fisherwoman with fish in a net
Binita’s community have relied on fish for centuries – for food, to earn a living, and they’re even part of religious ceremonies. But as the human population has grown, the fish have started to disappear from the rivers of Chitwan National Park – and, with them, the other wildlife that share the river. With ZSL’s help, Binita’s village have built and stocked community fishponds, that mean people no longer have to fish in the river. The fishponds offer a reliable source of food and income for the village and give the river’s wildlife time to recover.

“It was very hard to catch enough fish from of the river, and the tigers and rhinos made it dangerous. In a full day’s fishing, we would catch just one kilogram of fish. Now we have fish to eat all year round, and we don’t need to go to the river to fish.”