Linkages among forest, water, and wildlife: a case study from Kalapani community forest in the Lamahi bottleneck area of Terai Arc Landscape

Forests and water are important entities for sustaining life on earth. In a terrestrial ecosystem, linkages between the entities creates a mosaic benefiting wildlife. In turn, communities get benefits stemming up from ecosystem services such as fodder, fuelwood, and water. We present a case study from a forest restoration project to assess the linkages between forest, water and wildlife across the Lamahi bottleneck area in Terai Arc Landscape. We used a combination of surveys such as forest area and canopy cover change (2001–2016) analysis followed by identification of water sources, camera trapping survey, household questionnaire survey, and process documentation. Forest area has increased by ~20 km² in last 15 years followed by number of water sources along the identified tributaries. Water sources are conserved in the form of conservation ponds by communities living downstream and utilized irrigation water in vegetable farming. Communities have benefited financially (~US$ 1252) contributing to their income level from the sale of fresh seasonal vegetables in nearby markets. Camera trap surveys including the assessment of historical records has shown a presence of wildlife including elephants, hyenas, and other small carnivores in and around the bottleneck forest. Both, motivation and enthusiastic support from local communities followed by conducive government policies led to the improved condition of natural resources over the period. This has also created a mosaic for wildlife forming functional connectivity along the linear Terai Arc Landscape.