Waterfall inside gauri shankhar conservation area

Gaurishankar Conservation Area is a protected area in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

that was established in January 2010, covering in the Ramechhap, Dolakha and

Sindhupalchok Sindhupalchowk District ( ne, सिन्धुपाल्चोक जिल्ला ) is a part of Bagmati Province and one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal, with an area of . The district's headquarters is in Chautara. In 2006, 336 ...

districts and encompassing 22 Village Development Committees. It is contiguous with

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

in the north.NTNC (2010)
Gaurishankar Conservation Area Project
National Trust for Nature Conservation, Nepal. The protected area connects the

Langtang Langtang valley is a Himalayan valley in the mountains of north-central Nepal, known for its trekking routes and natural environment. Administrative The Langtang valley lies in the Rasuwa district of the Bagmati Province in Nepal. Situa ...

and

Sagarmatha National Park Sagarmāthā National Park is a national park in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal that is dominated by Mount Everest. It encompasses an area of in the Solukhumbu District and ranges in elevation from at the summit of Mount Everest. In the north, i ...

s. The Government of Nepal handed over the management of Gaurishankar Conservation Area to National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) for 20 years in 2010. Following the models of Annapurna and Manaslu Conservation Areas, NTNC has been managing the area through its Gaurishankar Conservation Area Project. It is a part of the

Sacred Himalayan Landscape The Sacred Himalayan Landscape is a large trans-boundary landscape in the eastern Himalayas encompassing temperate broadleaf and conifer forests, alpine meadows and grasslands, which harbour more than 80 mammal and more than 440 bird species. I ...

The headquarters is in Charikot.

History

In April 2006, the Dolakha Chamber of Commerce and Industries has requested the Government of Nepal and the Nepal Tourism Board to declare the

Rolwaling Rolwāling Valley ( ne, रोल्वालिङ् भ्याली. ), knows as a (Gaurishankar) rural municipality, is a section of the Himalayas in east-central Nepal along the Tibet border. Rolwaling Himal includes Melungtse 7181m and M ...

area as a national park. In January 2010, the ''Federation of Community Forest Users, Nepal'' expressed its disagreement against the decision to establish a conservation area and formed a ''National Struggle Committee'' to launch a campaign against the declaration, demanding that the community people should obtain management responsibility of the protected area.

Conservation Area Boundary

The Gaurishankar Conservation Area encompasses 22 VDCs, covering three districts. In Ramechhap, it includes the Chuchure and Gumdel VDCs. The Shyama, Suri, Chankhu, Marbu, Khare, Orang, Bulung, Laduk, Chilankha, Aalampu, Bigu, Kalinchok, Lamabagar and Gaurishankar VDCs of Dolakha also fall within its boundaries. And six VDCs of the Sindhupalchok District - Ghorthali, Marming, Listikot, Tatopani, Fulpingkatti and Gumba - are now part of the conservation area.

Flora and fauna

The Gaurishankar Conservation Area is rich in bio-diversity. A total of 16 varieties of vegetation have been identified in the area, including forests of

Pinus roxburghii ''Pinus roxburghii'', commonly known as chir pine or longleaf Indian pine, is a species of pine tree native to the Himalayas. It was named after William Roxburgh. Description ''Pinus roxburghii'' is a large tree reaching with a trunk diamete ...

, Schima-Castanopsis, Alnus,

Pinus wallichiana ''Pinus wallichiana'' is a coniferous evergreen tree native to the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountains, from eastern Afghanistan east across northern Pakistan and north west India to Yunnan in southwest China. It grows in mountain va ...

, Pinus patula, Rhododendron,

Quercus lanata ''Quercus lanata'', the woolly-leaved oak, is a species of ''Quercus'' native to southern and southeastern Asia, including India (from eastern Uttarakhand to Arunachal Pradesh), Bhutan, Nepal, Indochina (Vietnam, Myanmar, northern Thailand), and ...

and Temperate mountain oak forest.

Mammals

The Gaurishankar Conservation Area's mammalian population totals 34 species, including

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus '' Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is es ...

Himalayan black bear The Himalayan black bear (''Ursus thibetanus laniger'') is a subspecies of the Asian black bear found in the Himalayas of India, Bhutan, Nepal, China, and Pakistan. Description It is distinguished from '' U. t. thibetanus'' by its longer, thic ...

and

Himalayan thar The Himalayan tahr (''Hemitragus jemlahicus'') is a large even-toed ungulate native to the Himalayas in southern Tibet, northern India, western Bhutan and Nepal. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, as the population is declin ...

. One of the rarest mammals in the area is the

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzz ...

. In February 2019, an

Asian golden cat The Asian golden cat (''Catopuma temminckii'') is a medium-sized wild cat native to the northeastern Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and China. It has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2008, and is threatened by po ...

together with

Assam macaque The Assam macaque (''Macaca assamensis'') or Assamese macaque is a macaque of the Old World monkey family native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, it has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, as it is experiencing signif ...

masked palm civet The masked palm civet (''Paguma larvata''), also called the gem-faced civet, is a palm civet species native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008 as it occurs in many ...

Himalayan goral The Himalayan goral (''Naemorhedus goral'') or the gray goral, is a bovid species native to the Himalayas. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List because the population is thought to be declining significantly due to habitat lo ...

Himalayan serow The Himalayan serow (''Capricornis sumatraensis thar''), also known as the thar ( , ), is a subspecies of the mainland serow native to the Himalayas. It was previously considered its own species, as ''Capricornis thar''. It is the official stat ...

and

Indian muntjac The Indian muntjac or the common muntjac (''Muntiacus muntjak''), also called the southern red muntjac and barking deer, is a deer species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. In popular local l ...

were recorded in Gaurishankar Conservation Area.

Birds

A total of 235 species of birds have been recorded from the Gaurishankar Conservation Area.

Others

The conservation area also has 14 snake species, 16 species of fish, 10 types of amphibians and 8 lizard species.

Kalinchowk Bhagwati Shrine

There is a famous shrine of the Kalinchowk Bhagwati in Kuri village in the Kalinchowk VDC. It is a famous pilgrimage site for Hindus. Kalinchowk (3780 m) (3306554742)

References

External links

Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Nepal : ''Gaurishankar Conservation Area''
{{Authority control Protected areas of Nepal 2010 establishments in Nepal Wildlife conservation in Nepal