MCAP urges Chhum Nubri to scrap tourist entry fee plan

KATHMANDU: Manaslu Conservation Area Project (MCAP) has requested Chhum Nubri Rural Municipality in Gorkha not to implement its decision to collect entrance fees from tourists visiting the Manaslu region.

Issuing a notice on September 5, the rural municipality said it would collect a fee of Rs 1,000 from foreign tourists and Rs 200 from domestic tourists visiting the Manaslu region. This decision was made following a meeting with various stakeholders under the Local Government Operation Act and its Financial Act, 2024, the rural municipality said in its notice.

MCAP, a unit under the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), has written to the rural municipality, urging it not to enforce the decision to collect entrance fees from tourists. The project has requested that the rural municipality continue with the existing entry permit system, stating that the entire Chhum Nubri Rural Municipality falls within the Manaslu Conservation Area which it manages.

MCAP has been collecting a fee of Rs 1,000 from tourists from SAARC countries, Rs 3,000 from other international tourists, and Rs 100 from Nepali citizens.

“Regardless of what these Acts stipulate, Chapter 9, Sub-section 64(2) of the Local Government Operation Act, 2017 specifies that the determination and collection of mountaineering fees, national park fees, wildlife reserve fees, and conservation area entrance fees shall be as per the arrangements made by the federal government,” MCAP stated in its letter. “Collection of fees contradicting existing regulations could send a negative message.”