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In 1977 AD, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands visited Tiger Tops Hotel in Chitwan to attend the WWF-1001 Club program, coordinated by then-Crown Prince Gyanendra Shah.During that visit, King Birendra was shown the dire condition of the Chepang community. When a Chepang leader said, “Your Majesty, we are your subjects (Praja),” the King agreed. That same year, a grand Chepang conference was held for the first time in Jyamire, Makwanpur district. Princess Princep Shah, then the central president of the Nepal Red Cross Society, declared, “From today, you are not Chepang; you are Praja (subjects).’

The Panchayat government introduced the “Praja Development Program” that year. After that, Chepangs started writing ‘Praja’ as their surname. However, after the restoration of multiparty democracy, fearing the loss of their identity, they reverted to using ‘Chepang’.

When King Birendra visited them, the Chepangs were highly self-reliant in their lifestyle—hunting in forests, farming on steep land, catching fish and bats, surviving on roots and tubers, and struggling with malnutrition, hunting, and child marriage.

Even today, the Chepang community’s condition has not drastically changed, although life has become somewhat easier. For the past two generations, they have been building homes using bricks, wood, and corrugated sheets. They have shifted from hunting to agriculture and other professions. Yet, about 90% of the Chepang community still lives below the poverty line, with an annual income of less than 10,000 rupees.

Despite these hardships, Chepang students are now starting to write a new chapter in history through education and technology. They are helping build Nepal’s third cube satellite to be launched into space. Students currently studying in grades 7 and 8 are deeply engaged in satellite construction, led by Dr. Abhas Maskey, the creator of NepaliSat-1 and head of Antarikshya Pratisthan Nepal(APN).

The mission carries the theme “Slipper to Satellite”—a journey of a community that once struggled to afford even a pair of slippers, now reaching for the stars. The satellite built by Chepang students will orbit the Earth this year. The plan is to develop a 1U model CubeSat while empowering students with technology skills. Over the next three years, students will receive free education alongside satellite-building experience. Six engineers from APN are working on the design and development of the satellite mission, and they are also training the students.

Under Dr. Maskey’s “Vision 2050,” the goal is to send Nepal’s first astronaut into space by 2050. He is spreading knowledge of space technology at the school level. As part of this campaign, 10 students from Chepang communities in Chitwan, Makwanpur, and Lamjung are busy building satellites. Once used to carrying hunted prey in traditional baskets (Jabi), now Chepang children are carrying books—and soon, a satellite that will orbit the world.

The satellite mission initiated by APN aims to uplift and inspire marginalized, impoverished, and indigenous communities through education.

From Space Labs to Space Flight

In 2023, Dr. Maskey’s team organized four-day workshops on “Radio and Satellite Technology” at different schools in Lamjung, Makwanpur, and Chitwan. Based on student interest and ability, 10 students were selected, according to Pratisthan’s engineer Rishav Adhikari. A Space Systems Laboratory (SSL) was established at Navodaya School to train students in satellite building.

The satellite is scheduled for launch within 2025–26 AD. Another goal of this mission is to design and develop amateur radio-operated CubeSats domestically, according to mission manager Adhikari.

This satellite will be Nepal’s third CubeSat. Designed in Nepal, it will use an in-house “satellite bus” system where the electrical power system (EPS), onboard computer (OBC), and communication system are integrated onto a single printed circuit board (PCB). Incorporating advanced versions of the technologies used in NepaliSat-1 and MunalSat, this design ensures more space within the CubeSat for additional missions.

The “Slipper to Satellite” mission is expected to assist in transmitting critical data during natural disasters. The satellite also includes a “Digipeater Mission”—it will re-transmit signals broadcast by radio waves globally. Mentor Kriti Dahal explained that the satellite will also help build a database of Earth’s water surfaces using infrared and RGB cameras. Using these cameras, students will calculate the “Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI)” to map water sources.

Moreover, the satellite will aid in seismic studies. A “Boomless Magnetometer,” consisting of four magnetic sensors called “Quad-Mag,” is installed to detect subtle variations in Earth’s magnetic field. These sensors can capture Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) and Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) waves, whose data may be useful in earthquake prediction. The satellite includes communication systems, camera missions, control systems, electric power systems, and onboard computer systems.

