Nepal proposes restoring one-third of degraded ecosystems by 2030
Draft biodiversity strategy seeks $1.55 billion and calls for businesses to disclose nature-related risks
PC: Dewan Rai
Nepal has proposed restoring nearly one-third of its degraded forests, wetlands and other ecosystems by 2030 under an ambitious new biodiversity strategy that also seeks to mobilise more than $1.5 billion and bring businesses into efforts to halt nature loss.
The draft National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (2026–2030), published this month by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Environment for public consultation, sets out 36 national biodiversity targets aligned with the global Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework.
Among its headline commitments is a pledge to restore 30 percent of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems by 2030 while integrating Indigenous and traditional knowledge into conservation efforts. The strategy also aims to cut the introduction of invasive alien species by half, reduce food and agricultural waste by 50 percent, reform subsidies harmful to biodiversity and strengthen measures to reduce human-wildlife conflict.
The government estimates implementing the five-year plan will require about US$1.55 billion, leaving an average annual financing gap of US$252.6 million. To bridge that shortfall, the strategy proposes 25 financing measures involving government agencies, communities, conservation partners and the private sector.
The draft also proposes legal and policy measures requiring businesses, particularly large companies and financial institutions, to assess, disclose and reduce biodiversity-related risks and environmental impacts by 2030, marking one of Nepal's strongest moves towards nature-related corporate reporting.
The strategy seeks to mobilise US$200 million annually in public biodiversity finance, another US$100 million from innovative domestic financing, including communities and the private sector, and expand positive conservation incentives to US$70 million a year.
Nepal, home to ecosystems ranging from the tropical plains of the Tarai to the high Himalayas, says biodiversity underpins nearly two-thirds of its economy through ecosystem services but is under mounting pressure from habitat degradation, climate change, invasive species, pollution and unplanned infrastructure development.
The strategy says biodiversity contributes directly or indirectly to almost two-thirds of Nepal's gross domestic product and warns that fragmented governance, inadequate financing and weak integration of biodiversity into development planning are hampering conservation efforts.
The ministry sought comments from the public, experts and other stakeholders before finalising the strategy, which will guide Nepal's biodiversity policy through 2030 and fulfil the country's commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity
