Nepal is running a nationwide butterfly count in September 2026: more than 100 volunteers covering 25 locations, recording species, abundance estimates and habitats. The Kathmandu Post reported the campaign on 16 September. The Big Butterfly Count began on 1 September and runs to the 30th, so this is not a launch today but an effort already under way, also announced earlier in the month.

Teams are working in the Kathmandu Valley and in districts including Chitwan, Makwanpur, Dolakha, Sunsari, Dhanusha, Kaski, Tanahun, Rupandehi, Surkhet and Kanchanpur. Participants include environmental-science, zoology and forestry students, wildlife photographers and enthusiasts. Sightings are photographed and uploaded to iNaturalist with species and habitat details.

Similar efforts in previous years were coordinated by Butterfly Watchers Nepal; in 2026 groups such as Greenalaya Nepal also appear. The stated aim is a dataset that can be compared over time on diversity, abundance and range, in a country whose terrain runs from the Terai to the Himalaya and where hundreds of species have been recorded.

Butterflies respond to vegetation, temperature, rainfall and habitat quality, so they can serve as indicators. A one-month campaign does not measure all biodiversity and cannot by itself prove why a species rose or fell. Its value grows if methods are repeated year after year.

Volunteers cover more sites than a small research team could. The data may flag areas or species that need further study. They do not replace an exhaustive census and should not be read as a verdict on every ecosystem in Nepal.

Photo: Anitava Roy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Papilio paris (Paris Peacock). A Himalayan species, not a sighting from Nepal’s September 2026 campaign. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Nepal begins a nationwide butterfly count (The Kathmandu Post).