The Department of Plant Resources (DPR) has started constructing the World Peace Biodiversity Park at Raniban beside Phewa Lake in Pokhara.

The government had approved the plan to construct the park around four years ago and then Forest Ministery Secretary Krishna Chandra Poudel had laid foundation stone of the park last year. Construction of compound wall, entrance door, green house, a cottage and foot trail have been started.

Dil Bahadur Chhetri, a DPR official, said they aim to complete the work within the first week of Nepali month of Ashad. 

Kathmandu-based Nagraj Engineers and Builders and Pokhara-based Manoj Nirman Sewa and Anish and Aashish Contractor Company have been contracted to complete construction works at the cost of Rs 39 million. Chhetri said construction of the park is aimed at conserving the national forest and wildlife and promoting tourism. 

He said the DPR has proposed Rs 890 million to complete the park that will have small zoo, botanical garden, international botanical museum and a children’s park.

The forest, which is spread in around 165 hectares of land, is home to 200 species of plants and animals. Madhav Prasad Baral, assistant forest officer at the District Forest Office, envisioned the plan to construct the park around six years ago. “Besides conserving the forest and wildlife, the park will be a new destination to study and research activities,” Baral said. It will also provide sources of income for local people, he added.