6. Exploring the potential for Nepal’s first OECM in the Eastern Himalaya

Until now, during my stay at ICIMOD, I’ve been working on threat assessments for Hindu Kush Himalaya mammals. Building on that, we are now exploring the potential for establishing Nepal’s first OECM in the Kanchenjunga Landscape (KL) in eastern Nepal. The KL shares a long border with India and is home to several key mammal species that are threatened across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region.

But first, what is an OECM?

OECM stands for Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures. These are areas that are not officially protected like a national park or protected area, but still contribute to long-term biodiversity conservation. The key idea behind OECMs is that protecting biodiversity doesn’t mean excluding people—especially local and Indigenous communities. Instead, OECMs recognize their important role in conservation. They are also very flexible in terms of governance, which means they can be managed by local communities, Indigenous groups, conservation organizations, or local governments.

So far, Nepal doesn’t have any formally recognized OECMs but this approach could be very important for the country. Nepal is home to an incredible diversity of ethnic communities, each with their own traditions and languages. Many Indigenous and local communities have lived in and managed Nepal’s mountain landscapes for centuries and protected nature through their traditional ways of life. In the past, many of these communities have been marginalized when formal protected areas were established and often faced severe restrictions on resource use, or even displacement from their land. OECMs are managed in a way to protect biodiversity while respecting the rights, cultures, and livelihoods of local people.

The project I am working on at ICIMOD aims to establish Nepal’s first OECM in the Eastern Himalaya—specifically in the Kanchenjunga Landscape (KL). Ideally, this could even become a transboundary OECM with India. In the KL, there are already multiple community-led conservation initiatives on both sides of the Nepal–India border that align with the principles of OECMs. One of them is the Red Panda Network’s community-based reforestation project in eastern Nepal.

This project uses the red panda as an umbrella species—meaning its protection also benefits many other species sharing the same habitat, such as clouded leopards, common leopards, wild boars, Himalayan black bears, hundreds of birds and more. The main habitat typefor these groups is montane forest which has been heavily impacted by agriculture and cattle grazing. To restore an conserve this area, the Red Panda Network works closely with local communities. Their conservation efforts have already created many new jobs in seedling planting, wildlife monitoring, and forest management. And, importantly, the project has raised awareness about the value of biodiversity and the sustainable use of forest resources.

So… why go through the process of formally designating the area as an OECM, when community conservation work is already happening?

Because recognition really matters in conservation. OECMs are part of a global framework that acknowledges the role local and Indigenous communities have long played in protecting biodiversity. Formal designation gives these efforts visibility in national and international policies. It also opens doors to new opportunities—long-term investment, technical support, and other resources that are often difficult to access for smaller, “grassroots” initiatives. And maybe most importantly, once recognized, the area contributes to national and global biodiversity targets—like Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, where countries have committed to conserving 30% of land and sea by 2030.

My role in this project is to assess whether the area in the KL is suitable to become Nepal’s first OECM. That means evaluating its biodiversity value, the cultural importance of the landscape, and the perspectives regarding biodiversity conservation benefits and challenges of local communities, researchers, stakeholders, and government agencies. For this, we prepared a bunch of questions for these different groups, and I travelled to eastern Nepal to join the Red Panda Network in the field—helping with biodiversity monitoring, the restoration work and carrying out interviews with local, Indigenous, governmental, and other stakeholders.

Read more about my field trip here. 🏔️

Mount Kangchenjunga or "Sleeping Buddha"