LIST OF NEPAL NATIONAL PARKS:
‘Himalayan parks of the country enriched with exotic flora and fauna with cultural villages’
List of Nepal National Parks runs from East to the Western region and North to Southern area of the country total of eight national parks at present includes many Wild Life Reserves and Conservation Area Project.
Most national parks located around the high mountainous region of greater Himalaya range with some down south within a warmer climate where dense green tropical jungles situated famous for wild-life safari.
National Park around high hills and mountains wonderful and scenic destinations for trekking and other adventures some of these parks where rare and exotic plants and mammals almost extinct in this world are found.
Nepal National Parks are famous and rich with flora and fauna of great bio-diversity due to its unique geographical position and altitude variation, the elevation of the country ranges from 60 m above sea level to the highest point on earth, Mt. Everest at 8,848m, all within a distance of 150 km resulting into climatic changes from Sub-tropical-alpine to the Arctic.
Nepal-occupying only 0.03% of the earth where national parks are home to 02 % of all the flowering plants in the world; 08 % of the world’s population of birds (more than 857 species);
04 % of mammals on earth; 11 of the world’s 15 families of butterflies (more than 500 species);
600 indigenous plant families; 319 species of exotic orchids.
List of Nepal National Parks:
Chitwan National Park with an area 932 sq.kms:
One of the oldest and popular National Parks in Nepal situated around the inner subtropical Terai lowlands of Southern-Central Nepal. The park was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1984.
The Park covers a pristine area with a unique eco-system of significant value to the world. It contains the Churia hills, ox-bow lakes and flood plains of the rivers Rapti, Reu and Narayani which makes wonderful habitat for rare and endangered Royal Bengal Tiger, One Horned Rhinoceros with other animals with more 600 different species of bird-life.
Bardiya National Park area 968 sq.kms:
Bardiya National Park situated far south midwestern part of Terai belt, east of Karnali River, one of the largest and undisturbed parks of wilderness. About 70 % of the park is covered with Sal forest with the remaining, a balanced mixture of grassland, savannah, and riverine forest.
Famous for Royal Bengal Tiger, Rhinoceros, and deer with other animals includes exotic various species of birds and rare Gangetic Dolphin and blackbucks.
Shuklaphanta National Park covers 305 km2 (118 sq mi):
Located at the end of Nepal Far West a small park with open grassland, forests, riverbeds, and tropical wetlands at an altitude of 174 to 1,386 m (571 to 4,547 ft). The park was established in 1976 as Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, later made as national park famous for a large number of Black Buck antelope with other animals and bird-life.
High Himalayan and Mountainous National Parks of Nepal:
Sagarmatha National Park covers 1,148 SQ. Kms:
Sagarmatha National Park located Northeast of Kathmandu around the high Khumbu region of Nepal. The park includes the highest peak in the world, Mt. Everest / Sagarmatha, and several other well-known peaks such as Lhotse, Nuptse, Cho Oyo, Pumori, Amadablam, Thermasarkhu, Kwangde, Khangtiaga, and Gyachung Kang. The park was added to the list of World Heritage Sites in 1979.
Langtang National Park with area 1,710 sq.kms:
Langtang National Park situated around Central Himalaya and Langtang Himal area the nearest park from Kathmandu, where area stretches from 32 km north of Kathmandu to the Nepal – China (Tibet) border famous for rare and elusive Red Panda and other mountain animals and birdlife.
Makalu-Barun National Park & Conservation Area covering 2,330 Sq.Kms:
Makalu-Barun National Park & Conservation Area situated Far North-East within Sankha-Sabha and Solu Khumbu Districts, bordered by Arun River on the east, Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park on the west, the Nepal-China border toward north beyond Saune Danda (ridge).
Arun and Barun valley enriched with rare flora and fauna almost lost in this part of the world covered with green hills of rich rhododendron forest to remorseless fields of ice and glaciers.
Shey-Phoksundo National Park with an area 3,555 sq.kms:
Nepal’s largest Shey-Phoksundo National Park s situated Far North West in mountain region covering parts of Dolpo and Mugu Districts famous for snow leopard and blue sheep.
Rara National Park covers an area of 106 sq.Kms:
Rara National Park located Far North-West Nepal about 371 km air distance from Kathmandu. The smallest park of the country but includes Nepal’s largest Lake Rara, situated in Mugu District and the small area within the Jumla District of Karnali Zone with the country’s biggest lake ( 10.8 sq km) at an elevation of 2,990m.
