Sagarmatha National Park

Coordinates: 27°56′N 86°44′E

Sagarmāthā National Park is a national park in the

Himalayas of eastern Nepal that is dominated by Mount
Sagarmatha National Park
Everest. It encompasses an area of 1,148 km2 (443 sq mi) IUCN category II (national park)
in the Solukhumbu District and ranges in elevation from
2,845 to 8,848  m (9,334 to 29,029  ft) at the summit of
Mount Everest. In the north, it shares the international
border with Qomolangma National Nature Preserve of
Tibet. In the east, it is adjacent to Makalu Barun National
Park, and in the south it extends to Dudh Kosi river.[1] It
is part of the Sacred Himalayan Landscape.[2]

Sagarmāthā is a Nepali word for Mount Everest, derived

from words sagar (सागर) meaning "sea" and māthā (माथा)
meaning "forehead". Although it is unintuitive for a Landscape in the national park
mountain to be called as 'the forehead of the sea', the Sagarmatha
National
mountain got its name possibly because of the way the Park
Himalayas were formed. Himalayas were formed from
the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates,
meaning that there was an ocean in the place of where the
Himalayas stand today.[3] So Mount Everest symbolizes
the forehead or the highest point of the ocean, which
peeks out of the ocean and looks upon the lands below it.

History
Sagarmatha National Park was established in 1976. In
1979, it became the country's first national park that was
inscribed as a Natural World Heritage Site. In January
2002, a Buffer Zone comprising 275  km2 (106  sq  mi)
was added.[1] Under the Buffer Zone Management
Guidelines the conservation of forests, wildlife and
cultural resources received top priority, followed by
Sagarmatha
conservation of other natural resources and development National
of alternative energy.[4] Park

Tourism to the area began in the early 1960s. In 2003,

about 19,000 tourists arrived. As of 2005, about 3,500
Sherpa people lived in villages and seasonal settlements
situated along the main tourist trails.[5]

Landscape
The park contains the upper catchment areas of the Dudh
Kosi river, Bhotekoshi river basin and the Gokyo Lakes.
It is largely composed of rugged terrain and gorges of the
high Himalayas, ranging from 2,845  m (9,334  ft) at
Monjo to the top of the world's highest peak Sagarmatha
(Mount Everest) at 8,848  m (29,029  ft) above sea level. Sagarmatha
National
Other peaks above 6,000  m (20,000  ft) are Lhotse, Cho Park
Oyu, Thamserku, Nuptse, Amadablam and Pumori.
Barren land above 5,000 m (16,000 ft) comprises 69% of
the park while 28% is grazing land and the remaining 3% Location Koshi, Nepal
is forested. Climatic zones include a forested temperate Nearest city Namche, Khumjung
zone, a subalpine zone above 3,000 m (9,800 ft), and an
Coordinates 27°56′N 86°44′E
alpine zone above 4,000 m (13,000 ft) that constitutes the
upper limit of vegetation growth. The nival zone starts at Area 1,148 km2 (443 sq mi)
5,000 m (16,000 ft).[1] Established July 19, 1976
Governing body Department of National
Wildlife Parks and Wildlife
Conservation
Website sagarmathanationalpark
Flora
.gov.np (http://sagarmath
The forests in the subalpine belt consist of fir, Himalayan anationalpark.gov.np)
birch and rhododendron. Juniper and rhododendron
prevail at elevations of 4,000–5,000  m (13,000–
16,000  ft). Mosses and lichens grow above 5,000  m
(16,000  ft).[6] More than 1,000 floral species were
recorded in the national park.[1]

