Nepal’s infrastructure risks wildlife habitats beyond protected areas, study warns

KATHMANDU — As Nepal expands highways, railways and power lines across the country, a new nationwide study warns the infrastructure boom is cutting through habitats and movement routes used by threatened species.

The mapping study, published by WWF Nepal, identifies 515 “biodiversity important areas” (BIAs) and finds extensive overlap between those landscapes and the sites of existing or planned infrastructure projects. A total of 6,529 kilometers (4,057 miles) of roads and 4,862 km (3,021 mi) of power lines already pass through these areas. Nearly a quarter of Nepal’s proposed railway network could also cut across them once completed.

The findings sharpen a growing policy dilemma for Nepal: how to build the transportation and power networks needed for economic growth without fragmenting the forests, wetlands and rivers that wildlife depend on, especially outside the country’s protected areas.

The BIAs identified in the report fall under 11 categories, including key biodiversity areas, important bird areas, Ramsar wetlands, forest conservation areas, and ecological corridors. Together, they form habitats and ecological zones that allow wildlife to move, breed and survive.

Jhamak Bahadur Karki, a former chief warden at Chitwan National Park and faculty member at the Kathmandu Forestry College, who wasn’t involved in the study, said its significance lies in the fact that it highlights biodiversity important areas outside of Nepal’s national parks and wildlife reserves.

“The study is eye-opening,” Karki said. “It clearly shows why Nepal needs to pay attention to biodiversity important areas that lie outside protected areas.”

While national parks and wildlife reserves receive stronger legal protection and public attention, wetlands, river valleys and mid-hill forests outside this network of protected areas are increasingly exposed to development for roads, hydropower projects and power lines.

Conservationists say the findings show the need to decide early where this infrastructure should not go.

“Nepal needs roads and transmission lines. But we also need to decide where they should not be built, especially in areas wildlife use to move between habitats,” said Shant Raj Jnawali, a conservationist at WWF Nepal and one of the study’s authors.

Infrastructure is expanding rapidly across Nepal, often with limited consideration for wildlife corridors and fragile mountain ecosystems. The government’s Sixteenth Five-Year Plan aims to expand the national highway network to roughly 15,000 km (9,300 mi) by 2029 while pushing roads deeper into remote regions.

Nepal’s hydropower boom has also transformed river valleys and mountain villages. Installed capacity has risen from around 700 megawatts a decade ago to more than 4,000 MW today, requiring new power lines across mountains, forests and settlements.

Jnawali warned if the current pattern of infrastructure expansion continues, “the impact on biodiversity, wildlife and ecosystems will be devastating.”

The WWF study suggests that biodiversity concerns often enter the conversation only after projects have been politically approved and routes largely finalized.

The warning comes as Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s government pushes faster delivery of roads, hydropower and other major infrastructure projects, including those classified as “national pride projects.”

“Right now, around half a dozen major infrastructure projects are under construction across the east-west corridor, which is one of the most critical landscapes for wildlife,” Jnawali said. “At the same time, there are discussions about expanding roads into Himalayan regions.”

Climate change is making these landscapes even more important, he added, as animals shift toward cooler elevations.

Birds face particular risks from power lines. “Without safeguard measures, birds face increasing accidents and collisions along transmission lines,” Jnawali said.

The ecological risks go beyond the immediate infrastructure construction. New roads can bring quarries, logging and settlements deeper into once-isolated mountain areas. Irrigation canals can block or trap wildlife movement. Poorly planned roads on fragile slopes can worsen erosion, destabilize watersheds, and increase downstream flood and landslide risks.

“If roads are built upstream, the ecological impact is felt downstream,” Jnawali said, warning that watersheds and wetlands are already under pressure from road construction.

Threatened species such as tigers (Panthera tigris), red pandas (Ailurus fulgens), snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and migratory birds depend on connected landscapes to move between forests, river systems and seasonal habitats. The study says infrastructure can also help the spread of invasive species, disrupt natural water flows, and interrupt wildlife movement in fragile mountain regions.