Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) is a treasure house of wide range of biologicalresources, cultural heritage and diverse natural landscapes. Diversity and uniquenesshave made the area as one of the most important tourist destinations in Nepal.Similarly, successful design and implementation of integrated conservation anddevelopment programme in ACA by the National Trust 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 connectMustang district as part of the National Planning Commission’s (NPC) programme tolink district headquarters by road networks. As reflected in the Poverty ReductionStrategy Paper of the 10th Five Year Plan, NPC considers road networking as a keystrategy for poverty reduction. On the other hand, ACA is a protected area with aglobal significance. Hence, development of a road network and the changes it willbring in the protected area must be well understood and a better strategy should beadopted to sustainably protect the area while maximizing the benefits of developmentto the local communities.
