The Rufford Foundation

Final Report

Congratulations on the completion of your project that was supported by The

Rufford Foundation.

We ask all grant recipients to complete a Final Report Form that helps us to gauge

the success of our grant giving. The Final Report must be sent in word format and not

PDF format or any other format. We understand that projects often do not follow the

predicted course but knowledge of your experiences is valuable to us and others

who may be undertaking similar work. Please be as honest as you can in answering

the questions – remember that negative experiences are just as valuable as positive

ones if they help others to learn from them.

Please complete the form in English and be as clear and concise as you can. Please

note that the information may be edited for clarity. We will ask for further information

if required. If you have any other materials produced by the project, particularly a

few relevant photographs, please send these to us separately.

Please submit your final report to jane@rufford.org.

Thank you for your help.

Josh Cole, Grants Director

Grant Recipient Details

Your name Laxman Khanal

Project title

Sustainable Conservation of Assamese Macaque

(Macaca assamensis) in the Catchment Area of

Budhigandaki Hydroelectric Project, Nepal

RSG reference 17666-1

Reporting period September 2016

Amount of grant £4995

Your email address lkhanal@cdztu.edu.np

Date of this report November 2016

1. Please indicate the level of achievement of the project’s original objectives and

include any relevant comments on factors affecting this.

Objective Not

achieved

Partially

achieved

Fully

achieved

Comments

Survey of Assam macaques

(Macaca assamensis) along the

Budhi Gandaki River

Identification of habitat range

and linking corridors for Assam

macaque populations

Assessment of the level of

conflict between human and

Assam macaques

Community awareness and

involvement in conservation

programs

2. Please explain any unforeseen difficulties that arose during the project and how

these were tackled (if relevant).

Because of the unfavourable conditions (landslides at many places, people living in

temporary camps away from their permanent residence etc.) in the research fields

during rainy season after Gorkha-Earthquake of April 2015 in Nepal, the survey on

human-macaque conflict could not be carried out in the cropping season of 2015;

that was done in the summer (August-September) of 2016. No other severe

difficulties were experienced during the field works.

3. Briefly describe the three most important outcomes of your project.

a. Assam Macaque Population Survey

Budhigandaki River originates from the Himalayas and flows southwards mixing with

Trishuli River at central Nepal. Survey was conducted along the Budhigandaki River

within the 2 km range from the river axis on both the sides. It was started at

Budhigandaki-Trishuli River confluence (27.8146 N, 84.7815 E; 330 m asl) and

continued up to the Lapubesi (28.1784 N, 84.8809 E, 729 m asl). Whenever the Assam

macaque troop was encountered, a detail population survey was conducted.

Four troops of Assam macaques were recorded; one troop in Dhading side (east of

Budhigandaki River) and three troops in Gorkha side (west of Budhigandaki River).

The troops were named as Baseri troop, Mastar troop, Fujel troop and Kyamuntar

troop with the name of the local place where they were encountered first. A total of

79 individuals in four troops averaged the troop size of 19.75 individuals per troop

ranging from 10 to 32 individuals. The total population comprised of 17.72% adult

males, 29.11% adult females, 18.99% sub-adults, 21.52% juveniles and 13.92% infants.

The ratio of adult to young individuals was found to be 1: 1.14, the adult male to

female ratio was 1: 1.64 and the adult female to infant ratio was 1: 0.478.

b. Habitat Range Identification and Prediction of Inundation Effects

All four troops of Assam macaques recorded in the area were separately observed

for their general behaviour, diurnal activity pattern and identification of their current

habitat range. While observing the behavioural pattern, the GPS points of their

movement were also noted and the peripheral points of the movement were

employed in ArcGIS 10.3 to develop the habitat range of each troop. The loss of

current habitat range for each troop, due to the inundation effect of proposed dam

was visualised using ArcGIS 10.3.

The habitat size for Assam macaque troops was found to be ranging from 1.233 km2

to 2.12 km2 which was proportional to the troop size. Two of the troops (Fujel troop-

1.233 km2 and Kyamuntar troop- 2.12 km2) were predicted to lose their current

habitat completely when the dam comes into operation. Mastar and Baseri troops

were projected for 54.1% (0.783 km2 of 1.45 km2) and 88.9% (1.839 km2 of 2.07 km2)

habitat loss, respectively. The dam wall construction site falls within the habitat range

of Mastar troop; therefore, impact on that troop was anticipated from the beginning

of the construction works.

c. Conflict Assessment and Conservation Awareness Programs

A semi-structured questionnaire survey was conducted in five Village Development

Committees (VDCs) of Gorkha (three VDCs) and Dhading (two VDCs) districts. In

total, 347 randomly selected respondents were interviewed to identify the human-

wildlife conflicts and the contribution of macaques in it. Altogether, 43 crop fields

were directly observed for quantifying the loss due to wildlife by Participatory Risk

Mapping (PRM) method.

