Picture source: Spiti Wildlife Division
NEW DELHI: UNESCO on Saturday designated India’s Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve, located in the western Himalayas and spread over 7,770 sq km of windswept plateaus, glacial valleys, and high-altitude desert from Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh to Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh, as one of the biosphere reserves of its global network.India has a total of 18 biosphere reserves, of which 13 are now in the UNESCO’s world network, with the latest addition of the Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve.UNESCO’s world network of biosphere reserves currently has 785 sites across 142 countries. The global designation helps these sites adopt comprehensive measures to foster harmony between people and nature for sustainable development.”These globally recognised areas are more than just protected land — they are living laboratories where communities, scientists, and governments collaborate to find sustainable ways of living in harmony with nature,” said a statement from the UN body while announcing the list of 26 newly designated biosphere reserves from 21 countries in its global network during the 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves in Hangzhou, China.Established in 2009, the Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve is home to many rare and endangered species including snow leopard, Tibetan antelope and Himalayan wolf. It also has a variety of flora that has been used for medicinal purposes and is considered to be of outstanding universal value for conservation.This is India’s first high-altitude cold desert biosphere reserve and one of the coldest and driest ecosystems in the UNESCO’s world network of biosphere reserves. “The Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve is a powerful example of how fragile ecosystems can be protected while supporting the communities that depend on them. This designation reflects India’s commitment to balancing conservation with sustainable development, especially in ecologically sensitive and culturally rich regions,” said Tim Curtis, director & representative, UNESCO Regional Office for South Asia.
