Great Himalayan National Park
The Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) is a national park in India, located in Kullu region in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The park was established in 1984 and is spread over an area of 1171 km2; altitudes within the park range between 1500 and 6000 m. The Great Himalayan National Park is a habitat to numerous flora and more than 375 fauna species, including approximately 31 mammals, 181 birds, 3 reptiles, 9 amphibians, 11 annelids, 17 mollusks and 127 insects. They are protected under the strict guidelines of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972; hence any sort of hunting is not permitted.
In June 2014, the Great Himalayan National Park was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites,[1] under the criterion of “outstanding significance for biodiversity conservation”.[2]
Biogeography
The GHNP is at the junction of world’s two major biogeographic realms: the Indomalayan realm to the south and the Palearctic realm to the north. The temperate forest flora-fauna of GHNP represents the westernmost extension of the Sino-Japanese Region. The high altitude ecosystem of the Northwest Himalaya has common plant elements with the adjacent Western and Central Asiatic region. As a result of its 4,100 m elevation range the park has a diversity of zones with their representative flora and fauna, such as alpine, glacial, temperate, and subtropical forests.
These biogeographic elements are result of geological evolution of Himalaya which continues today from the action of plate tectonics and continental drift. Over 100 million years ago, the Indian sub-continent broke off from the large, southern landmass, Gondwanaland and moved north. It eventually slammed into the northern land mass, Laurasia, and formed the gigantic folded mountains of the Himalaya. Due to this union of Gondwanaland and Asiatic landmasses, exchange of flora and fauna was possible and this ultimately led to the unique biogeographical features in the region.
Timeline of creation
It took twenty years from inception to inauguration for GHNP to be realized as part of the Indian national park system. The following is a brief timeline:
1980: Preliminary park survey of the watersheds of Tirthan, Sainj, and Jiwanal in Banjar area of Kullu district 1983: Continued park survey, the Banjar area of Kullu district.
1984: Notification by state of Himachal Pradesh of the intention to create the Great Himalayan National Park with buffer zone.
1987: First Management Plan of the Great Himalayan National Park.
1988: Settlement Proceedings and settling of rights of local communities
1992: The Himachal Wildlife Project re-assesses wildlife abundance, livestock grazing, and herb collection and reviewed the existing management plan.
1994: The Government of HP revised the Notification of intention to include the Sainj Wildlife Sanctuary and the upper Parvati watershed.
1994-1999: Conservation of Biodiversity Project (CoB), the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun conducts research to assist in the management of the park.
1999: Declaration of Award upon Completion of Settlement Proceedings. Monetary compensation for individuals who had rights of forest produce in the park area, including a package for providing alternative income generation activities to everybody living in the Eco-development Project Area or Ecozone. The GHNP becomes the latest and newest national park of India. The Conservation of Biodiversity (CoB) Project completed on 31 December 1999.
2014: World Heritage Natural Site status conferred on GHNP on 23 June in the proceedings of the 38th World Heritage Committee meeting in Doha, Qatar.