Karna Shakya

Karna Shakya (born in April 2, 1943) is a Nepalese environmentalist, conservationist, hotel entrepreneur, writer and philanthropist. Shakya is a forester by academic qualification. He served as a wildlife officer and pioneered in establishing the first National Park in Nepal.

Early life and education Karna Shakya was born April 2, 1941 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Shakya holds AIFC postgraduate in Forestry from the Indian Forest College, Dehradun, India in 1967. He received special conservation training in forest administration in Canberra Australia under the Colombo Plan and Nature Recreation Management course in different National Parks in America under the Department of Interior, Canada and USA. He studied the pygmy hog, the smallest wild boar, in the jungle of Assam and Sundar Kundar forest in East Nepal. He was instrumental in bringing conservation awareness in the country by establishing Nepal nature conservation society, the first conservation oriented NGO in Nepal.

He has attended many international workshops, colloquiums, and conferences and presented papers and speeches on heritage conservation.

Tourism

After he resigned from the Forestry Department, helped his brother Basanta Bahadur Sakya open a 13-room Kathmandu Guest House in Thamel , which was very successful. operates Kathmandu Guest House in Thamel, Park Village in Budhanilkhantha, Maya Manor Boutique Hotel in Hattisar Waterfront Resort in Pokhara Himalayan Front Hotel in Pokhara Maruni Sanctuary Lodge in Chitwan Buddha Maya Gardens in Lumbini

Shakya is known as a father of tourism in Nepal. He was instrumental in establishing the first cancer hospital in Bharatpur, Nepal. He was member of B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital.

Writer As an environmentalist, he has written four books in English. In 2000, when the Maoist movement was escalating, many entrepreneurs and businessmen left the country and migrated abroad due to anxiety and skepticism, but Shakya decided to live in Nepal and invest in tourism. When the political situation deteriorated, he was caught in a dilemma, whether to continue his hotel business or close it. Contrarily, despite adverse situations, he built three more hotels. During that period, he wrote his first book, Soch (A Thought). After Soch, he wrote a series of books namely, Khoj (Search), Ma Sakchu (I Can Do), and Moj (Pleasure and Satisfaction).

Shakya is a role model among some Nepalese youths. Through his books, he inspired many migrant youths to return to Nepal and start their own enterprises. He also wrote the screenplay for a Nepali feature film Pal (Moments of Life, 2011), which he also produced. Pal tells the story in two different perspectives before and after interval. It won the Chalchitra Bikash Parishad award in 2012. Based on global warming and climate change, he wrote a script for a futuristic movie in August 2009, New York Water City (NYWC).

Select career history Shakya is a founding chairman of KGH Group of Hotels. Wildlife Officer, HMG Nepal, 1967 1988 Prakhat Trishakti Patta, by MH King Birendra 1982 Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu, by His Majesty King Birendra