Protected Areas (0)

Protected areas are widely held to be among the most effective means of conserving biological diversity in situ. The Convention on Biological Diversity defines protected areas as "a geographically defined area which is designated or regulated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives."  IUCN the world conservation union defines protected areas as "an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity and of natural and associated cultural resources, managed through legal or other effective means".

Protected area management in Nepal received a real thrust in the 1970s. Not only protected areas came to be added, but also action on both their protection and conservation was intensified. The first organized approach to managing protected areas in Nepal dates back to the year 1973 by establishing Chitwan National Park. Now, the protected areas in Nepal include ten national parks, three wildlife reserves, one hunting reserve and six conservation areas and twelve buffer zones covering an area of 34,185.62 sq. km that is 23.23% of the total area of the country.