According to Bhatta, the federal government has prepared a detailed project report to develop Dudejhari as an industrial area. The file is to be presented in the Cabinet for approval.

Conservationists fear that construction of the industrial area in Dudejhari forest in Kailali district will destroy the natural biodiversity corridor used by the wildlife.

The site belongs to Dudejhari forest and covers 1,000 bighas of the forestland. The forest is part of an important international bio-corridor which connects Chure in Karnali, Bardiya National Park and Dudhwa National Park in India.

Suman Subedi, section manager of the Terai Arc Landscape programme, a World Wildlife Fund-supported programme, said the government should understand the importance of the forest area. “It would be good if the concerned authority selected another place for the industrial area,” said Subedi.

Conservationists said that the movement of wild animals including endangered wild elephants, tigers and rhinos, among others, has increased in the Karnali bio-corridor. “Dudejhari forest is not only a bio-corridor but also an important water recharge area at the base of the Chure region,” said Subedi.

Raj Bahadur Air, a conservationist in Dhangadhi, said there is a 25-hectare grassland with sal trees in the forest. The forest faces threat also from timber traders. Air alleged that the government had proposed the Dudejhari industrial area under the influence of people dealing in timber.

Dudejhari forest connects the East-West Highway and is three kilometres west of Chisapani in Kailali.

Deep Kumar Khanal, secretary at the Ministry for Forest and Environment in Sudurpaschim Province, said it’s wiser to find another public land to establish the industrial area. “Nepal has signed the Convention on Biological Diversity. We must make efforts to preserve forests and minimise harm to the ecology,” said Khanal.