Students like Shivkumar Chepang, Sajina Chepang, Suhan Praja, Elisa Chepang, Binamaya Praja, Ranasinh Chepang, Sheetal Praja, and Amrit Chepang are involved in the satellite project. When contacting Amit Praja, who just completed his SEE exams, his sister Kalpana answered the phone and expressed disbelief that her brother was building a satellite. She said their family never imagined Amit could be capable of such a thing.

Under the “Vision 2050” program, training programs on space science and technology are being conducted in various schools and colleges across Nepal.

How Did Chepang Students Reach the Space Mission?

Chepang researcher Bishwas Chepang, currently pursuing an MPhil at Kathmandu University, inspired Dr. Maskey. Bishwas said, “I saw how Dr. Abhas involved students in the Munal Satellite mission. I suggested that it would send a powerful message if he engaged Chepang children in satellite building too.”

The news that “Chepang students built a satellite” is spreading a powerful message in society. It shows that given opportunity and a platform, hidden talents can flourish. “If provided basic education, Chepangs can excel,” says Bishwas. “If King Birendra, who once saw Chepangs surviving by hunting wild animals, living in makeshift shelters, and eating wild fruits and bats, had heard the news that they built a satellite, he might have bitten his tongue in amazement!”

This article was original published in Kantipur Daily on 26th April of 2025 in its weekly supplement Koseli. This is the english translated version of the article. Here is the Article link published in Nepali at Kantipur Daily: https://ekantipur.com/koseli/2025/04/26/chepang-yuva-from-jungle-to-space-16-33.html

Gobinda Prasad Pokharel

The Chitwan National Park is home to 92 percent of Nepal’s greater One-horned Rhino population. The latest rhino count of 2021 reports 694 out of 752 individuals. To sustain mega herbivores like the rhino, grasslands play an important role by balancing the natural ecosystem and providing food and shelter. The rhino, Tiger and the Bengal floricans and other species are thriving inside these grasslands, which support a large number of rare and endangered species. Grasslands help to maintain a balanced ecosystem in nature by providing nutrients and water, and also acting as carbon sinks.

In Chitwan, more than 50 grass species are documented by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, including Saccharum ravennae also known as the elephant grass. The major species of Chitwan grasslands include varieties of Saccharum like Kans, Baruwa ghans, munja, narenga etc. Siru ghans, Themeda, Narkat, Masino narkat etc are other grass species here. Dubo, Kuro ghans, Love grass, Karaute ghans are smaller species less than 3m while Themeda and Narkat are tall grass species above 3m from the ground here. With its diverse forest, grasslands and wetlands areas, the park is rich in biodiversity.

During the 1970s, grasslands accounted for 20 percent of the total park area, which came down to 10 percent in four decades. Today, the grassland inside the core area is only 9.61 percent and in the buffer it is 2.06 percent of the total buffer area. Park officials and the national park department have documented 425 grassland patches with a total area of 10497.2 hectares where the core area has 8955.2 hectares covered by grasslands. Among the documented patches, 20 grasslands patches exceed an area above 100 hectares while 106 different patches have an area between 2-5 hectares today. Increase of woody vegetation and invasive species has caused the grasslands inside the park to shrink.

Increasing anthropogenic activities and habitat shrinkage has led to habitat degradation, which demands immediate action for restoration. Siru and Kans are invaded by woody species while anthropogenic and biological invasion has caused the habitat to degrade in the park. Restoration practices help to transform those degraded grasslands.

A yearly report from the park has mentioned that conversion of grasslands and shrubland and then shrubland to forest is another cause of shrinkage of grasslands in western and southern parts of the park. The floodplains are mainly colonized by mixed riverine forests of khayer and Sissau. However, riverine tree species like Vellar, Simal, Jamun, Kyamuna and Sindure are also associated with the lowland grasslands.

To enhance the reduced grasslands, habitat restoration is the best immediate and long-term action to sustain the balanced ecosystem. Restored habitat can contribute to rhino movement activities inside the parks. For example, grasslands in Chhaparchuli, Gundremundre, Milijuli, Janakauli, Chitrasen, Chhapar Chhuli Road site clearance, Jayamangala, Bankatta, Arna enclosure, Marchauli, Patana Marsh, Hattikhet, Gaur Machan, Dumariya Post, Simal Ghole, Kachuwani Machan and other sites of the park areas are under the management of National Trust for Nature Conservation(NTNC) in close collaboration with CNP from 2021 to 2024. This has had a positive impact on animal movement in those areas. The park’s yearly report mentions that NTNC has managed more than 500 hectares of grassland during the last two fiscal years.

