Next step to save the red panda in Nepal

After several years of work, Nordens Ark inaugurated the unique Himalayan Habre Centre in Taplejung, Nepal, last spring. The centre is an important hub in the work to save the endangered red panda and create the conditions for the survival of the species.

Red panda. Photo: Marie Mattsson

The next steps are now being taken. Over the next two years, Nordens Ark and Red Panda Network will work to develop the Nature Centre's activities.

"It's an important development of the work in Tapljung," says Emma Nygren, Nature Conservation Manager at Nordens Ark. "It was a milestone to be able to inaugurate the unique nature centre last year, but the red panda are not being saved by the fact that we built a house, the next steps are of crucial importance.

Himalayan Habre Centre. Photo: Red Panda Network

To secure operations lightning rods and solar panels will be installed. Greenhouses and shade houses are built for growing local plants wich will be replanted in the surrounding forests. In total, the greenhouses have room for 22,000 plants.

The forests around the centre today consist of fragmented patches of forest, something that hinders the red panda's accessibility as they do not like to move over open spaces.

Together with the Red Panda Network and with funding from the Swedish Postcode Lottery, Nordens Ark continues its work with the Himalayan Habre Centre in Taplejung in Eastern Nepal.