Valley of Flowers National Park

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	India
Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, x
Reference	335
Region**	Asia-Pacific
Inscription history
Inscription	1988  (12th Session)
Extensions	2005
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Valley of Flowers National Park is an Indian national park, Nestled high in West Himalaya, is renowned for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and outstanding natural beauty. 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 gentle landscape of the Valley of Flowers National Park complements the rugged mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi National Park. Together they encompass a unique transition zone between the mountain ranges of the Zanskar and Great Himalaya. The park stretches over an expanse of 87.50 km².

Description

The Valley of Flowers is an outstandingly beautiful high-altitude Himalayan valley that has been acknowledged as such by renowned mountaineers and botanists in literature for over a century and in Hindu mythology for much longer. Its ‘gentle’ landscape, breath-takingly beautiful meadows of alpine flowers and ease of access complement the rugged, mountain wilderness for which the inner basin of Nanda Devi National Park is renowned.

The Valley of Flowers is internationally important on account of its diverse alpine flora, representative of the West Himalaya biogeographic zone. The rich diversity of species reflects the valley’s location within a transition zone between the Zaskar and Great Himalaya ranges to the north and south, respectively, and between the Eastern and Western Himalaya flora. A number of plant species are internationally threatened, several have not been recorded from elsewhere in Uttarakhand and two have not been recorded in Nanda Devi National Park. The diversity of threatened species of medicinal plants is higher than has been recorded in other Indian Himalayan protected areas. The entire Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve lies within the Western Himalayas Endemic Bird Area (EBA). Seven restricted-range bird species are endemic to this part of the EBA.

The Valley of Flowers was declared a national park in 1982. This part of Uttarakhand, in the upper reaches of Garhwal, is inaccessible through much of the year. The area lies on the Zanskar range of the Himalayas with the highest point in the national park being Gauri Parbat at 6,719 m above sea level.

History

Picturesque landscape near legge's grave

The Valley was introduced to the world as the Valley of Flowers by Frank S Smythe - mountaineer, explorer, botanist who camped here for several weeks in the monsoon of 1937 and did valuable exploratory work. He authored a book called "The Valley of Flowers" which unveiled the beauty and floral splendours of the valley and thus threw open the doors of this verdant jewel to nature-enthusiasts all over the world.

In 1939 Miss Margaret Legge, a botanist deputed by the botanical gardens of Edinburgh arrived at the valley for further studies. While she was traversing some rocky slopes to collect flowers, she slipped off and was lost for ever. Her sister later visited the valley and erected a memorial on the spot where she was buried by the locals. The thoughtful memorial is still there.

Management

There is no settlement in the national park and grazing in the area has been banned. The park is open only in summer between June and October, being covered by heavy snow during the rest of the year.

The Trek

Getting to the Valley of Flowers requires a trek of about 17 km. The nearest major town is Joshimath in Garhwal, which has convenient road connections from railheads such as Hardwar and Dehradun, both about 270 km from Joshimath.

From Joshimath, a vehicle can be hired to take you to within 17 km of the park, to the settlement of Gobindghat. The route from Joshimath to the Valley of Flowers goes along the main road to Badrinath; roughly midway along this road, a minor road branches off to Gobindghat, the roadhead for the Valley. From Gobindghat, a trek of 14 km brings hikers to the tiny settlement of Ghangaria. Valley of flowers is about 3 km from this place. Hemkund Sahib is around 5 km from Ghangaria.

Fauna

The park is home to tahr, snow leopard, musk deer, red fox, common langur, bharal, serow, Himalayan black bearHimalayan brown bear, Pica (Mouse hare) and a huge variety of butterflies. Among the important birds and Pheasant are, Himalayan Golden Eagle, Griffon Vulture, Snow Partridge, Himalayan Snow Cock,Himalayan Monal, Snow Pigeon, Sparrow Hawk etc.

Flora

Flowers mostly orchids, poppies, primulas, calendulas, daisies and anemones carpet the ground. Alpine forests of birch and rhododendron cover parts of the park's area.

Species

A flower found in the park.

