Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) is a treasure house of wide range of biological resources, cultural heritage and diversenatural landscapes. Diversity and uniqueness have made the area as one of the most important tourist destinations in Nepal.Similarly, successful design and implementation of integrated conservation and development programme in ACA by the NationalTrust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) has made the protected area a global model of community-based conservation. Recently,Government of Nepal has initiated to construct road networks to connect Manang district as part of the National PlanningCommission’s (NPC) programme to link district headquarters by road networks. As reflected in the Poverty Reduction StrategyPaper of the 10th Five Year Plan, NPC considers road networking as a key strategy for poverty reduction. On the other hand, ACAis a protected area with a global significance. Hence, development of a road network and the changes it will bring in the protectedarea must be well understood and a better strategy should be adopted to sustainably protect the area while maximizing thebenefits of development to the local communities.