The degraded grassland has been restored after systematically removing the invasive species. The restored habitat showed a good result with suitable grazing lawns for the herbivores. With support from the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), NTNC has succeeded in creating a fresh grazing lawn. Previously 104 rhinos were counted in those areas; now their number has reached 172 according to the recent internal monitoring of Rhino by NTNC technicians. The improved habitat conditions for rhinos has also benefited other wildlife, including tigers, leopards and herbivores such as sambar and gaur.

Combating invasive species

The spread of invasive species like Mikania micrantha, Lantana Cammara and dense growth of tall grasses such as Saccharum spp and Phragmites karka have further reduced available grazing space to the herbivores. Invasive species prevents rhinos from accessing nutritious forage thereby decreasing the quality of grasslands. This has led the species to compete with limited resources ultimately increasing the risk of intraspecific fights. To overcome this problem, two approaches were adopted for removing these weeds. Mechanical cutting using specially equipped tractors and manual uprooting of invasive species.

Mechanical cutting provides the systematic approach to control the height of dominant species while manual removal allows for targeted management of specific areas. This strategy has shown a positive impact in maintaining open grazing lawns, thereby increasing the species regeneration. With this activity, enhanced habitat quality has also facilitated the presence of apex predators like tigers and leopards alongside the dispersal of sambar and gaurs within the intervened areas.

Camera trap survey and ID base rhino tracking has been carried out within the managed grassland, which has confirmed the rise in rhino occupancy in the restored habitat. The camera traps survey helped monitor the animal movement, distribution and population dynamics with the response to grassland management activities. Management interventions in Padampur, Icharni and Chhaparchuli areas have helped to increase the habitat suitability for rhinos but also for other herbivores. Increasing the biomass of palatable grasses also plays an important role in reducing the nutritional stress and associated mortality in the rhino population.

The grass cutting was implemented biannually-during winter months (Jan-March) and again in the pre-winter (Oct-Dec) across all intervening habitats. The increased presence of herbivores in the restored areas has attracted apex predators. Camera trap data from the Icharni and Kumrose regions confirm an increase in tiger and leopard activity indicating a healthy ecosystem in the intervention area. The connection between habitat management and predator movement is interlinked. To sustain both rhinos and tigers in Chitwan, investment in habitat restoration is crucial.

Communities against threats

Long-term conservation success requires continuation of habitat management activities which demands community participation. In this intervention, NTNC engaged Buffer Zone User Committees (BZUCs) and local communities in grassland management. During the manual removal of invasive species, local people get alternative livelihoods. This not only benefits wildlife but also helps to gain community support in conservation.

However, the threat still exists. March-April is the season of forest fire in most parts of Nepal. People burn the grass with the expectation of new palatable grass shoots during this time, but it has created destructive problems in many parts of forest and buffers due to lack of controlled measures. However, early fire during winter helps to promote nutritious new sprouts of grasses. Uncontrolled grazing of livestock can create foraging grass shortage which may lead to conflict.

Grasslands are also threatened by several other reasons including infrastructure development and wetlands construction. Haphazard construction of buildings, roads etc not only reduces and degrades the grassland habitat but also has far-reaching effects through colonization of invasive weeds and degradation of ecosystems. Introducing new cutting-edge technology helps to timely remove weeds.

Healthy grasslands

Studies on the species composition and periodic monitoring of grasslands are necessary for a healthy grassland ecosystem. Also, seasonal flooding during the monsoon limits the window for habitat management. If we want to re-establish native species in the areas we need a continuous intervention for grassland management. Additionally, human-wildlife conflict is a major issue where some rhino deaths are linked to electrocution and poaching. To these efforts, rhinos of Chitwan have a better chance of survival if such interventions continue.

At the same time, climate change has altered the habitat and is a major issue of water scarcity. This demands additional interventions like construction of waterholes, climate-friendly infrastructure, research and outreach activities inside the area. Managing wetlands is another important factor for the creation of a healthy and balanced ecosystem.

The author is a conservation officer at the National Trust for Nature Conservation

This article was published on 24th April in Annapurna Express in Print and online version both:
Link : https://theannapurnaexpress.com/story/53712/