About Us

Welcome to National Botanical Garden

The National Botanical Garden (NBG) was inaugurated by King Mahendra in 1962 AD (2019 BS). The landscape of this exquisite botanical garden was designed by two British architects, Geoffrey Herklots and Tony Schilling. It is well-known as a center of plant conservation, education, research, display and recreation. It covers an area of 82 hectares with varying topography, 40 hectares of which have been transformed into various thematic garden units. It is surrounded by a natural evergreen forest with Schima-Castanospsis-Alnus as the dominant tree species. It is located at the foothill of Mt. Phulchowki (2765 m), the highest peak of the Kathmandu valley, and lies about 16 km southeast of Kathmandu. A natural stream, Godawari, runs through the middle of the garden, adding to its beauty.

This is the oldest and largest botanical garden of the nation. It is also an internationally recognized botanical garden and a member of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) since 2015 AD. It has a natural plant landscape having various thematic gardens like arboretum, fern garden, Japanese style garden, lily garden, physic garden, rock garden, rose garden, sand garden, special garden, terrace garden, tropical garden, wetland garden, etc. Over 1000 plant species, including angiosperms, gymnosperms, pteridophytes and bryophytes, are conserved in this botanical garden. This garden has also conserved about 150 medicinal plants, 50 cactus and succulent plants, 35 climbers and 70 orchids.

More than 400 thousand visitors, including about 70 thousand students, visit this botanical garden every year. Generally, students come here on educational tours, plant researchers come here to observe living plants, families and friends come here to relax and unwind away far away from the humdrum of city life, naturalists come here to watch birds and enjoy the scenery/greenery, and film crews come here to shoot videos and films.

The garden opens daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from Kartik 16 to Magh 15 (first week of November to last week of January) and from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for the rest of the year. Visitors can enter this garden by paying entrance fee at the main gate of the garden.

Our Mission: “Exploration and conservation of plant resources for a better future”

Principal Research Activities: (1) Conservation and propagation of endemic, indigenous, native and threatened plants of Nepal, (2) Ex-situ plant conservation through seed germplasm conservation in the seed gene bank.

Besides, this garden is carrying and supporting research under various topics, including (1) Taxonomic study of Ensete (Musaceae) in Nepal, (2) Growth rate of Lichen species in Nepal, (3) Air pollution tolerance index of Kathmandu Valley (Master’s Thesis), (4) Floral preferences of Butterflies in National Botanical Garden, Godawari, Nepal (Master’s Thesis).

Features of National Botanical Garden

Floral Diversity: Angiosperms 866 species, Gymnosperms 28 species (30 taxa), Pteridophytes 104 species, Bryophytes 39 species, Algae 14 species

In-situ Conserved Plants: 520 species (excluding 14 algal species) and Ex-situ Conserved Plants: 517 species (519 taxa)

Endemic to Nepal Conserved Plants: Begonia nuwakotensis, B. taligera, Cirsium phulchokiense, Hypericum cordifolium, Odontochilus nandae, Thunbergia kasajuana.

CITES Listed Conserved Plants: CITES I: Paphiopedilum insigne; CITES II: Cyathea spinulosa, Cycas pectinata, C. revoluta, Dalbergia latifolia, D. sissoo, Dioscorea deltoidea, Euphorbia ammak, E. canariensis, E. milii, E. obesa, E. royleana, E. tirucalli, E. tithymaloides, Orchid spp., Podophyllum hexandrum, Rauvolfia serpentina, Taxus contorta; CITES III: Magnolia hodgsonii, Podocarpus neriifolius.

