Annapurna Conservation Area

The Annapurna Conservation Area is the largest protected area in Nepal at 7,629 square kilometres, and the first and most influential conservation area in the country. Established in 1992 and managed by the National Trust for Nature Conservation through its Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), it pioneered a model in which local communities, rather than the army, manage the landscape and reinvest tourism revenue locally.

The area wraps around the entire Annapurna massif and spans an exceptional range of environments — subtropical forest in the south, the deep Kali Gandaki gorge, alpine pasture, and the arid trans-Himalayan valleys of Manang and Mustang in the rain shadow to the north. It shelters snow leopard, blue sheep, Himalayan tahr, musk deer and the Tibetan argali, alongside more than 470 bird species.

This is the setting for some of the most famous trekking routes on earth: the Annapurna Circuit, the Annapurna Base Camp trek, Tilicho Lake and Poon Hill. The diversity of cultures along the way — Gurung, Thakali, Manangi and the Tibetan-influenced communities of Mustang — is as much a draw as the mountains.

Pokhara is the gateway, and an ACAP permit is required for all trekking in the area. Spring and autumn are the main seasons, though the rain-shadow north of the Annapurnas remains walkable through the monsoon.