In 1970, royal approval designated the establishment of Langtang National Park as the first protected area in the Himalayas. The national park was gazetted in 1976 and extended by a buffer zone of 420 km (160 sq mi) in 1998. There have been several cases of assault on the trail. An american Aubrey Sacco missing has been presumed dead whereas in 2012 a Belgian women was killed with investigation regarding the cause of death still ongoing
