The gala World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) annual meeting that ends Friday in Kathmandu provided a unique opportunity for Nepal to showcase some of it conservation success stories. On display here for the world to see were:

c the rescue of Nepal's one-horned rhinoceros from the brink of extinction
c the dramatic comeback of the tiger in Chitwan
c research into the elusive snow leopard
c conversion of nearly a quarter of Nepal's geographical area into nature reserves and parks
c success of eco-tourism models like the Annapurna project.

Not all of these were WWF projects, but it was a chance for Nepal to draw attention to the successes of other organisations like the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC), and Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.

Back in the 1960s when tigers and rhinos in Chitwan had been nearly hunted to extinction, and habitat destruction was threatening the remaining animals, it was WWF that stepped in with its first project in Nepal. The Rhino Conservation Programme in 1967 and eventually the creation of the Royal Chitwan National Park in 1971 were a direct result of lobbying by conservation groups, including WWF. It is a mark of the success of this programme that WWF delegates this week flew down to Chitwan to see another translocation of rhinos from Chitwan to Bardiya-made possible by the successful revival of the rhino population in Chitwan.

WWF's early support went to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project when it was started in 1985. ACAP was based on a unique model of integrated conservation development programme that takes tourism income and injects it directly into the village economy to ensure that locals benefit from tourism and protect nature-the ultimate reason that brings tourists there. Eco-tourism has now become a buzzword, but nowhere has it been as spectacularly successful as in Annapurna. So much so that eco-tourism projects modeled after ACAP are springing up all over the world: from Malaysia to Costa Rica.

WWF also stepped in with support for the Bardiya Integrated Conservation Project, Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, the Northern Mountains Conservation Project, and the Kangchendzonga Conservation Area. Most recently, WWF is helping start the Pulchowki-Chandragiri Corridor along the southern rim of Kathmandu valley.

WWF Nepal today has a budget of $2.5 million and a large presence but it was only in 1993 that the WWF Nepal Programme formally established an office in Kathmandu. Till then it had operated through local organisations like the KMNTC or the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Trends in nature conservation have also shifted from fencing off nature reserves and having the army guarding wildlife to greater community participation. Terms like "buffer zone", "agro-forestry", and "integrated conservation development" have become more prevalent. Since nature does not recognise man-made boundaries, the other trend is towards trans-boundary conservation, by integrating national parks in Nepal with conservation areas in China or India. Says Chandra Gurung, the country representative of WWF's Nepal Programme: "All of this would never have been possible without the support we have received from the government and local communities as well." Successive governments, which have often been at the receiving end of criticism for inertia and confusion, have shown there is political will to see conservation efforts through. Local initiatives have also been vital. Two of four WWF Conservation Merit awards given to persons from around the world for their conservation efforts have been awarded to Nepalis: The Rimpoche of Tengboche monastery, Nawang Tenzing Jangpo, for his role in the preservation of the Sagarmatha region, and Min Bahadur Gurung of Ghandruk for grassroots conservation efforts in the Annapurnas.

"We have learnt a lot in the process and achieved a lot as well. But we still have a long way to go," says Ukesh Raj Bhuju, Director of Communications. In the future, WWF Nepal is looking at lobbying hard for trans-boundary conservation efforts like the Tri-National Peace Park in the Kangchendzonga area where the borders of China, India and Nepal meet. WWF is also trying to get the Tarai Arc project off the ground to link national parks along Nepal's southern border with those in northern India. Nepal's future conservation challenges are difficult: arresting the decline of the tarai forest, protecting Nepal's Himalayan forest cover from timber poachers from across the border in Tibet, safeguarding the success of the community forest programmes, and continued vigilance against increasingly well-armed rhino and tiger poachers from across the southern border. With the rapid reduction of forest cover in the tarai, Nepal's nature reserves also need jungle corridors for migrating species, and tarai parks also need to keep their natural contiguity with the Mahabharat forests.

Says Chandra Gurung: "What gives me hope is that we have come so far with such hard work and commitment over the years. That commitment is still there: in government, in the communities and in the staff of environmental organisations."