In the misty hills of eastern Nepal near the border with India, 48-year-old farmer Surya Bhattarai patrols the steep slopes of Sudap Community Forest in Taplejung district.
Braving remoteness, treacherous terrain and wild animals, he is tracking red pandas, an elusive and endangered species native to the eastern Himalayas.
Trained in field data collection, Bhattarai, one of 128 Forest Guardians, carries a GPS tracker, a mobile phone, a notebook, a pen, a measuring tape and a vernier scale to document signs of the animal.
Forty-four Forest Guardians operate within the Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung Corridor, a vital 11,500-square-kilometer habitat that shelters roughly a quarter of Nepal’s red panda (Ailurus fulgens) population. In Taplejung, Bhattarai monitors designated forest blocks, walking transects to look for scat, claw marks or other signs of red panda.
Monitoring takes place four times a year – in February, May, August and November – timed around key stages in the red panda’s life cycle, like breeding and mating seasons. Patrolling during the summer months also helps deter poaching, says Bhattarai.
Globally, fewer than 10,000 red pandas remain across India, Bhutan, China and Nepal, which hosts between 500 and 1,000 in its temperate bamboo forests across 25 districts. The shy, elusive species is quietly slipping toward extinction due to rapid development like road building and hydropower expansion and habitat degradation from human activities that are fragmenting the bamboo forests they depend on.
Launched in 2010 by the nonprofit Red Panda Network with just 16 members, the Forest Guardian program has evolved into one of Nepal’s most ambitious citizen-led wildlife monitoring efforts. Forest Guardians conduct quarterly censuses, track red panda behavior and habitat use and raise awareness in their communities while mobilising support against poaching.
They are paid 3,000 Nepali rupees (roughly $22) for each monitoring session.
Inspired by Nepal’s community-managed Annapurna Conservation Area, Forest Guardians act as bridges between the Red Panda Network and local communities, says Ang Phuri Sherpa, the organisation’s executive director. “Our biggest challenge is building trust with local communities. The Forest Guardians serve as our local ambassadors,” he tells Mongabay.
Drawn from local communities – mostly from underprivileged and economically marginalised groups – the Forest Guardians, who usually have up to middle-school education, patrol forests near their homes. This grassroots surveillance forms the backbone of the Red Panda Network’s conservation strategy, according to Sherpa.
The data collected by Forest Guardians – from red panda sightings and GPS mapping to camera trap footage and patrol logs – is regularly compiled and used to shape conservation strategies and policy briefs.
“These efforts have helped identify key habitat zones, guide anti-poaching measures and inform local land-use planning,” Sherpa says, adding that zoos in the US and Europe support the program. “They are professional forest stewards and our local conservation ambassadors who monitor red panda populations and habitat, as well as raise awareness in their communities.”
“The idea of engaging local citizen scientists in red panda monitoring is commendable,” says Arjun Thapa, a wildlife researcher pursuing postdoctoral research at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. “But equally important is understanding how the data they collect is used – whether it informs policy, leads to tangible conservation outcomes or benefits local communities.”
Thapa cautions that data collection alone is not enough. “We need to rigorously validate and analyse the information. Without that, it’s difficult to make evidence-based decisions or meaningful management interventions.”
He also questioned the effectiveness of current monitoring methods. “Red pandas don’t consistently follow the same paths,” he says. “So, using fixed transects for quarterly monitoring may not capture an accurate picture of their movements or habitat use.”
A 2016 national survey revealed that 70% of red panda habitat in Nepal lies outside protected areas. Unlike national parks, these forests are less monitored and more vulnerable to poaching and encroachment.
Since then, the Forest Guardian model has been focused precisely where red pandas are most at risk. “Earlier, there were up to 10 poaching incidents a year,” Sherpa says. “In the last five or six years, we haven’t had a single case in our project areas.”
To reduce local people’s dependence on forests, the Red Panda Network trains them on homestay management, nature guide and ecotourism. It also supports income-generating programs such as rug weaving, crochet making and nettle fiber processing, particularly for women.
