Tharu fisherwoman

A local fisher woman from the indigenous ethnic Tharu community casts her net on the Rapti River, Dang, Nepal. Fisherfolks were key beneficiaries of the USAID PANI Program (2016-2021). PANI helped form, organize, strengthen capacity, and mobilize community aquatic animal conservation groups that comprised multiple users of the river system including fisherfolks to conserve and co-manage river stretches in collaboration with their local governments. Fishing is a main source of livelihood for the Tharu community that live along the rivers in the southern plains of Nepal. Location: Rapti River Basin, Nepal Photographer: Sudin Bajracharya