National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (NHPL) is located in Godawari, at the base of Phulchoki hills in the south-eastern part of the Kathmandu valley. It is about 10 km away from Satdobato, which is the main entrance to Godawari. It was formerly established as the Botanical Survey and Herbarium in 1961, under the then Department of Medicinal Plants and later in 1989 it was renamed as National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories. It is one of the central offices of Department of Plant Resources under the Ministry of Forests and Environment. NHPL is internationally abbreviated and recognized as KATH herbarium. NHPL aims at carrying out survey, collection, preparation, identification and preservation of herbarium specimens and documentation of plant resources within the country. These herbarium specimens provide an authentic record of the plant species found in Nepal for the documentation of flora of Nepal. About 165,000 herbarium specimens of both flowering and non-flowering plants have been housed at KATH. NHPL facilitates the scientific researchers as well as general public in plant identification, proper utilization and conservation of the plant resources. There are eight technical sections and one administrative section for conducting research activities and providing services related to the plant resources.
