The Nepalese minister of forest and soil conservation, Rameshwor R Yadav, recently said that the government was committed towards protecting the Kanchenjunga region by AD 2000, as part of the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) programme. "I appreciate the efforts of all conservation organisations in Nepal for their active role in protecting nature. I commend the WWFs support for conducting feasibility studies of the Kanchenjunga region and initiating preliminary conservation activities," said Yadav.