The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site, is one of the most important protected areas in the
Himalayas, one of the World’s great biological realms. The book is intended
both as a history and an ecological overview of the Park and as a plea for
continuing conservation of the rich legacy of Himalayan plants and
animals.
In addition to descriptions of the ecology,
the book includes local history and culture and a review of current development
in the region. The inscription of the Park into the UNESCO World Heritage List
in 2014 confirmed the Outstanding Universal Values of the area, which contains
the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of
Western Himalayan biological diversity.
The pictures, taken by the authors and their
collaborators, vividly illustrate the grandeur and diversity of the area.
The book has universal appeal: to
naturalists, scholars, resource managers, trekkers, arm-chair travellers.
Success and failure along the road to creating today’s Park are discussed
frankly to inform future management efforts and there are numerous examples of
conservation in action that will motivate a new generation of naturalists and
ecologists to continue the fight to protect the ecology of the greatest
mountains on earth.