Valley of Flowers National Park, Tungnath
About Valley of Flowers National Park
History
Timeline
1862: The Pushpawati Valley was discovered by Col. Edmund Smyth; 1931: The valley visited by the climber Frank S. Smythe who wrote a book publicising the "Valley of Flowers"; 1934: The upper Nanda Devi Sanctuary was reached and described by mountaineers Eric Shipton & Bill Tilman; 1936: Mountaineers Bill Tilman & Noel Odell climbed Nanda Devi; 1939: The basin established as the Nanda Devi Game Sanctuary by Government Order 1493/XIV- 28 of 7/01; 1962: Border disputes closed the area to traffic, altering the local economy;1974-82: The sanctuary was opened to mountaineering, but the ensuing degradation led to its closure to all users; 1980: The park was established as Sanjay Gandhi National Park by Notification 3912/ XIV 3-35-80; grazing and mountaineering stopped; 1980: The Valley of Flowers was declared a national park by Government Order 4278/XIV-3-66-80 under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, for the conservation of its flora; 1982: The park was renamed Nanda Devi National Park; 1988: The Nanda Devi National Biosphere Reserve established (223,674 ha) with the national park as core zone (62,462 ha) and a 514,857 ha buffer area surrounding both sites; restrictions were imposed on the rights of nearby villagers; 2000: The Biosphere Reserve extended by the government to 586,069 ha and the Valley of Flowers National Park was added as the second core zone (62,462 ha+ 8,750 ha, totalling core areas of 71,212 ha); 2004: The two core zones and buffer zone designated a UNESCO MAB reserve.