IUCN Red Listed Conserved Plants: Extinct in the Wild: Dhaturo (Brugmansia suaveolens); Critically Endangered: Kerau phool (Lathyrus odoratus); Endangered: Seto siris (Albizia julibrissin), Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), Metasekuwa (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), Sekuwa (Sequoia sempervirens), Lauthsalla (Taxus contorta), Zamila palm (Zamia furfuracea); Vulnerable: Kalbal (Cycas pectinata), Satisal (Dalbergia latifolia), Somlata (Ephedra gerardiana), Cactus (Euphorbia ammak), Sunakhari (Paphiopedilum insigne), Lauthsalla (Taxus mairei); Near Threatened: Talish patra (Abies spectabilis), Dhupi (Cryptomeria japonica), Nagia (Nageia nagi); Least Concern: Lato ghans (Acmella paniculata), Rakta chandan (Adenanthera pavonina), Ketukey (Agave americana), Shirish (Albizia lebbeck), Chhatiwan (Alstonia scholaris), Kande sallo (Araucaria bidwillii), Salla (Araucaria columnaris), Pasanved (Bergenia ciliata), Kainjal (Bischofia javanica), Sindure (Bixa orellana), Taadi (Borassus flabellifer), Kagaje phool (Bougainvillea glabra), Nil jai (Brunfelsia pauciflora), Chiniya gurans (Camellia japonica), Pahelo kerbir (Cascabela thevetia), Rajbrichhya (Cassia fistula), Devdar (Cedrus deodar), Bhale phool (Celosia argentea), Cactus (Cereus repandus), Seto musali (Chlorophytum tuberosum), Bhogate (Citrus maxima), Raj sallo (Cupressus torulosa), Thakal (Cycas revoluta), Sisau (Dalbergia sissoo), Khursani phool (Erythrina crista-galli), Cactus (Euphorbia canariensis, E. milii, E. tirucalli, E. tithymaloides), Swami (Ficus benjamina), Pani unyu (Hydrilla verticillata), Sajiwan (Jatropha curcas), Okhar (Juglans regia), Dhupi (Juniperus communis, J. indica, J. recurva, J. squamata), Lahare dhupi (Juniperus horizontalis), Asare phool (Lagerstroemia indica), Baghmukhe ghans (Lindenbergia indica), Champ (Magnolia champaca), Rukh Kamal (Magnolia grandiflora), Talauma (Magnolia hodgsonii), Champ (Magnolia insignis), Pudina (Mentha arvensis, M. spicata), Lajjawati (Mimosa pudica), Sim saag (Nasturtium officinale), Kervir (Nerium oleander), Kamal (Nymphaea lotus), Jibre saag (Ophioglossum reticulatum), Ghans (Oplismenus compositus), Cactus (Opuntia microdasys), Siringe (Osmanthus fragrans), Pire jhar (Persicaria hydropiper), Jure salla (Picea smithiana), Salla (Pinus patula), Rani salla (Pinus roxburghii), Gobre salla (Pinus wallichiana), Chuwa (Plumeria rubra), Pode ghans (Poa annua), Gunsi (Podocarpus neriifolius), Unyu (Pteris vittata), Khayar (Senegalia catechu), Gulab jamun (Syzygium jambos), Kalo neuro (Tectaria coadunata), Babul (Vachellia nilotica), Kutulikosa (Vicia sativa subsp. nigra), Simali (Vitex negundo), Sankha phool (Zantedeschia aethiopica); Data Deficient: Katar Champa (Magnolia coco), Ban Champ (Magnolia kisopa), Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica), Chinar (Platanus orientalis), Thunbergia kasajuana.

Botanical Information and Exhibition Center: Located beside the garden’s main entrance gate and housing a museum for education, research and display.

Thematic and Plant Landscape Gardens: Arboretum, Biodiversity education garden, Canna path, Conservation and education garden, Coronation pond (aquatic plant garden), Ethno-botanical garden, Fern garden, Japanese style garden, Lily garden, Nepalensis-Historic Garden, Orchid garden, Physic garden, Plant production and research area,  Rock garden, Rose garden, Sand Garden, Special garden, Taxonomic family garden (Bentham and Hooker’s classification system), Terrace garden, Threatened plants garden, Tropical garden, VVIP plantation garden, and Wetland garden.

Garden Sections: (1) Conservation and Education Section, (2) Garden Development Section, (3) Floriculture Section, and (4) Medicinal Plants and Information Section.