Profile of Sudeep Jana
- Name: Sudeep Jana
- Country: Nepal
- representing this natural World Heritage Site: Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park and Chitwan National Park
- Occupation and educational background: Researcher, ForestAction, Nepal.
PhD (Provisional candidature), department of Social Sciences,Curtin University, WA.
Master of Arts in Social Work, Tata Insitutue of Social Sciences,Mumbai.
- Group Affiliation:
-CoDeputy Chair for Asia, Young Professional Strategic Direction, World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)/ IUCN.
-Strategic Direction on Governance, Equity and Livelihoods rights in relation to Protected Areas (TILCEPA), CEESP/IUCN.
Member of ForestAction, Nepal (www.forestaction.org)
- Free-time activities:
Trekking and playing a guitar
- Favourite Quote:
'Only when u have felled the last tree, caught the last fish & polluted the last river, will u realize that u can't eat money'- A native American
- My Personal relation to the World Heritage Site:
I started my work career at the grassroots with natural resource dependant indigneous peoples living in and around the Chitwan national park in Nepal. Current i have a close associaiton with Sherpa indigenous peoples who are culturally linked with conservation stewardship, who predates the formation of Mt Everest national park listed as WHS.
- Important to safeguard my natural World Heritage Site:
They are one of the convinient solutions to face the inconvinent truth of global climate change and crisis. Safeguarding our natural WHSs would mean sustaining cultures, livelihoods and cherishing ecosystems and landscapes.
- Specific problems and threats of my WHS:
Conflict and tensions between state induced protected area regime, policies with culture and traditional livelihoods of indigenous peoples who are the real custodians of conservation. Vulnerability of mountain ecosystems, lives and livelihoods of inabitants in Himalayas and poor rural communities dependant on forest and acaquatic resources due to various factors, the most prominent being the impact of global climate changes. Continued poaching of Asiatic one horned rhinoceros due to weaknessess of protected area authorities and alienation of local communities from conservation.
- Motivation for participating in the International Youth Forum 2010:
Mutual learning, sharing of experinces and knowledge, building networks, lobbying and advocating the voice and agenda of youth for biodivesrity conservation, to underscore that natural WHS are effective approach to deal wtih threats of environmetnal crisis and global climate change.
- Message to the world concerning WHS and biodiversity:
Safeguarding our natural WHSs would mean sustaining cultures, livelihoods, ecosystems and landscapes.
