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Chitwan National Park
Inscribed in 1984 — Chitwan was Nepal's first UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site, recognised for its outstanding universal value and exceptional biodiversity.
UNESCO inscribed Chitwan National Park in 1984 under natural heritage criteria, recognising it as one of the last remaining undisturbed examples of the natural ecosystems of the Himalayan foothills in the Terai zone.
The listing acknowledged the park's extraordinary biodiversity — including significant populations of endangered species such as the Bengal tiger, greater one-horned rhinoceros, and gharial — as well as its role as a globally significant repository of biological diversity.
The UNESCO designation has been instrumental in securing international funding for conservation, setting management standards, and raising global awareness of the Terai's ecological importance.
Criterion (vii)
Exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance — the Terai landscape and river systems.
Criterion (ix)
Outstanding examples of ongoing ecological and biological processes — grassland succession, river dynamics.
Criterion (x)
Significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity including threatened species of outstanding universal value.