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The Terai or Tarai is to a lowland region in parts of northern India and southern Nepal that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by tall grasslands, scrub savannah, sal forests and clay rich swamps. In North India, the Terai spreads from the Yamuna River eastward across Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. The Terai is part of the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion. Nepal's Terai stretches over 33,998.8 km2 (13,127.0 sq mi), about 23.1% of Nepal's land area, and lies at an elevation of between 67 and 300 m. The region comprises more than 50 wetlands. North of the Terai rises the Bhabar, a narrow but continuous belt of forest about 8–12 km (5.0–7.5 mi) wide.
Chitwan National Park is the first national park of Nepal. It was established in 1973 as the Royal Chitwan National Park and was granted the status of a World Heritage Site in 1984. It covers an area of 952.63 km2 (367.81 sq mi) in the subtropical Inner Terai lowlands of south-central Nepal in Nawalpur, Chitwan, Makwanpur and Parsa Districts. It ranges in elevation from about 100 m (330 ft) in the river valleys to 815 m (2,674 ft) in the Sivalik Hills.
The Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve is a protected area in the Terai of eastern Nepal covering 176 km2 (68 sq mi) of wetlands in the Sunsari, Saptari and Udayapur Districts. It comprises extensive reed beds and freshwater marshes in the floodplain of the Kosi River, and ranges in elevation from 75 to 81 m. It was established in 1976 and designated as a Ramsar site in December 1987. It hosts Nepal's last remaining herd of the wild water buffalo.
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.
Bardiya National Park is a protected area in Nepal that was established in 1988 as Royal Bardia National Park. Covering an area of 968 km2 (374 sq mi) it is the largest and most undisturbed national park in Nepal's Terai, adjoining the eastern bank of the Karnali River and bisected by the Babai River in the Bardiya District. Its northern limits are demarcated by the crest of the Siwalik Hills. The Nepalgunj-Surkhet highway partly forms the southern boundary, but seriously disrupts the protected area. Natural boundaries for human settlements are formed in the west by the Geruwa, a branch of the Karnali River, and in the southeast by the Babai River.
The Kosi or Koshi is a transboundary river which flows through China, Nepal and India. It drains the northern slopes of the Himalayas in Tibet and the southern slopes in Nepal. From a major confluence of tributaries north of the Chatra Gorge onwards, the Kosi River is also known as the Saptakoshi for its seven upper tributaries. These include the Tamur River originating from the Kanchenjunga area in the east and Arun River and the Sun Kosi from Tibet. The Sun Koshi's tributaries from east to west are the Dudh Koshi, Likhu Khola, Tamakoshi River, Bhote Koshi and Indravati. The Saptakoshi crosses into northern Bihar, India where it branches into distributaries before joining the Ganges near Kursela in Katihar district. The Kosi is the third-largest tributary of the Ganges by water discharge after the Ghaghara and the Yamuna.
Rara Lake, also known as Mahendra Lake, is the largest fresh water lake in the Nepalese Himalayas. It is the main feature of Rara National Park, located in Jumla and Mugu Districts of Karnali Province. Rara National Park stretches over 106 km2 (41 sq mi).
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).
Phoksundo Lake (Nepali: फोक्सुण्डो, romanized: Phoksuṇḍo, pronounced ) is an alpine fresh water oligotrophic lake in Nepal's Shey Phoksundo National Park, located at an elevation of 3,611.5 m (11,849 ft) in the Dolpa District. Phoksundo Lake is 494 ha (1.91 sq mi) in size with a water volume of 409,000,000 m3 (1.44×1010 cu ft) and a discharge of 3.715 m3/s (131.2 cu ft/s). In 2004, a survey by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology measured the maximum depth of the lake at 145 m (476 ft). In 2019, another detailed survey was carried out by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, which measured the maximum depth of the lake at 136.20 m (446.9 ft).
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.
The Inner Terai Valleys of Nepal comprise several elongated river valleys in the southern lowland Terai part of the country. These tropical valleys are enclosed by the Himalayan foothills, viz the Mahabharat Range and the Sivalik Hills farther south.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Nepal:
The Mid-Western Development Region was one of the largest and formerly one of Nepal's five development regions. Westward from the Central region surrounding Kathmandu were the Western, Mid-Western and finally Far-Western regions. Counter-intuitively, Mid-Western lay west of Western.
