Nepal, July 23 -- In a series of articles in 2018, author Shradha Ghale identified several key issues with conservation practices in Nepal: that it is a centralised, top-heavy model with little regard for indigenous and local people; that the Army, entrusted with protecting conservation areas, has committed human rights abuses in the name of anti-poaching and curbing wildlife crime; and that imported models of conservation were implemented without much thought for traditional ways of living, and rural folk were instead blamed for deforestation and various environmental crises.

In 2019, Buzzfeed News revealed in a detailed investigation that, among other excesses across the world in the name of conservation, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) ...