The Api Nampa Conservation Area (ANCA), establishedin 2010 AD (2067 BS), is spread over an area of 1,903sq. km and borders with India to the west and China tothe north (Figure 1.1). ANCA encompasses parts or all of five Rural Municipalities (RMs) and one Municipality with a total resident population of approximately 60,000 people, of whom 52 per cent are female and 48% male (CBS 2014). The conservation area is named after two mountains in the area: Mt Api (7,132 masl) and Mt Nampa (6,757 masl). ANCA hosts a wide variety of plants and wildlife and itshuman settlements are characterized by their rich cultural heritage. The high mountains are the habitat of the snowleopard while the mid-hill forests are home to populations of the Himalayan musk deer and Himalayan black bear.Several species of trees, shrubs and herbs that are used for various purposes, ranging from utilitarian to culturaland aesthetic, are found in ANCA; and making this area their home since centuries ago are various social groups, including Chhetri, Brahman and Dalit and a number of ethnic groups like the Byansi/Shauka, Magar and Tamang.