Respondents reported the cultivation of 13 different crop species; 76.9% of them

were the cereals mostly for self-consumption and remaining 23.1% were the cash

crops. In total, 93.08% of the respondents perceived the crop raiding by the wildlife

and considered it as one of the major limits to crop yields. An average of 17.3%

annual crop loss was reported by the respondents. Major crop raiding vertebrates

were rhesus macaques, Assam macaques, langurs, porcupines, birds and squirrels.

Non-human primates were reported as the predominant crop raiders; 83.28% of the

respondents who perceived the crop loss by wildlife considered the rhesus

macaques as the major crop raider, followed by Assam macaques (8.67%) and

langur (5.26%).

The crop-raiding pattern of Assam macaques was found to be localised in the crop

fields close to the forest and river; and unlike the rhesus macaques, they were not

reported to raid the crops from the storage.

PRM method shed light on higher perceived risk (17.3%) by the farmers than the

actual loss (9.5%) quantified.

Guarding the crop fields, and chasing were the major methods adopted by the

farmers to deter the macaques. Farming of alternative crops that are less palatable

to macaques were not practiced.

4. Briefly describe the involvement of local communities and how they have benefitted

from the project (if relevant).

The participation of local communities was emphasised in the project.

Altogether, 20 people selected from Borlang, Fujel and Ghyalchok VDCs of Gorkha

District and Maidi VDC of Dhading district were involved in 3 days of training for

biodiversity conservation, identification of human-wildlife conflicts and mitigation

measures.

Biodiversity conservation awareness campaigns were conducted in schools. The

school outreach programmes also involved students in drawing competition and all

the participants were awarded educational materials; best five were bestowed the

special prizes. Books on biological sciences and wildlife biology were donated to the

library of Patan Devi High School, Borlang Gorkha; one of the heavily earthquake

affected schools of Gorkha district.

Two conservation committees were formed with seed money; one in Kyamuntar of

Borlang VDC and the other in Dhabe-Khuditar of Fujel VDC. The conservation

committees are expected to continue the conservation efforts.

5. Are there any plans to continue this work?

Yes. The resettlement of local people, harvesting the forest product and construction

of road and other infrastructures in the project area is going to alter the ecosystem in

near future; even before the dam coming into operation. It would be important to

explore the response of macaques, Langur and other animals to such changes. I

want to continue exploring the behavioural changes and shifting of habitat range

for those four troops of Assam macaque observed during this project.

6. How do you plan to share the results of your work with others?

The findings of this projects will be important for Budhigandaki Hydroelectric Project

(BHP) for developing the project with lesser ecological impacts; therefore, it will be

shared with the BHP authorities and stakeholders. The outcomes of this work will be

relevant for other development projects also to design the eco-friendly schemes.

I am developing a research paper aiming to publish in an international journal, so

that wide range of audiences could access it.

7. Timescale: Over what period was The Rufford Foundation grant used? How does

this compare to the anticipated or actual length of the project?

The Rufford Foundation grant was used for 15 months; that was 3 months longer than

the anticipated duration of the project. The project started in the proposed

schedule and Assam macaque distribution surveys were conducted in October and

November 2015. The human-macaque conflict could not be assessed in the

cropping season of 2015 due to the settlement of people in temporary huts after

Gorkha Earthquake of April 2015. The surveys were conducted in the summer season

of 2016.

8. Budget: Please provide a breakdown of budgeted versus actual expenditure and

the reasons for any differences. All figures should be in £ sterling, indicating the local

exchange rate used.

Exchange Rate: 1 £ = 157 NRs

Item Budgeted

Amount

Actual

Amount

Difference Comments

PI and RAs daily

Allowance

1035 1170 -135 Field works were

extended beyond

anticipated schedule

Transportation 270 250 +20

Accommodation 810 760 +50

Training Allowance 250 250 0

Training materials 200 200 0

Expert’s Salary 300 300 0

Field Gears 130 130 0

Workshop 450 420 +30

Conservation groups 800 800 0

Awareness Campaigns,

Outreach Programs,

Monitoring, Books

Donations

700 875 -175 Books donated to

School library which

was affected by

earthquake

Miscellaneous 50 50 0

Total 4995 5205 -210 Covered the

expenses by NEBORS

9. Looking ahead, what do you feel are the important next steps?

It is important to monitor the response of the Assam macaque to the construction

projects. The socioeconomic and ecological changes brought by the resettlement

of local people and their impacts on wild animals including Assam macaque is an

important issue to be studied. Identification of possible habitat for colonisation of

Assam macaque after losing the existing habitat is also significant.

10. Did you use The Rufford Foundation logo in any materials produced in relation to

this project? Did the RSGF receive any publicity during the course of your work?

Yes, The Rufford Foundation logo was used in the flex boards prepared for the

workshops and outreach programs. The financial support from the Rufford Small

Grants Program was duly acknowledged in all the events.

11. Any other comments?

My sincere thanks to The Rufford Foundation for supporting this project. I appreciate

the contribution of wildlife experts for sharing their ideas and experiences to the

local peoples. Special thanks to all the local people who participated in workshops

and conservation groups; and provided valuable information in questionnaire

surveys.