A flower with several insects on it

An exquisite purple flower

No.	Name of Flowers	Time of flowering
1.	Rhododendron arboreum	February-June
2.	Primula denticuleta	April-July
3.	Iris kemaonensis	June-July
4.	Fritillaria roylei	June-July
5.	Lilium oxypetalum	June-July
6.	Arisaema costautum	June-July
7.	Thermopsisa barbata	June-July
8.	Rosa macrophylla	June-July
9.	Caltha palustris	June-July
10.	Fragaria nubicola	May-July
11.	Saxifraga roylei	July-August
12.	Anemone obtusiloba	June-August
13.	Cypripedium himalaicum	June-August
14.	Rheum australe	July-August
15.	Phlomis oracteosa	June-August
16.	Hackelia uncinata	June-August
17.	Senecio jacquemotiamus	August-September
18.	Ligularia amplexicaulis	July-August
19.	Morina longifolia	July-September
20.	Geum elatum	July-August
21.	Geranium wallichianum	July-August
22.	Impatiense sulcata	July-August
23.	Meconopsis aculeata	July-August
24.	Delphenium roylei	July-August
25.	Aconitum hookeri	August-September
26.	Thalictrum reniforme	July-September
27.	Potentilla atrosanguinea	July-September
28.	Sedum ewersii	August-September
29.	Dactylorhiza hatagirea	June-July
30.	Bistorta affinis	August-September
31.	Stachys sericee	August-September
32.	Nepeta connata	August-September
33.	Pedicularis hoffmeistri	July-August
34.	Swertia hookeri	August-September
35.	Gentiana ornata	August-September
36.	Gaultheria erichophy	August-September
37.	Codonopsis affinis	August-September
38.	Angelica cyelocarpa	July-September
39.	Leontopodium jacotianum	July-September
40.	Saussurea fastuosa	July-September
41.	Campanula latitotia	August-September
42.	Cyananthus lobotus	August-September
43.	Sassurea obvallata	August-September
44.	Cremanthodium ellisii	July-September
45.	Anaphalis triplineruts	July-September
46.	Inula grandiflora	August-September
47.	Aster albescens	July-September
48.	Selinium tenuifolium	August-September
49.	Heracleum pinnatum	August-September
50.	Epilobium latisperma	August-September
51.	Silene setisperma	August-September
52.	Arenaria griffithii	August-September
53.	Corydalis junecea	August-September
54.	Erigerono multiradiatus	August-September
55.	Polygonum molle	August-September
56.	Himalayan Blue Poppy	July-September
57.	Codonopsis viridis	July-August
58.	Origanus vulgare	July-August
59.	Hackelia uncinata	July-August
60.	Salvia hins/lanata	July-August
61.	Smilacina purpurea/oleracea	June-July
62.	Viola biflora	June-August
63.	Rhodiola heterodonta	July-August
64.	Epilohium latifolium	July-August
65.	Cotoneaster integrifolius	July-August
66.	Dubyaea hispida	August-September
67.	Saussurea costus	July-August
68.	Ligularia fiseheri	July-August
69.	Androsace museoidea	July-August
70.	Eritrichium conum	July-August
71.	Lindelofi anchusoides	July-August
72.	Thymus linearis	June-August
73.	Rheum webbianum	June-August
74.	Megacorpaea polyandra	June-August
75.	Trillidium govanianum	June-August
76.	Satyrium nepoleanse	June-August
77.	Podophyllum hexaneum	June-August
78.	Picrorhiza kurrooa	June-August
79.	Polygonatum multiflorum	June-August

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  Morning Dew on a pink flower

• 

  Multi storied Flowers

• 

  An exquisite white flower

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Ambasht, R. S., and Navin K. Ambasht. 2002. Modern trends in applied terrestrial ecology. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. ISBN 9780306473326.
• Workman, James. 2006. Pragmatic solutions: an assessment of progress, 2005. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. ISBN 9782831709246.

External links

• Official UNESCO website entry
• Pictures, Food, Guide, Prices & Accommodation at the Valley of Flowers
• Image Gallery of Journey to Valley of Flowers
• GMVN Trek details
• Valley of Flowers National Park

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