NANDA DEVI BIOSPHERE RESERVE (NDBR) is located in the Indian northwestern State of Uttarakhand, bordering Tibet to the North and Nepal to the East. In 1982, Nanda Devi National Park was created with the goal to protect the environment from degradation by tourism. In 1988, the area was expanded through a buffer zone around the park and renamed as the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. In 2000, the Forest Department of Uttarakhand added the neighboring Valley of Flowers National Park to the Biosphere Reserve, creating a 5869 km2 protected area. Nanda Devi National Park is located at an elevation of approximately 3,500 meters (above sea level) and covers an area of 630 km2. It is home to the second highest peak in the Indian Himalaya, Nanda Devi, with an elevation of 7816 meters. The park features majestic high rising mountain peaks, rivers, glaciers and various glacial landforms. There are 16 peaks in the park that rise above 6000 meters. Only twenty kilometers northwest of Nanda Devi National Park lays the Valley of Flowers National Park, situated in a hanging valley and covering an area of 87 km2. Compared to the steep and rugged terrain of Nanda Devi National Park, the Valley of Flowers features pristine hills and meadows, hosting rich and diverse endemic alpine flowers. There are more than 600 plant species, many of them 37
cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Hosting many endangered animal and plant species, such as the Himalayan black bear and snow leopard, both parks have high significance for long-term monitoring and research in the Himalaya. Until 1934, the parks remained unexplored and were mainly used for hunting and exploitation of medical plants by the Indo-Aryan and Indo-Mongoloid (Bhotiyas) people. The Valley of Flowers National Park was long being used by migratory villagers to graze their herds of sheep, goats, cows and buffalos on the meadows. Trading of salt and wool across the Tibetan border was common and one of the main sources of income back then. The Bhotiyas people have a rich culture and a long history of religious beliefs and folklores. A combination of Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism, the region is sacred to the Bhotia and is famous for pilgrimages of thousands of visitors every year to honor the goddess of Nanda Devi. In the 1970s, mountaineering and trekking activities became popular, yet by the 1980s, a ban was imposed due to the resulting disturbances on the environment. In addition, restric-
tions on grazing was implemented. Local communities were not properly consulted prior to the extension of restrictions, leading to protests in 10 villages against the Reserve Management and the Forestry Department. Today both parks are uninhabited, yet more than 15,000 people live in the Biosphere Reserve buffer zone, surrounding the parks. Small amounts of ecotourism are performed in and around the park, enabling the locals to collect modest visitation fees and in turn support anti-poaching and fire prevention activities. Local communities benefit from ecotourism and conservation programs, but are facing the ongoing challenges of hydropower projects that impose environmental threats and degradation of the fragile landscape. In addition, natural hazards are becoming increasingly more common in the Himalaya. The close proximity of the local communities to glaciers, high-rising mountains, narrow river valleys, and population- and infrastructure growth enhances their vulnerability and risk to such hazards. Over the last few decades, floods and other mass-wasting events have drastically increased, leaving behind huge socio- and economic losses.
