ADDRESS FROM
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS CROWN PRINCE PARAS BIR BIKRAM SHAH DEV
CHAIRMAN OF THE
KING MAHENDRA TRUST FOR NATURE CONSERVATION
AT
THE RHINO PRESENTATION CEREMONY
VIENNA ZOO
AUSTRIA
MARCH 22, 2006
Honourable Vice-Chancellor,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you, Your Excellency, for your warm words of welcome and the friendly sentiments you have just expressed about my country and me. The Crown Princess and I are indeed grateful to His Excellency the Chancellor for the kind invitation, which has enabled us to visit your great country. Allow us also to express our appreciation for the warm reception and hospitality accorded us ever since our arrival in this historic city.
Excellency, I have the honour and pleasure to convey, through you, the greetings and good wishes of my august father His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev to His Excellency President Heinz Fischer, as well as to the government and people of Austria. His Majesty fondly cherishes the memories of his visit to this city in 1993.
The Crown Princess and I feel honoured to have the opportunity to participate in this hand over ceremony of a pair of rhinoceros from Nepal to the Vienna Zoo as a token of friendship from our Sovereign His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev on behalf of the people of Nepal to the people of Austria. This ceremony also symbolises the warm friendship and goodwill that exists between our two peoples.
We have no doubt that these two beautiful rhinos have found a comfortable, safe and friendly home away from home here in Vienna, thanks to the sincere support and tireless efforts of friends of Nepal in Austria. This also reinforces Nepal's commitment to conservation of rare species, including through the propagation of viable gene pools outside Nepal.
We take this opportunity to bring to your attention the fact that the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC), which I have the privilege to chair, is committed to realising the goal of conserving biodiversity through people’s participation, coupled with building a bridge between economics and ecology. Embarking on a mission of delivering 'conservation with a human face', KMTNC hopes to benefit from its association with the Schoenbrunn Zoo and other like-minded institutions in Austria.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Nepal and Austria share many commonalities. We are both largely mountainous countries and we are both landlocked. Our peoples have learnt ways to survive in harsh conditions through centuries of practical indigenous knowledge. Our landscapes provide major attractions for mountaineering and tourism. Rich in water resources, our mighty rivers are the lifelines for the millions living downstream. Nepal also shares with Austria common concerns in safeguarding the fragile, vulnerable ecosystem of the mountain environment, promoting sustainable development of the rugged terrain and easing the living conditions of mountain communities.
Just as the Republic of Austria is strategically located at the crossroads of Central Europe, the Kingdom of Nepal, too, is situated at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. Both of us have maintained warm and friendly relations with all countries in the world. We are pleased to mention here that our august father has recently proposed that the Kingdom of Nepal be utilised as a transit point between India and China, the two emerging economies of the world. We believe that this will play a catalytic role in bringing our two neighbours even closer, thereby promoting regional peace and prosperity.
But the contrast lies in the fact that if Austria belongs to the developed world, Nepal is still a developing nation. Far too many of our people live in poverty; far too many suffer from inadequate health care, education opportunities and access to basic public services. This has had adverse socio-economic ramifications.
Sadly, this sorry state has resulted in Nepal being plagued by insurgency, over the past few years, resulting in the loss of thousands of precious human lives and the destruction of infrastructure erected with huge investments. As a result, our development efforts in all spheres, including conservation, have been badly disrupted. Efforts towards finding a peaceful solution through dialogue are afoot.
The people of the Kingdom of Nepal harbour a deep sense of amity and friendship towards Austria and her people and we are appreciative of the cooperation we have received from Austria over the years. With Austria hosting the Presidency of the European Union, we are confident that it will further deepen cooperation and understanding between the European Union and Nepal.
I now ask Minister Pandey to hand over this adorable pair to the Zoo.
Thank you.
Source: Royal Palace Secretriat
