Protected areas of Nepal

Protected areas of Nepal

The protected areas of Nepal cover mainly forested land and are located at various altitudes in the Terai, in the foothills of the Himalayas and in the mountains, thus encompassing a multitude of landscapes and preserving a vast biodiversity in the Palearctic and Indomalayan ecozones. Nepal covers 147,181 km² (56,827 sq mi) in the central part of the Himalayas. Altitudes range from 67 m (220 ft) in the south-eastern Terai to 8,848 m (29,029 ft) at Sagarmatha within a short horizontal span. This extreme altitudinal gradient has resulted in 11 bio-climatic zones ranging from lower tropical below 500 m (1,600 ft) to nival above 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in the High Himalayas, encompassing nine terrestrial ecoregions with 36 vegetation types. Botanists recorded 1,120 species of non-flowering plants and 5,160 species of flowering plants. Nepal ranks 10th in terms of richest flowering plant diversity in Asia. Zoologists recorded 181 mammal species, 844 bird species, 100 reptile species, 43 amphibian species, 185 freshwater fish species, and 635 butterfly species. In recognition of the magnitude of biodiversity the Government of Nepal has established a network of 20  protected areas since 1973, consisting of ten national parks, three wildlife reserves, six conservation areas and one hunting reserve.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Additionally, nine Ramsar sites were declared between 1988 and 2008.^[6][7]

National parks

• Chitwan National Park – 932 km² (360 sq mi)
• Sagarmatha National Park – 1,148 km² (443 sq mi)
• Langtang National Park – 1,710 km² (660 sq mi)
• Rara National Park – 106 km² (41 sq mi)
• Khaptad National Park – 225 km² (87 sq mi)
• Shey Phoksundo National Park – 3,555 km² (1,373 sq mi)
• Bardiya National Park – 968 km² (374 sq mi)
• Makalu Barun National Park – 1,500 km² (580 sq mi)
• Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park – 159 km² (61 sq mi)
• Banke National Park – 550 km² (210 sq mi)

Wildlife reserves

• Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve – 175 km² (68 sq mi)
• Parsa Wildlife Reserve – 637 km² (246 sq mi)
• Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve – 305 km² (118 sq mi)

Conservation areas

• Annapurna Conservation Area – 7,629 km² (2,946 sq mi)
• Kanchenjunga Conservation Area – 2,035 km² (786 sq mi)
• Manaslu Conservation Area – 1,663 km² (642 sq mi)
• Blackbuck Conservation Area – 15.95 km² (6.16 sq mi)
• Api Nampa Conservation Area – 1,903 km² (735 sq mi)
• Gaurishankar Conservation Area – 2,179 km² (841 sq mi)

Hunting Reserve

• Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve – 1,325 km² (512 sq mi)

Ramsar Sites

The following Ramsar sites were declared between 1988 and 2008:^[6]

• Bishazari Tal – 3,200 ha (12 sq mi)
• Ghodaghodi Tal – 2,563 ha (9.90 sq mi)
• Gokyo Lake Complex – 7,770 ha (30.0 sq mi)
• Gosaikunda – 13.8 ha (34 acres)
• Jagdishpur Reservoir – 225 ha (0.87 sq mi)
• Kosi Tappu Wildlife Reserve – 17,500 ha (68 sq mi)
• Mai Pokhari – 90 ha (220 acres)
• Phoksundo Lake – 494 ha (1.91 sq mi)
• Rara Lake – 1,583 ha (6.11 sq mi)

Pokhara Lake Cluster Valley was declared a Ramsar Site in February 2016 on the occasion of World Wetland Day.

References

1. Bhuju, U. R., Shakya, P. R., Basnet, T. B., Shrestha, S. (2007). Nepal Biodiversity Resource Book. Protected Areas, Ramsar Sites, and World Heritage Sites. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, in cooperation with United Nations Environment Programme, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Kathmandu, ISBN 978-92-9115-033-5
2. Bhushal, R. P. (2010). Nod to Banke National Park. The Himalayan Times, 13 May 2010
3. DNPWC (2011). Api-Nampa Conservation Area. Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Kathmandu.
4. NTNC (2010). Gaurishankar Conservation Area Project. National Trust for Nature Conservation, Nepal.
5. DNPWC (2014). Blackbuck Conservation Area. Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Kathmandu.
6. Bhandari, B. B. (2009). Wise use of Wetlands in Nepal. Banko Janakari 19 (3): 10–17.
7. Kafle, G. and I. A. T. Savillo (2009). Present status of Ramsar sites in Nepal. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation 1 (5): 146–150.

External links

• Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Nepal
• VisitNepal.com: Nepal National Parks Information