In Phurumbu village, Taplejung, women sit behind sewing machines, stitching bags and handkerchiefs from nettle fiber. Forty-year-old Chandra Kumari Limbu received training from Himali Conservation Forum, a local nonprofit, and now sells them to local schools and souvenir shops in Kathmandu. The facility, in its second year, has employed 16 women. “We need to market the products so that people know about it,” Limbu says.
“These skills enable [the women] to participate in conservation-linked livelihoods, creating a self-sustaining economic model that fosters pride, ownership and long-term commitment to protecting natural resources,” Sherpa says. “RPN not only conserves biodiversity but also invests in the resilience and self-reliance of the very communities that coexist with endangered species like the red panda.”
Research conducted by Sherpa and his colleagues found that people in the Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung corridor were more aware of red panda conservation than people in western and central Nepal. “This increased level of awareness about red pandas could be attributed to the red panda-focused conservation education program being implemented in eastern Nepal,” said the study published in 2021 in ScienceDirect under a volume titled Red Panda: Biology and Conservation of the First Panda.
The Red Panda Network, which currently works in 13 red panda districts, is planning to replicate the conservation model in other districts across the country.
In Ilam, bordering Singalila National Park – a crucial red panda habitat in India, families run homestays for eco-tourists who come to get a glimpse of the elusive animal in the wild.
About 15 homestays operate in the PIT corridor, hosting up to eight groups of foreign tourists – roughly 50 visitors – a year. “Our business wing manages this program and shares part of the profits to fund conservation. Our goal is to reduce dependence on forests by providing alternative livelihoods,” Sherpa says.
Despite growing community involvement and measurable conservation gains, the threats to red pandas remain acute.
Habitat loss and fragmentation are key drivers of red panda decline. “One of the biggest threats to their survival is the rapid, haphazard construction of roads in Nepal’s mid-hills,” Sherpa says. “These roads often cut through critical habitat, without any scientific assessment, fragmenting the forests red pandas rely on.”
RPN has launched an ambitious plan to restore their habitat in Ilam district. The organisation recently secured a $2.5 million grant for a five-year project, which aims to restore 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of forest in Ilam, connecting with Singalila.
“This will enable genetic exchange between red pandas in Nepal and those in India and improve species resilience,” Sherpa says. “Without it, inbreeding becomes a serious risk. If there’s a pandemic in the group, the disease can wipe out a significant population.” In August last year, Puwamajhuwa village in Ilam district was declared the country’s first community-based conservation area, raising hope for the species.
The animal faces other threats such as attacks by free-roaming dogs, particularly near Pathibhara temple in Taplejung, where goats are sacrificed to appease the Hindu goddess worshipped here.
“During the pilgrimage season in autumn and spring, the dogs get to eat goat meat [discarded] by the devotees. When they don’t get meat in the off-season, they may attack red pandas descending from the trees,” says Ramesh Rai, program coordinator of Himali Conservation Forum. He added that the dogs also spread diseases such as rabies and canine distemper.
Dhan Kumar Sembu, a 47-year-old Forest Guardian in Pathibhara area, agrees with Rai. “Stray and hunting dogs pose a threat to red pandas. But a vaccination campaign has helped control it to some extent,” he says.
Wildlife researchers have documented how the red panda evolved from its carnivorous ancestors to the now largely-vegetarian diet. It feeds on bamboo leaves, and researchers suggest the species may have adapted to the changes in its habitat.
“Their teeth and digestive systems still resemble those of meat-eaters, but over time, likely due to a scarcity of prey, they adapted to a bamboo-based diet,” Sherpa says. “Since bamboo is low in calories, red pandas must consume it in large quantities and conserve energy by remaining mostly inactive during the day.”
While the tree-dwelling creature basks in the sun, Forest Guardians such as Bhattarai, who received a Green Ambassadors Award for his work by a Nepali nonprofit in 2023, must endure harsh weather to protect them.
On a recent patrol, Bhattarai faced fierce winds and sudden rain. “I was nearly blown away,” he says. But he keeps walking because the red panda still needs guarding. “I feel a responsibility,” he says. “We should leave wild animals in the forest for the next generation – not just in photos.”
This article was first published on Mongabay.