Rara National Park is a protected area in the Himalayas of Nepal and was established in 1976. Covering an area of 106 km2 (41 sq mi) in the Mugu and Jumla districts, it is the country's smallest national park. Its main feature is Rara Lake at an altitude of 2,990 m (9,810 ft). The park was established to protect the unique flora and fauna of the Humla–Jumla Region of Nepal.
Shuklaphanta National Park is a national park in the Terai of the Far-Western Region, Nepal, covering 305 km2 (118 sq mi) of open grasslands, forests, riverbeds and wetlands at an elevation of 174 to 1,386 m. It is bounded by the Mahakali river in the west and south. A small part extends north of the Mahendra Highway to create a wildlife corridor for seasonal migration of wildlife into the Sivalik Hills. It was gazetted in 1976 as Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve and was enlarged to its present size in the late 1980s. A buffer zone of 243.5 km2 (94.0 sq mi) was added in 2004. It receives a mean annual rainfall of 1,579 mm (62.2 in) and harbours 700 floral, 456 bird, 56 reptile and 15 amphibian species.
The Blackbuck Conservation Area is located in Gulariya, Bardiya District, Nepal and was established in 2009 to conserve the endangered blackbuck. This protected area covers 16.95 km2 (6.54 sq mi).
Gaurishankar Conservation Area is a protected area in the Himalayas of Nepal that was established in January 2010, covering 2,179 km2 (841 sq mi) in the Ramechhap, Dolakha and Sindhupalchok districts and encompassing 22 Village Development Committees. It is contiguous with Tibet in the north and a part of the Sacred Himalayan Landscape. The protected area connects the Langtang and Sagarmatha National Parks. In 2010, the Government of Nepal handed over the management of Gaurishankar Conservation Area to National Trust for Nature Conservation for 20 years, which has been managing the area through its Gaurishankar Conservation Area Project.
The Api-Nampa Conservation Area is a protected area in the western Nepal that was established in 2010. It has an area of 1,903 km2 (735 sq mi). It ranges in elevation from 518 to 7,132 m at the Himalayan peak Api, and is part of the Kailash Sacred Landscape.
Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) is composed of 14 Indian and Nepalese trans-border protected ecosystems of the Terai and nearby foothills of the Himalayas. and encompassing 14 protected areas of Nepal and India. The area spans approximately 12.3 million acres and includes Nepal's Bagmati River to the east and India's Yamuna River to the west. The TAL is home to many endangered mammals including the Bengal tiger, the Indian rhinoceros, the gaur, the wild Asian elephant, the hispid hare, the sloth bear, the South Asian river dolphin and the chital, as well as over 500 species of birds, many endangered. Examples of birds are the endangered Bengal florican, the sarus crane, and the black stork.
Barahakshetra Municipality is a newly formed municipality located in Sunsari District of Koshi Province in Nepal. The area of the municipality is 222 km2 and according to 2021 Census of Nepal the population of the municipality is 91,087 Barahakshetra is a famous pilgrimage site that remains inside Barahakshetra Municipality. Also saptakoshi River flows inside the Municipality.
References
- ↑ Bhuju, U. R.; Shakya, P. R.; Basnet, T. B.; Shrestha, S. (2007). Nepal Biodiversity Resource Book. Protected Areas, Ramsar Sites, and World Heritage Sites (PDF). Kathmandu: 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. ISBN 978-92-9115-033-5.
- ↑ Bhushal, R. P. (2010). "Nod to Banke National Park". The Himalayan Times. Kathmandu.
- ↑ Chaudhary, H.; Poudyal, L.P. (2016). Bird Survey of Api Nampa Conservation Area in Nepal, 2016: Report to the Api Nampa Conservation Area Office, Khalanga, Darchula, Nepal (Report). Kathmandu, Nepal: Nepalese Ornithological Union and Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
- ↑ NTNC (2010). Gaurishankar Conservation Area Project (Report). Kathmandu, Nepal: National Trust for Nature Conservation.
- ↑ DNPWC (2014). Blackbuck Conservation Area (Report). Kathmandu: Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Archived 2015-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Prasad, Madhav (2016-04-08). "Top Must See Places in Bhutan". Mosaic Adventure. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
- 1 2 Bhandari, B. B. (2009). "Wise use of Wetlands in Nepal". Banko Janakari. 19 (3): 10–17.
- ↑ "DNPWC". Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ↑ Baral, S.; Dhakal, M.; Khanal, R. (2016). Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley. Kathmandu: Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, IUCN Nepal.
