Sagarmatha National Park A UNESCO World Heritage Site

Established in 1976, Sagarmatha National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site encompassing diverse landscapes and rare wildlife. Despite conservation efforts, the park faces challenges from increasing tourism and environmental degradation.

Sagarmatha National Park was established on July 19, 1976 under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act and is managed by the National Park and Wildlife Conservation Office, Effective legal protection remains in place under the National Park and Wildlife Protection Act 1973 and the Himalayan National Park Regulations 1978 Government of Nepal. Most of the park (69%) comprises barren land above 5,000m with 28% being grazing land and nearly 3% forested, this combined with the resident Sherpa population, who are reliant on subsistence agro-pastoralism provides a number of management challenges. UNESCO listed SNP as a World Heritage Site in 1979, the park include pine and hemlock forests, while fir, juniper, birch and rhododendron, scrub and alpine plant communities are common at the higher altitude. The park is home to the red panda, snow leopard, musk deer, Himalayan tahr, marten, Himalayan mouse hare (pika) and over 118 species of bird including the Impeyan pheasant, snow cock, blood pheasant, red billed cough etc.

The Government of Nepal provides a regular budget for the management and protection of the property and buffer zone.  Furthermore, the Government has been providing 50% of the park’s revenue to the local communities through the buffer zone Integrated Conservation and Development Programme (ICDP) and its related activities based on the approved Management Plan. Buffer Zone Management Committees, User Committees and User Groups work as additional tools for the sustainable management of the park and buffer zone resources.

Dramatic increases in the number of annual visitors has stimulated the local economy but has also brought an increase in the degradation of the region’s fragile ecology and cultural traditions due to a constant and increasing demand for firewood despite the mitigating impacts of the few operational micro-hydro projects. Construction of illegal trails, resort development, energy demand and supply, assessment of impacts from tourism and tourism carrying capacity are issues that remain important in the management of the property despite recent success working with local communities and stakeholders to halt a number of development projects, including the extension of the Sanboche airport.