Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park is the ninth national park in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and was established in 2002. It is located in the country's mid-hills on the northern fringe of the

Kathmandu Valley The Kathmandu Valley (), also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley (, Newar language, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः), National Capital Area, is a bowl-shaped valley located in the Himalayas, Hima ...

and named after Shivapuri Peak at altitude. It covers an area of in the districts of

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, Nuwakot and Sindhupalchowk, adjoining 23 Village Development Committees. In the west, the protected area extends to the Dhading District.

History

The area has always been an important water catchment area, supplying the

with several hundred thousand cubic liter of water daily. In 1976, the area was established as a protected watershed and wildlife reserve. In 2002, it was gazetted as Shivapuri National Park, initially covering . It was extended by the Nagarjun Forest Reserve covering in 2009. The park includes some historical and religious sites, and a popular hiking route for local people and tourists.

Climate

The park is located in a transition zone between subtropical and temperate climates. The annual precipitation of about falls mostly from May to September, with 80% during the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

. Temperatures vary from during the winter season, rising to during the summer season.

Vegetation

The typical vegetation of the park is middle hill forest from of altitude, consisting of: * Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests in the lower and upper subtropical bioclimatic zone dominated by '' Schima''-'' Castanopsis'' associations, with chir pine stands on southern dry ridges and associations of

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

, wild Himalayan cherry, '' Engelhardia'' and ring-cupped oak along streams; * Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests in the lower temperate bioclimatic zone with predominantly broadleaf evergreen species of oak and laurel families mixed with

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

on northern slopes.Majupuria, T.C., Kumar, R. (1998). ''Wildlife, National Parks and Reserves of Nepal.'' S. Devi, Saharanpur and Tecpress Books, Bangkok. . Pages 200–204. In higher elevations, a variety of medicinal

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

s prosper.

Botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

s have recorded 129 species of

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

and 2,122 floral species, out of which 449 are

vascular Vascular can refer to: * blood vessels, the vascular system in animals * vascular tissue Vascular tissue is a complex transporting tissue, formed of more than one cell type, found in vascular plants. The primary components of vascular tissue ...

and 16 are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

plants.Maskey, N. (2008). ''Investing in Ecosystem Services: Opportunities and Challenges for Shivapuri National Park, Nepal.'' Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, Sweden

Fauna

Since 2002 several surveys have been carried out to determine the faunal diversity of the protected area. In a field study carried out from July 2003 to July 2004, Indian leopard, jungle cat, large Indian civet, golden jackal, Himalayan black bear, yellow-throated marten, small Indian mongoose, Himalayan goral, Indian muntjac,

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

, rhesus monkey, Hanuman langur, Chinese pangolin, Indian crested porcupine, Royle's pika, Indian hare, orange-bellied Himalayan squirrel, fawn-colored mouse, Hodgsons's brown-toothed shrew and

black rat The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is n ...

were identified. Clouded leopard, leopard cat, masked palm civet, crab-eating mongoose, Indian pangolin, rhesus macaque and yellow-throated marten, were photographed by camera traps in 2010. In the western part of the park, herpetologists encountered monocled cobra, Himalayan keelback, olive Oriental slender snake, yellow-bellied worm-eating snake, variegated mountain lizard, Oriental garden lizard, many-keeled grass skink, Sikkim skink, black-spined toad, long-legged cricket frog and horned frog in the summer of 2009. Ornithologists recorded 318 species of birds including

Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total le ...

, slender-billed scimitar-babbler, white-gorgeted flycatcher, barred cuckoo-dove and golden-throated barbet.Bird Conservation Nepal (2006). ''Birds of Shivapuri. Checklist of 318 reported species.'' Published in cooperation with Shivapuri National Park, Kathmandu.

References

External links