UNESCO has designated the Cold Desert in Himachal Pradesh as a new biosphere reserve, bringing India’s total to 13.
The reserve spans 7,770 square kilometres in the Lahaul-Spiti district of northern India. It covers Pin Valley National Park and the Kibber and Chandratal wildlife sanctuaries. Altitudes range from 3,300 to 6,600 metres, with terrain that includes glacial valleys, alpine lakes, and high-altitude plateaus.
It is the country’s first high-altitude cold desert biosphere reserve and among the coldest and driest ecosystems in UNESCO’s global network.
About 12,000 people live in villages scattered through the area, practising yak and goat herding, barley and pea farming, and traditional Tibetan medicine. This knowledge continues through Buddhist monastic traditions and community councils that regulate use of delicate alpine resources.
UNESCO said biosphere reserves serve as “living laboratories for sustainable development,” combining conservation with human activity. The Cold Desert supports 732 vascular plant species, 30 found only in the region and 157 considered near-endemic to the Indian Himalayas. It contains alpine grasses, medicinal herbs, willow-leaved sea-buckthorn, Himalayan birch and Persian juniper.
The reserve is home to snow leopards, Himalayan ibex, blue sheep and the Himalayan wolf. Birdlife recorded in the area includes the golden eagle and Himalayan snowcock.
The designation increases the number of UNESCO biosphere reserves worldwide to 785 in 136 countries, covering 7.4 million square kilometres and home to about 275 million people. About 70% of UNESCO member states now have at least one reserve.
The announcement came at the close of the World Congress of Biosphere Reserves in Hangzhou, China, which brought together more than 2,000 participants. Delegates set priorities for the next decade, including the goal of ensuring every UNESCO member state hosts at least one biosphere reserve.
