Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley

The Government of Nepal (GoN), Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), Department of Forests (DoF) and Pokhara Valley Lake Conservation Committee under the Chairmanship of Local Development Office (LDO), Kaski marked the World Wetlands Day 2016 with a special celebration to declare nine lakes in Kaski district under the Ramsar Convention on 2nd February, 2016.

Pokhara valley situated around 200 km west of the Kathmandu, which is a widening of the Seti Gandaki valley. The Pokhara name itself was derived from “Pokhari” which is meant for Pond in Nepali vernacular- one of the wetland types. The valley itself is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Nepal, where natural heritages, especially lakes, mountains and “boating” are the main tourist attractions. It is also known as the as the “city of the lake”. The Lake cluster of the Pokhara city has of international importance, as it supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities.

The Lake Cluster of the Pokhara Valley Ramsar Site comprises of the nine lakes, located in the Pokhara Lekhnath Metro municipality of the Kaski district, Western Development region of Nepal. Of the nine lakes, two lakes from the Pokhara Lekhnath Metro municipality and one river ie. Seti river of Pokhara.

The total area of the catchment comprises of 178.5 sq km which comprises of water bodies, agriculture land, forests, settlement, and other built-up areas. Agriculture land dominates the land use in the catchment area followed by forests and water bodies. Water bodies comprise nearly 3% of the total catchment area of the lake cluster.

An important wetland around Pokhara Valley with biodiversity richness has recently declared as a part of Ramsar Site on 2nd of February, 2016 on a formal programme on the Bsundhara Park Lakeside, Pokhara.