Integrated Socio-Ecological Dynamics, Biodiversity Conservation, and Sustainable Management in Shuklaphanta National Park, Nepal

Abstract

Shuklaphanta National Park (SPNP), located in Nepal’s western Terai, represents one of South Asia’s most ecologically significant protected landscapes, characterized by extensive grasslands, wetlands, and forest mosaics that support globally threatened species. However, accelerating anthropogenic pressures, climate variability, and infrastructure expansion increasingly challenge the park’s ecological integrity and social sustainability. This interdisciplinary synthesis integrates multiple student-led empirical and conceptual studies conducted in and around SPNP to examine biodiversity conservation, habitat dynamics, invasive species proliferation, wildlife connectivity, water resource management, tourism development, community forestry, and human–wildlife conflict. Drawing on ecological surveys, socio-economic assessments, governance analyses, and policy reviews, the paper highlights how habitat degradation, invasive alien plant species, linear infrastructure, and climate-induced stressors interact to influence wildlife populations such as Swamp Francolin (Ortygornis gularis) and Swamp Deer (Rucervus duvaucelii). Simultaneously, the effectiveness of buffer zone institutions, compensation mechanisms, and community-based conservation approaches is evaluated in relation to livelihood security and local support for conservation. The findings underscore that conservation outcomes in SPNP are shaped not by isolated drivers but by tightly coupled socio-ecological systems.