Flowers

Nepal is rich in vegetation.Due to the different altitude in Nepal has many kinds of flower grown in different areas.The country's diverse terrain provides ideal conditions for varieties from tropical to hill plants and flowers. Some orchids and certain varieties of rhododendron are very rare and found only in Nepal. Lali Guras or the red rhododendron is the national flower of Nepal. During the right seasons most visitors who come to explore the natural beauty of the country, are fortunate to have a glimpse of spectacular sights of hills covered with rhododendron flowers. Spring and autumn are the best seasons for flowers in Nepal.Due to diversity in climate and topography, many different varieties of flowers are found in Nepal. They range from tropical flowers found in the Terai to flowers such as rhododendron that are found only above the snowline. Out of the many varieties of flowers found in Nepal, many species of orchids and varieties of rhododendron are the rarest and most of them are found nowhere on earth. The Lali-Guras Festival, the festival of rhododendron flowers, is held annually at Helambu. Lali-Guras is the Nepalese name for the red rhododendron, and is the national flower of Nepal With all this richness in flowers, Nepal is a flower lover`s paradise. Spring and autumn are the best seasons to be in Nepal for floricultural indulgence. Due to its richness in flowers, Nepal is also known as the 'only flower that blooms in winter'.

Birds

There are many species of birds are found in Nepal.About 850species of birds are found in Nepal. With the opening of Koshi Tappu Reserve, bird watching is gaining grounds in Nepal. Koshi Tappu alone has recorded over 250 species of birds. Rare birds include Impeyean pheasant, the national bird, snow cock, snow pigeon, giant horn-bill, saras crane and babblers. The spiny babbler is a rare endemic variety found only in Nepal. Every year migratory birds from Tibet, Siberia and the northern mountains fly to the lowlands and Terai of Nepal. The Koshi Barrage is one of the most important migratory habitats. Bird watching is a very pleasant experience during late autumn and early spring when the migration occurs. Other parks and reserves also attract more birds and birdwatchers.

Mammals

Nepal is very rish in diversity of flora and fauna including mammals also.The highest diversity of mammals species occur in midhills. However larger and the endangered species occur in the Terai and Siwaliks.Twenty seven mammals have been given legal protection by NPWC Act 1973. The big five (rhino, elephant, Bengal tiger, snow leopard and musk deer) drew attention from conservationist due to the vulnerability from the habitat fragmentation and casualty by poachers. The Asian one-horned Rhino (Gaida in Nepali) is one of the five species of Rhino found in Asia and Africa. They are endangered and occur in Royal Chitwan National Park. They have been reintroduced to Bardia and few to Shukalphanta. They graze singly or in small group in elephant grass, where they also retire during the heat of the day. Wild Asiatic Elephant, the stock of the domestic trained elephants are part of the culture in South Asia. Ganesh the elephant god is widely worshipped by Hindu devotees. They occur in small number in the protected area and bordering areas with India. Some of the wild males in musth period sired several babies from domestic stock. They frequently come to conflict with human while feeding on the crop fields, damaging property and injuring human. Resident populations are found in Bardia National Park. Raja Gaj the tallest living male Asia Elephant resides in Bardia.

Fishes

Having rich in diverity, Nepal also has different species of fishes.About one hundred and eighty five species of fish belonging to 11 orders have been recorded from Nepal. Eight endemic fish species are found in Nepal. Small populations of an exotic species Rato Macha (Carrasius carrasius) have become naturalized in the ponds of Nepal. The number of fish species found in river systems is related to the temperature and the rate of flow. The warmer the climate and the gentler the flow, the higher the number of fish species. All the 11 orders of fish reported from Nepal are found in Terai and Siwaliks, eight in the Midhills and only one in the highlands (Appendix4-7). The highest number of fish species – 154 species (83%) are found in the Terai/Siwaliks followed by 76 (41%) of the species in the Midhills and only six (3%) of the species of fish have been recorded in the Highlands (Table 4-7 and Figure 4-1). The low number of fish occurring at high altitudes is due to the prevalent adverse ecological conditions such as steep gradient of the streams and the cold temperatures.

