MUGU:- Locals here have felt relief after the federal government has established Chhayanath National Park in Upper Mugu of the district by dividing the Shey-Phoksundo National Park, which covers Dolpa to Mugu.

The government has recently decided to establish the Chhayanath National Park in Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality located in Mugu.

For the convenience of the citizens of the northern part of the district, the government, with the proposal of the Ministry of Forests and Environment, has decided to establish the 13th new Chhayanath National Park by incorporating 843.36 square kilometers of Shey-Phoksundo National Park towards Mugu.

Member of the House of Representatives and Minister for Forests and Environment Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri said that the decision to create the new national park was taken for the convenience of the indigenous community living in Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality in the northern part of the district, keeping in mind the service delivery of the local community and control of poaching.

He said that the citizens of Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality were forced to walk for seven days to reach the inter-district Dolpa to avail the services and facilities of the park.

With the aim of ensuring that the service delivery is close and the presence of the park also helps in controlling poaching, the Chhayanath National Park has been established to include Wards No. 1, 3 and 4 of Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality.

According to Narendra Aryal, Forest Conservation Officer of Shey-Phoksundo National Park Dolpha, the establishment of the new Chhayanath National Park in Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality of Mugu will facilitate wildlife conservation, poaching control and service flow for the locals.

‘Due to the large area of Shey-Phoksundo, the presence of park’s staff in Mugu was low. The new park has been created by including the Mugu side, even taking into account the management perspective of the local community,” he said.

He said that after dividing Shey-Phoksundo, which was spread over 3,555 square kilometres, it will now be limited to 2,711.61 square kilometres.

Despite this, Shey-Phoksundo National Park will remain the largest national park in Nepal, he said. While Mugu’s Chhayanath National Park has a buffer area of 177.37 square kilometres, Shey-Phoksundo has 1,170.1 square kilometers.

Despite the declaration of a new national park here, the area of the conservation area has not increased.

According to Torjeng Lama, a local of Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality-2, as the Shey-Phoksundo National Park extends to some parts of Mugu district, the citizens of this place used to travel on foot for seven to eight days to get services related to forests from the Shey-Phoksundo National Park in Dolpa district.

He said that it is now easier for the citizens of Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality as the locals are now getting services close to their homes.

With the establishment of Chhayanath National Park in the district, the obligation to get services from inter-district has been removed.

According to Chairman of Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality Tshiring Kapne Lama, it has been nine years as the rural municipality wrote a letter to the federal government’s Ministry of Forests and Environment to establish a national park in Mugum for the convenience of the citizens of Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality in Mugu and for the protection of wildlife.

Now that the government has established the Chhayanath National Park, it has become easier for the citizens of this place to receive services, he said.