Pokhara is a metropolitan city located in central Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province and is declared as the tourism capital of Nepal. It is the second most populous city of the nation after Kathmandu, with 599,504 inhabitants living in 120,594 households as of 2021. It is the country's largest metropolitan city in terms of area. The city also serves as the headquarters of Kaski District. Pokhara is located 200 kilometres west of the capital, Kathmandu. The city is on the shore of Phewa Lake, and sits at an average elevation of approximately 822 m above sea level. The Annapurna Range, with three out of the ten highest peaks in the world—Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manaslu—is within 15–35 mi (24–56 km) aerial range from the valley.
Lake Alaotra is the largest lake in Madagascar, located in Alaotra-Mangoro Region and on the island's northern central plateau. Its basin is composed of shallow freshwater lakes and marshes surrounded by areas of dense vegetation. It forms the center of the island's most important rice-growing region. It is a rich habitat for wildlife, including some rare and endangered species, as well as an important fishing ground. Lake Alaotra and its surrounding wetlands cover 7,223 square kilometres (2,789 sq mi), and include a range of habitats, including open water, reedbeds, marshes, and rice paddies. The lake itself covers 900 km2 (350 sq mi). Lake Alaotra was declared a wetland of international importance under the international Ramsar Convention on February 2, 2003.
The Madagascar pochard or Madagascan pochard is an extremely rare diving duck of the genus Aythya. Thought to be extinct in the late 1990s, specimens of the species were rediscovered at Lake Matsaborimena near Bemanevika in Madagascar in 2006. By 2017, a captive breeding program had produced a population of around 90 individuals. The birds were reintroduced to the wild in December 2018.
The Terai–Duar savanna and grasslands is a narrow lowland ecoregion at the base of the Himalayas, about 25 km (16 mi) wide, and a continuation of the Indo-Gangetic Plain in India, Nepal and Bhutan. It is colloquially called Terai in the Ganges Basin east to Nepal, then Dooars in West Bengal, Bhutan and Assam east to the Brahmaputra River. It harbours the world's tallest grasslands, which are the most threatened and rare worldwide.
The Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary is the largest Ramsar site in Sindh, covering 566,375 ha, and is located in the Rann of Kutch in Badin District, Sindh, Pakistan. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary by the government of Sindh in 1980.
Tso Moriri or Lake Moriri or "Mountain Lake", is a lake in the Changthang Plateau in Leh district of the union territory of Ladakh in India. It is located approximately 219 km from Leh City, capital of Ladakh. The lake and surrounding area are protected as the Tso Moriri Wetland Conservation Reserve.
Dipor Bil, also spelled Deepor Beel , is located to the south-west of Guwahati city, in Kamrup Metropolitan district of Assam, India. It is a permanent freshwater lake, in a former channel of the Brahmaputra River, to the south of the main river. In 1989, 4.1 km² of the area was declared a wildlife sanctuary by the Government of Assam. It is listed as a wetland under the Ramsar Convention which designated the lake as a Ramsar Site in November 2002 for undertaking conservation measures on the basis of its biological and environmental importance.
Shey Phoksundo National Park is the largest and only trans-Himalayan national park in Nepal. It was established in 1984 and covers an area of 3,555 km2 (1,373 sq mi) in the districts of Dolpa and Mugu in the Mid-Western Region, Nepal. The protected area ranges in elevation from 2,130 to 6,885 m. Phoksundo Lake is the park's prominent feature, located at an elevation of 3,612 m (11,850 ft).
Lake Elmenteita is a soda lake, in the Great Rift Valley, about 120 km northwest of Nairobi, Kenya.
Wildlife diversity is a notable feature of Nepal. Because of the variance in climate, from tropical to arctic, Nepal has a large variety of plants and animals. Wildlife tourism is a major source of tourism in the country. There are some animal species which are unique to Nepal, such as the spiny babbler. Nepal is also host to many rhododendron species. Nepal has numerous national parks and reserves to protect its diverse fauna. Nepal is a biodiversity hot spot with ecoregions broadly comprising the mountainous ecoregion, the savanna and grasslands ecoregion of the terai (foothills), and the Rara Lake ecoregion.
