- The Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) is the newest addition to India's national parks, located in Kullu region in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
- The park was built in 1984. The park is spread over an area of 1,171 km2 that lies between an altitude of 1500 to 6000m.
- The Great Himalayan National Park is a habitat to more than 375 fauna species that comprises nearly around 31 mammals, 181 birds, 3 reptiles, 9 amphibians, 11 annelids, 17 mollusks and 127 insects.
- They are protected under strict guidelines of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, hence any sort of hunting is not permitted. It also supports the variety of plant life, scattered over the park..
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| Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) |
Tourist Information :
- In 1984, the Himachal Wildlife Project (HWP) surveyed the upper Beas region to help establish the boundaries of the park. An area comprising the watersheds of Jiwa, Sainj, and Tirthan rivers became the Great Himalayan National Park in 1984. Starting from an altitude of 1,700 metres above mean sea level, the highest peak within the Park approaches almost 5,800 metres.
- The area of the National Park at the moment is 754.4 km² and it is naturally protected on the northern, eastern and southern boundaries by permanent snow or steep ridges. To facilitate conservation a 5 km wide buffer area, extending from the western periphery of the Park, has been classified as the Ecodevelopment Project Area (EPA) or Ecozone.
- The EPA has an area of 326.6 km² (including 61 km² of Tirthan wildlife sanctuary) with about 120 small villages, comprising 1600 households with a population of about 16,000. Since, the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972 does not permit any habitation in the National Park, an area of 90 km² in Sainj valley encompassing the two villages of Shakti and Marore has been classified as Sainj Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS).
- These two villages although technically "outside" the National Park, are physically located between two parts of GHNP. Thus the total area under the National Park administration is 1,171 km².
- 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:
The Conservation of Biodiversity (CoB) Project completed on 31 December 1999.
- 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 Ecodevelopment Project Area or Ecozone.
- Final Notification of the Great Himalayan National Park. The GHNP becomes the latest and newest National Park of India.