Floral diversity

Nepal is suituted in very high level but some places is suituted in very low level.It's vegetation is largely determined by altitude can be conveniently grouped into three main divisions. The lowlands include the Terai, Churia and valleys up to about 1000 m; the midland extends roughly from 1000 - 3000 m and the Himalaya from 3000 to 5000 m. Conditions vary tremendously within these zones however; south facing slopes usually receives more moisture but also more sun in the lower reaches, while certain area that are less protected from the summer monsoon - notably Pokhara- are especially wet. In general, rainfall is higher in the east, and greater diversity of plants can be found there.

Protected areas

Nepal has more natural scenes which are being rare. Therefore such areas are being protected by different INGOs.From the lowlands of the Terai to the icy heights of the Himalaya, Nepal possesses biological diversity that is truly impressive. Nepal is one of the few countries in the world where the population of several keystone species have increased following the establishment of protected areas. The country has been highly successful in establishing an impressive network of protected areas as a means of protecting biodiversity. To date, from just 8% in 1980s, over 18% of the country’s surface area is now under protected area jurisdiction. The ratio of protected area to total land area of the country is one of the highest in Asia. With the introduction of the Buffer Zone concept, the area under conservation regime will increase further. Although Nepal possesses an area of just 147,181 sq km (a mere 0.1% of the world’s total landmass), it nevertheless accounts for over 2% of the world’s flowering plants, about 8% of the world’s bird species and over 4% of the world’s mammal species. With such a vast biological repository of global significance, Nepal is undoubtedly a biological (as well as a cultural) hotspot that deserves special attention. And the fact that two of the protected areas ­ Royal Chitwan and Sagarmatha National Parks ­ are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, stands testimony to this.

Trekking and climbing

Nepal is a landlock country so, it's is surround by many mountains. Nepal consists the highest peak in the world, the MountEverest. And Nepal is very suitable place for the trekking and climbing mountain. A program combined with trekking and peak climbing for beginners as well as experienced climbers. One can experience trekking along with trekking peak climbing Such as Imja Tse ( Island Peak 6,160 m) and Mera Peak (6,645m) in Khumbu (Everest (region) are popular as well as Chulu West (6,419m) Chulu East (6,548m) and Tent Peak (5,663m) in the Annapurna Range. Gangala Chuli (5,844m) can be combined with a trek in the upper Langtang Valley on a regular basis.

Nepal's biodiversity at a glance

The tallest mountain range in the world, the Himalaya is also a youngest and is still growing. This range deprives the great Tibetan plateau from monsoon and forms the rain shadow. And on the other hand it also blocks the cold northern winds reaching the Indian plains during winter. Because of these phenomena the southern parts of the Himalaya is lush green, productive and prone to erosion due to full brunt of monsoon, whereas the northern Tibetan plateau remained arid region. This uniqueness in the climate found due to altitudinal variation allows Nepal to experience from Tropical to Alpine bio-climate, despite our geographical position. Hence Nepal boasts from the large terrestrial rhinos and elephants of the tropics to the snow leopard and Tibetan Argali of alpine region. Nepal has been ranked top ten highest flowering plant diversity out of 25 Asian countries. On a world scale Nepal lies 27th in the richness scale on floral diversity. With just over 0.1% of the earths land surface occurring in Nepal, it supports globally known 4.2% butterflies (635 spp), 2.2 % of fresh water fish species (185 spp), 1.1 % amphibians (43 spp.), 1.5% reptile (100 spp.), 8.5% of birds (860 spp.) and 4.2% mammals (181 spp).

Nationalparks, conservstion areas and wildlifereserve

There are many conservation areas and national parks made in Nepal. Such parks and conservation areas are made to save the animals and plants being rare.The geography of Nepal can be divided into high mountains, mid hills and low lands. A wide range of ecosystem from sub-tropical jungles of the Terai to the arctic conditions of Himalayan highlands are found within an area of 147,181 square kilometers. There are a total of 9 National parks, 3 wildlife Reserves, 3 Conservation Areas, 1 Hunting Reserve including 9 Buffer zones around national parks, covering a total of 28,585.67 km2 (19.42%) of the country’s total land. Nepal’s rich bio-diversity renders it ideal as an eco-tourism destination.

Butterflies

Nepal is very rich in forest resourse therefore Nepals consist many different types of species of butterflies. Nepal houses excellent representation of butterflies found both in Oriental and Palaearctic realms. The total diversity of butterfly reported so far comprises about 650 species out of 20000 species found in the world. All these species are categorized under 11 families of the existing 15 families in the world. About 29 species and subspecies have been found endemic to the country.