Nepal recognized its susceptibility to ecological risks as early as the 1960s. By the mid 1970s, Nepal Government took the first initiative to establish national parks and reserves in areas of biological and natural significance. Within three decades, Nepal has set aside more than 18% of the total land area as protected areas under various categories.

However, the earlier efforts in conservation were identical to the western system where national parks and reserves were considered as islands of wilderness amidst a sea of people. Once demarcated, the people were forfeited from their traditional rights to use the natural resources inside the parks and reserves. In other words, the concerns of people living in the park periphery were ignored. This led to intense parkpeople conflicts negating the achievements made in terms of conservation.

These realities pointed to the need for Nepal to come up with alternative approaches for effective conservation measures while addressing the needs of the local people. The underlying objectives of such a plan were to be able to fulfill the basic requirements of the local people while maintaining a balance between nature conservation and sustainable development. As the government did not have this flexibility, this called for establishment of an institution, preferably a non-governmental organization (NGO), that would be able to supplement and complement the government’s efforts in nature conservation and sustainable development. This led to the establishment of National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC).