Applying multi-criteria decision-making to protected areas and buffer zone management: A case study in the Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal

The objective of this study is to develop a holistic (landscape) land-use model for protected area-buffer zone management. It is a multi-objective linear programming and goal-programming model, developed on the basis of a case study, the Royal Chitwan National Park (RCNP) in Nepal, which is also used to illustrate its performance through scenario analyses. However, the model as such is held generally relevant to ‘central’ (national level) decision-makers in protected area-buffer zone management in developing countries.The model illustrates the opportunities that arise from addressing conflicts through a holistic protected area-buffer zone management approach instead of focusing only on maintaining the integrity of protected areas. The findings indicate that in RCNP the problem of fuelwood and livestock fodder supply can be substantially reduced through changed community forest management in the buffer zone. Furthermore, the consequences of introducing biogas plants are analysed. The livestock fodder supply proved the most difficult problem. Additional fodder from community forest management does not suffice – only through the introduction of improved breeds can the fodder deficiency be efficiently addressed.