The Convention on Biological Diversity defines protected areas as "a geographically defined area which is designated or regulated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives.

Protected area management in Nepal received a real thrust in the 1970s. The first organized approach to managing protected areas in Nepal dates back to the year 1973 by establishing Chitwan National Park. Now, the protected areas in Nepal include nine national parks, three wildlife reserves, one hunting reserve and three conservation areas and eleven buffer zones covering an area of 28,998.67 sq. km that is 19.70% of the total area of the country.

National parks:

• Shey-Phoksundo National Park
• Khaptad National Park
• Langtang National Park
• Bardia National Park
• Rara National Park
• Sagarmatha National Park
• Makalu Barun National Park
• Shivapuri National Park

Wildlife Reserves:

• Parsa Wildlife Reserve
• Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve
• Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve

• Annapurna Conservation Area
• Kanchenjunga Conservation Area
• Manaslu Conservation Area
  

Hunting Reserves:

• Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve