Shey Phoksundo National Park: The Largest National Park Of Nepal.

Shey Phoksundo National Park is situated in the trans- Himalayan region of north –west Nepal. It is Nepal’s largest national park covering an area of 3555 sq. km. It was established in 1984 to preserve a unique trans-Himalayan eco-system with a diversity of flora and fauna.

The park provides diversity of spectacular landscapes. Elevation of the park ranges from 2200m at suligad to 6883m at the summit of Kanjiroba. Much of the park lies in the north of the Himalayan crest. The park encompasses Phoksundo lakes, a wetland of international importance which is declared as Ramsar site an sept. 23, 2007. This lake is also Nepal’s deepest and second largest lake and famous for its magnificent turquoise color and the spectaculars scenery that clearly ranks this park with the most scenic mountain park in the world.

The park contains many monasteries and religious sites. The most famous Shey monastery was established in 11^th century. Thasung monastery near Phoksundo Lake was built about 900 years ago to conserve wildlife. The park experiences wide climatic ranges. Winters are quite sever e with frequent snowfalls above 2500 m and temperature remaining below freezing above3000m through much of the winter. Most of the precipitation in this area occurs during monsoon (July-September). The park contains the transition from a monsoon dominated climate with 1500mm of annual precipitation in the south (suligad) to an arid climatic with less than 500mm.

park provides important habitat for some endangered species including the snow leopard, grey wolf and musk deer. Other wildlife animals found in the park are goral, leopard, jackle, himalayan black beer Etc.The Park is home six species of reptiles and 32 species of butterfly, including the highest flying butterfly in the world, paralasa Nepalaica. The park is also the home for more than 200 species of birds that includes yellow throated marten, Tibetan partridge, wood snipe, white throated tit, wood accentor and crimson-earned rosefinch.The flora found within the park is extremely diverse. The northern region contains barren areas of the upper Himalayan range and the trans- himalayan slope lands consisting of some rhododendron, caragana shrubs, Salix, juniper, white himalayan birch and the occasional silver fir dominate high meadows of the inner Himalayas. Less than five percent of the park is forested with much of it lying in the southern parts.

The park is home for more than 9000 people and their village area among the highest settlement on earth. Most of the inhabitants of the park practice Bon, an ancient religion with roots in animism and Buddhism. The Bon- Po religion, which forms the entire cultural base for Tibetan Buddhism, was founded 18000 years ago, during the Zhang Zung Empire of today’s western Tibet. The landscape is dotted with sacred monasteries, thangka paintings and chartens. The local trade with Tibet and agriculture is the main occupation of their inhabitants. This area is also famous for its salt trade caravan.