High in the Himalayan ranges of Garhwal hills of Uttaranchal lies an enchanted valley. Here flowered pastures with clear running streams are set against silver birches and shining snow peaks. Dew lies thick on the flowers, birds sing in the surrounding forest and the air is pure and charged with floral smells. Hidden from the probing eyes of civilisation, this Valley of flowers National Park had been known to the inhabitants as the Bhyundar Valley. Now called The Valley of flowers National Park, the valley is a UNESCO World-Heritage site, renowned for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and outstanding natural beauty.
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| Valley of flowers National Park |
This richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals, including the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, brown bear and blue sheep. The Valley of flowers National Park stretches over an expanse of 87.50 km and has been acknowledged by renowned mountaineers and botanists in literature for over a century and in Hindu mythology for much longer. The high altitude Hemkund Lake (4329 mtrs) lies in heavenly environs. A steep trek from Ghangharia leads one to this spot in about four to six hours.
Nestled high in West Himalaya, India’s Valley of Flowers National Park is renowned for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and outstanding natural beauty. The gentle landscape of the Valley of Flowers National Park complements the rugged mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi National Park, home to sixteen peaks above 6,000m, among them Nanda Devi East (7,434m), India's second highest mountain. Together they encompass a unique transition zone between the mountain ranges of the Zanskar and Great Himalaya, praised by mountaineers and botanists for over a century and in Hindu mythology for much longer.
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| Valley of flowers National Park |
Flora and Fauna
· Due to its diverse habitats, the park has a very rich flora: over 300 plant species can be found in Nanda Devi Park and over 600 in the Valley of Flowers Park.
· Nanda Devi is particularly known for its Asiatic Black bears, the snow leopard and Himalayan tahrs.
· As many as 550 species of birds have been recorded.
· Although the abundance of species to be found in the Valleys of Flowers is not high, many of them are nationally rare or endangered.
Cultural Heritage - Local Population - Tourism
· Nanda Devi, holding its name due to Devi (‘goddess’), consort of Shiva, has been worshiped since ancient times: the entire basin is deified in Hinduism and believers carry out a pilgrimage every twelfth year.· Next to the Valleys of Flower Park, a shrine and a temple can be found, which have also been places of pilgrimage to both Sikhs and Hindus for a long time. Some 400,000 to 500,000 pilgrims visit them every year.
· There is no local population in both park sites, but different communities live in the buffer zone around the parks. Conflicts arose when the establishment of the protected areas led to restrictions of access for the recovery of wildlife, without prior consultation of the local population. Thanks to recent efforts, the situation is improving and some residents profit from eco-development. Especially eco-tourism is expanding - over 2,000 tourists now visit the park per year.
Climate Change and other Threats
· Risks from climate change to biodiversity in Nanda Devi appear comparatively low: as a result of the mountainous terrain, the distances by which species would have to shift in order to follow changing climatic zones are relatively small.
· However, due to the changing climate, the capacity of plant species richness will increase in coming years, indicating that new species are likely to immigrate to the area. This will have a negative impact on sensitive or less competitive species within the current species pool, such as cold-adapted mountain top species.
· Tourism creates litter problems; therefore garbage management is an important issue.
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| Valley of flowers National Park |
Valley of flowers National Park
Size: 71,783 haLocation: eastern Uttaranchal State, western Himalaya, 300 km northeast of Delhi.
Recognized also as: part of the West Himalayan Endemic Bird Area
i like it, would better if some more pictures added
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