NEW DELHI: The Unesco has approved for inscription the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP), located in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, as world heritage site thus putting it on the world tourist map.
The national park is home to rare species of snow leopard, brown bear, western tragopan, cheer pheasant, Himalayan musk deer, Asiatic black bear, Himalayan tahr, blue sheep and serow. Some 25 threatened IUCN Red-listed plant species have also been from the park. It has more than 35 peaks of higher than 5,000m and two higher than 6,000m, which taken together, are arguably more exceptional than a few isolated higher peaks in the region.
The GHNP was accorded the prestigious tag during the ongoing meeting of world heritage committee of the Unesco at Doha, Qatar. A day earlier, Rani-ki-Vav, an ancient stepwell located in Patan district of Gujarat, was included on the world heritage list.
“Many places in this valley are named after saints, who are said to have meditated in the Himalayas. Some of these sanctuaries are still preserved as sacred groves of trees,” Cultural Ministry officials said.
The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (GHNPCA) includes places such as GHNP (754.4 sq km), Sainj (90 sq km) and Tirthan (61 sq km) wildlife sanctuaries.