Cradled by India and nestled under China, Nepal boasts a wealth of cultural and biological diversity. Scarcely larger than Arkansas, Nepal has more than 100 ethnic groups and 92 unique languages and dialects. Its extreme climates range from subtropical to alpine due to its dramatic elevation variation, from 195 feet above sea level to Mt. Everest, at 29,000 feet. Nepal's location in the transitional zone of the Himalayas provides space for 118 ecosystems and 35 different types of forest. Although its land mass makes up only .01 percent of the Earth's surface, its forests contain eight percent of the world's recorded species--more than the US and Canada combined.
Despite these impressive features, Nepal is in a precarious state. It is ranked among the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with almost one third of its population living below the poverty line; half of its citizens earn less than one dollar a day. Only in the last year has fighting between Maoists and government forces subsided, bringing an end to a 12-year civil war that has disrupted tourism, halted foreign investment, imperiled Nepal's forests, and cost more than 10,000 human lives.
Entrenched poverty, compounded by years of political turmoil and soaring population growth, make Nepal an environmental trouble spot. Many animal species in Nepal are increasingly threatened as a result of grazing pressure, unregulated agricultural practices, firewood collection, and accelerated rates of deforestation. Of the 1,240 known amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles residing in Nepal's forests, 5.6 percent are threatened or critically endangered.
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One of these species is the red panda, also known as the lesser panda or firefox. Slightly larger than an ordinary housecat--with a raccoon-like face, a cheap ed hardy bushy ringed tail, and auburn fur--the red panda inhabits forested mountains, particularly areas with rhododendron and bamboo, its principal food source.
Although there is no exact data for its population, it is believed that only 13,000 to 17,000 red pandas remain in the wild. Threats to its survival include poaching, fragmented habitat, and the loss of the foods on which it depends. In Eastern Nepal, there may be as few as 200 red pandas remaining, creating a critical need for protective action.
Forests in Peril
Brian Williams got the idea for launching the Red Panda Project in 1997 when he traveled to the forests of Eastern Nepal as a Peace Corps volunteer. A chance encounter with a tourist who had witnessed the poaching of a red panda prompted Williams to find out more about this endangered species. "I heard about the illegal poaching of red panda, and knew that I was going to work for its protection," he says. In 2002, Williams returned to Nepal on a Fulbright scholarship and became one of only 10 people in the world to study the red panda in the wild, as well as the threats to its habitat.
In 2006, the Red Panda Project (or Project Punde Kundo) was born. The Earth Island Institute-sponsored project became the first community-based monitoring of red pandas in the world. tiffany heart link bracelet Since then, it has grown to five full-time staff and 13 temporary staff in Nepal. In 2008, it changed its name to the Red Panda Network (RPN) to reflect not only its wider reach, but also to encourage linkages between other countries with red panda populations.
Among the most pressing threats to the red panda's survival is the loss of its habitat as the forests of the Himalayan foothills
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