A regional conference on ‘Managing Protected Areas: Shifting Paradigm’ has begun in the capital on Sunday.

The conference aims at sharing regional experiences and knowledge in protected area (PA) management with prescription for effective management, learning from best practices in PA management in the region and strengthening protected area network in the region.

The organisers hope that the outcome of the conference would contribute to policy formulation on PA, effective management of PA in the region, good practices for replication of PA management models and enhance better network and partnership in the region.

The conference would focus on three thematic areas namely ecosystem management, governance in PA management and economic tools for biodiversity conservation.

Experts from 13 countries from South and East Asia are taking part in the conference where 30 papers in wide range of topics on three thematic areas will be presented and discussed.

“The conference will open up new avenues on biodiversity conservation through partnership and collaboration. Most importantly it will bridge the gap within the region on managing protected areas,” organisers say.

Nepal is ahead in development and management of protected area in South Asia. Nepal, at present, has a fairly extensive network of protected areas that cover 19.7 percent (including buffer zone) of its total land area.

The conference was organised jointly by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) and National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) with support from International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UNDP and the American Embassy.