Fauna

Sagarmatha National Park hosts 208 bird species

including Impeyan pheasant, bearded vulture, snowcock,
and alpine chough,[1] and has been identified by BirdLife
International as an Important Bird Area (IBA).[7]
Ungulates include Himalayan thar, Himalayan serow and
musk deer. The snow leopard inhabits elevations above UNESCO World Heritage Site
3,500 m (11,500 ft), and the Indian leopard roams forests
in lower elevations.[8] Criteria Natural: vii
Reference 120 (https://whc.unesco.o
References rg/en/list/120)
Inscription 1979 (3rd Session)
1. Bhuju, U.R.; Shakya, P.R.; Basnet, T.B. &
Shrestha, S. (2007). "Sagarmatha National Park" (http://lib.icimod.org/record/7560/files/Nep
al%20Biodiversity%20Resource%20Book.pdf#page=85) (PDF). Nepal Biodiversity
Resource Book. Protected Areas, Ramsar Sites, and World Heritage Sites. Kathmandu:
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Ministry of Environment, Science
and Technology, in cooperation with United Nations Environment Programme, Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific. pp. 53–55. ISBN 978-92-9115-033-5.
2. Gurung, C. P.; Maskey, T. M.; Poudel, N.; Lama, Y.; Wagley, M. P.; Manandhar, A.; Khaling, S.;
Thapa, G.; Thapa, S. & Wikramanayake, E. D. (2006). "The Sacred Himalayan Landscape:
 Conceptualizing, Visioning, and Planning for
Conservation of Biodiversity, Culture and Livelihoods in
the Eastern Himalaya" (https://conbio.org/images/content
_groups/Asia/Chapter%201_Gurung_Himalayan%20Lan
dscape.pdf) (PDF). In McNeely, J. A.; McCarthy, T. M.;
Smith, A.; Whittaker, O. L. & Wikramanayake, E. D. (eds.).
Conservation Biology in Asia. Kathmandu: Nepal Society
for Conservation Biology, Asia Section and Resources
Himalaya Foundation. pp. 10–20. ISBN 99946-996-9-5.
3. Valdiya, Khadg Singh (1 June 1984). "Evolution of the Flowers at an elevation of 5,000 m
Himalaya". Tectonophysics. 105 (1–4): 229-248.
doi:10.1016/0040-1951(84)90205-1 (https://doi.org/10.10
16%2F0040-1951%2884%2990205-1).
4. Heinen, J. T. & Mehta, J. N. (2000). "Emerging Issues in
Legal and Procedural Aspects of Buffer Zone
Management with Case Studies from Nepal". Journal of
Environment and Development. 9 (1): 45–67.
5. Byers, A. (2005). "Contemporary human impacts on
Alpine ecosystems in the Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest)
National Park, Khumbu, Nepal". Annals of the Snowcock in the national park
Association of American Geographers. 95 (1): 112–140.
6. Buffa, G.; Ferrari, C. & Lovari, S. (1998). "The upper
subalpine vegetation of Sagarmatha National Park (Khumbu Himal area, Nepal) and its
relationship with Himalayan tahr, musk deer and domestic yak. An outline". In Baudo, R.;
Tartari, G. & Munawar, M. (eds.). Top of the World environmental research: Mount Everest–
Himalayan ecosystem. Leiden, the Netherlands: Backhuys Publishers. pp. 167–175.
7. "Sagarmatha National Park" (http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/Sagarmatha-national-
park-iba-nepal). BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2005. Retrieved 11 October
2020.
8. Lovari, S.; Boesi, R.; Minder, I.; Mucci, N.; Randi, E.; Dematteis, A. & Ale, S. B. (2009).
"Restoring a keystone predator may endanger a prey species in a human-altered
ecosystem: the return of the snow leopard to Sagarmatha National Park". Animal
Conservation. 12: 559–570. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00285.x (https://doi.org/10.111
1%2Fj.1469-1795.2009.00285.x).

External links
BirdLife International. "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Sagarmatha National Park" (http://dat
azone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/14342).
"Sagarmatha National Park" (http://www.dnpwc.gov.np/protected_areas/details/sagarmathan
ationalpark). Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Nepal.
Official UNESCO website entry (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/120)

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