India and Nepal have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote bilateral cooperation in the areas of forests, wildlife, environment, biodiversity conservation and climate change. The MoU was signed in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav and Cabinet Minister for Forests and Environment, Government of Nepal, Madhav Prasad Chaulagain. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in a statement, said that the MoU envisages cooperation in the formulation of biodiversity conservation strategies at the landscape level with emphasis on key species such as elephants, Gangetic dolphins, rhinoceroses, snow leopards, tigers and vultures. It also provides for strengthened forest and protected area management, restoration of wildlife corridors and other interlinking areas towards the creation of transboundary conservation landscapes. The MoU is expected to further deepen India-Nepal cooperation in the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity and contribute to the protection of shared ecosystems and the sustainable management of natural resources in the region.
