Nepal, China to sign MoU on wildlife

2010-06-01 11:51 PM 
KATHMANDU: A delegation comprising Ministry of Forests and Soil
Conservation (MoFSC) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials is
leaving for Beijing tomorrow to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU)
with China on biodiversity issues.

The MoU will be signed this week in the Chinese capital Beijing. 

Dr Siddhartha Bajracharya, National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC)
executive officer, said the signing of MoU will help identify the
priority areas of cooperation on issues like biodiversity conservation
and curbing illegal wildlife trade.

Chinese market is highly regarded for trade of wild body parts,
especially tiger. Police had seized huge consignments of red sandalwood
bound to China from India in the past.

“The signing of MoU will enable the authorities of both the countries to
plan and discuss trans-boundary issues on wildlife conservation and
wildlife trade,” said Bajracharya. 

The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) and
Department of Forests (DOF) from Nepal and the Department of
International Cooperation of the State Forestry Administration of China
are the implementing bodies of the agreement.

Minister of Forests and Soil Conservation Deepak Bohara said regular
meetings would be held between the two country’s officials to curb
rampant wildlife parts trade after the signing of the MoU.

The two countries will sign the MoU this week in Chinese capital
Beijing.

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