Phewa Lake or Phewa Tal is a freshwater lake in Nepal formerly called Baidam Tal located in the south of the Pokhara Valley that includes Pokhara city and parts of Sarangkot and Kaskikot. It is the second largest lake in Nepal and the largest in Gandaki Province after the Rara lake in comparison to Nepal's water bodies. It is the most popular and most visited lake in Nepal. Phewa lake is located at an altitude of 742 m (2,434 ft) and covers an area of about 5.7 km2 (2.2 sq mi). It has an average depth of about 8.6 m (28 ft) and a maximum depth of 24 m (79 ft). The maximum water capacity of the lake is approximately 43,000,000 cubic metres (35,000 acre⋅ft). The Annapurna range on the north is only about 28 km away from the lake. The lake is also famous for the reflection of mount Machhapuchhre and other mountain peaks of the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges on its surface. The Tal Barahi Temple is situated on an island in the lake. It is located 4 km from the city's centre Chipledhunga.
Pokhara Valley is the second-largest valley in the hilly region of Nepal. It lies in the western part of Nepal. The cities of Pokhara and Lekhnath are in the valley. As of 2023, Pokhara has a population of 599,504. It is located in Gandaki zone, 203 km (126 mi) west of Kathmandu Valley. The city of Pokhara is one of the major cities of Nepal and it, like Kathmandu Valley, is extremely vulnerable to earthquakes due to its clay soil and liquefaction potential.
Harike Wetland also known as "Hari-ke-Pattan", with the Harike Lake in the deeper part of it, is the largest wetland in northern India in the border of Tarn Taran Sahib district and Ferozepur district of the Punjab state in India.
Akyatan Lagoon is a 14700-hectare wetland ecosystem that is designated as Wetland of International Importance by Ramsar Convention. A major stopover for migrating birds, Akyatan is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International. It is the single largest green turtle rookery at the Mediterranean, holding 43% of the Mediterranean nesting population.
Toolibin Lake is a seasonal fresh to brackish water perched lake or wooded swamp, in south-western Australia. The lake is contained with a 493-hectare (1,218-acre) nature reserve and it is located about 200 kilometres (124 mi) south-east of Perth, in the Shire of Narrogin, and 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of the town of Narrogin, in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The lake is listed by the Australian Government as a threatened ecological community under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Ghodaghodi Tal is a Ramsar site in western Nepal. It was established in August 2003 it covers an area of 2,563 h (9,230 ks) in Kailali District at an elevation of 205 m (673 ft) on the lower slopes of the Siwalik Hills. It was declared as a bird sanctuary in March 2022.
Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe is the largest Wetland of International Importance in the world as recognized by the Ramsar Convention. The site covers an area of 65,696 square kilometres (25,365 sq mi) in the region around Lake Tumba in the western Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This is more than twice the size of Belgium or Maryland.
Rupa Lake or Rupa Tal is a freshwater lake in Nepal located in the border of Pokhara Metropolitan and Rupa Rural Municipality of Kaski District. It is the third biggest lake in Pokhara valley of Nepal and at an altitude of 600 m (1,969 ft) covering area about 1.35 km2 (0.5 sq mi) with an average water depth 3 m (9.8 ft) and maximum depth 6 m (20 ft). The lake is elongated north to south and is fed by perennial streams. Its watershed area is 30 km2, where The main inflow of water is from Talbesi stream, whereas Dhovan khola is the feeder stream with its outlet Tal khola at Sistani ghat. It supports a number of floral and faunal species. A total of 36 species of waterbirds have been recorded in the lake which represents about 19 percent of the total 193 wetland-dependent birds found in Nepal.
