A total of 224 orchid species have been recorded within the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) region, according to the project’s headquarters in Pokhara.

Among them, 182 species have been identified in the Bhujung Conservation Office area in Lamjung district alone.

The latest addition to the list is a new orchid species, Bulbophyllum bisetum Lindl., discovered this year (2025) in the same region, bringing the total to 224.

Pramod Raj Regmi, conservation officer and head of the Bhujung office, said that the new species was found during an exploration conducted by senior natural resource conservation assistant Basudev Neupane and assistant scientist Bigyan GC. The orchid was located on a tree at an altitude of about 1,950 metres in the forest area bordering wards 4, 6, and 8 of Kwholasothar Rural Municipality, near Dungakhani along the route from Tamu to Ngyoze.

Although Bulbophyllum bisetum is not new to Nepal, it is a newly recorded species for the Annapurna Conservation Area. The identification was later confirmed by botanist Prabin Bhandari, and ACAP publicly announced the finding on social media a few weeks ago.

Last year, ACAP published a bilingual book titled Orchids of the Annapurna Conservation Area, documenting 223 species found at that time. The study team, led by senior conservation officer Babu Lal Tiruwa, has been updating the biodiversity record of Annapurna.

Research on orchids is currently ongoing in Upper Manang and Upper Mustang as well, with officials saying that more new species could be discovered in the near future.

Covering 7,629 square kilometres, the Annapurna Conservation Area extends across 87 wards of 15 local levels in Kaski, Lamjung, Manang, Myagdi, and Mustang districts. Established in 1986 from Ghandruk, it is Nepal’s first and largest protected area.

Orchids, belonging to the monocot plant group, typically grow on soil, rocks, decaying wood, and tree trunks. Nepal is home to over 500 orchid species, many of which have medicinal and culinary value. The newly recorded orchid in Bhujung blooms around August.

Due to their ecological and medicinal importance, orchids are listed under the CITES convention as endangered species, appearing in Schedules I and II. The Nepal government has banned collection and export of orchids since 2016 (2073 BS). Experts warn that illegal trade of certain rare species still persists and stress the need for greater attention from all stakeholders to conserve the country’s orchid diversity from the Himalayas to the plains.