community-based project to conserve wildlife. In 2018, we began wildlife conservation activities in two districts, Saptari and Sunsari, and we will be expanding to two more districts to the east, Morang and Jhapa, within the next few months. A key recommendation from a 2016 IUCN pangolin workshop in Nepal was to collect data on pangolin presence/absence from community forest groups and then to conduct more in-depth research to prioritize conservation action. We collected data across 96 community forest groups from the Bagmati River to the Mechi River and found that the majority of forests in the eastern half of this landscape said they had Chinese pangolin in their community forests and many said they had Indian pangolin. Our objectives are to: 1. Build awareness and capacity of local communities for pangolin conservation. 2. Create a network of communities conserving pangolin at a landscape scale. 3. Enhance understanding and knowledge of the conservation status, ecology, and habitat dynamics of pangolins through community-based monitoring. 4. Create and implement community-based pangolin management plans.