“When it comes to conservation, we tend to think about animals,” says Bashya, recalling hearing stories when she was younger about people’s encounters with animals, but they would rarely recall their encounters with plants.

After seeing an endangered-animal pelt displayed on television, Kumar Paudel embarked on a five-year legal battle, advocating for equitable enforcement of wildlife laws.

The new procedures raise a lot of questions, the most important question it raises is: Whose protected area is it? – Kumar Paudel

Taxol in yew trees is used in cancer treatment, and has prompted ‘haphazard exploitation’ of the species by pharmaceutical firms. Proper government guidelines are needed to prevent illegal harvesting of yew trees and the species’ long-term survival in the wild.

Kumar explains that as a small organisation, their biggest challenge has changed as they have grown and evolved. Initially, the main concern was building their science and conservation capacity. They were a relatively inexperienced team, so they needed to develop as professionals trained in understanding problems and identifying solutions, and who were able to work closely with government officials and decision-makers as well as communities on the ground.

“कछुवा तस्करहरू पक्राउ परेका घटनाको विवरण सरकारी तथ्याङ्कमा पाइँदैन । कुन कछुवाको प्रजाति, कहाँबाट ल्याइएको अनि कहाँ लैजान लागिएको भन्ने विवरण स्पष्ट नहुँदा बेचबिखनको अवस्था थाहा पाउन मुस्किल परेको छ”-अस्मिता श्रेष्ठ

“कानूनले जङ्गली चराहरूको बेचबिखन गैरकानूनी मानेको छ, तर कुन चाहिं चरा व्यापार गर्न हुन्छ, कुन चाहिं हुँदैन भन्ने उल्लेख छैन”-कुशल श्रेष्ठ

“We can see that people kill the softshell turtles for meat as they catch them in nets when fishing. We also see, especially along the Koshi River in Nepal, people selling small hatchlings for people to take home as pets”-Ashmita Shrestha

“Seizures related to charismatic protected species such as rhinos and tigers were reported the most, seizures involving tigers were most likely to be reported”-Kumar Paudel

“अब संरक्षणसँगै समुदायको हितलाई केन्द्रमा राख्ने गरी कार्यक्रम बनाउनुपर्छ । निकुञ्ज तथा संरक्षण क्षेत्र आसपासका समुदायलाई संरक्षण कार्यमा सँगसँगै लैजानुपर्ने आवश्यकता छ ।”-कुमार पौडेल