Pin Valley National Park is located in Lahaul and Spiti in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The park is located in the Spiti Valley. Pin Valley National Park is the only national park in Himachal Pradesh that is located in the cold desert region. The park is spread over an area of 1150 km. Pin Valley National Park is spread over an area of 675 square kilometers. The park was established in 1987. The people here follow the Buddhist Tibetan culture.
Pin Valley National Park Lahaul and Spiti
Around 17 villages around the park are located on the periphery of the park. And there are also 17 Dogri summer settlements inside the park. The Dogri are used by the people as summer residents. The people living here belong to the Scheduled Tribe belonging to the Buddhist community. There is a famous gompa at Kungri village in the buffer zone of the park. Chham dance and Buchen dance by the Lamas of the Gompa is very famous dances in the valley. Their influence can be seen in the monasteries and stupas built here.
Geography
The elevation of the park ranges from about 3,500 m near Dogri to over 6,000 m at its highest point. The Pin Valley National Park is located in the desert habitat of the Spiti Valley, within the Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve in the Himalayan region. Spread south of Dhankar Gompa near the Tibetan border, the park marks the boundary between the formerly separate districts of Lahaul and Spiti. The Himalayan Park is a natural habitat for many endangered animals including the snow leopard and the Siberian ibex.
Flora and Fauna
There are about more than 20 species of animals and birds in the park. The vegetation density here is sparse due to the park’s altitude and extreme temperatures. The park has alpine trees and Himalayan pine trees. In summer, birds such as the Himalayan snowcock, chukar partridge, snow partridge, finches, and cuffs thrive in the park. And other species are ibex, bharal, red fox, marten, weasel, pika, snow cock, bearded vulture, chukor, golden eagle, griffon, Himalayan chow, raven, etc.
Medicinal Plants
Some of the plants in the park have important medicinal properties. Twenty-two rare and endangered medicinal plant species have been discovered in and around Pin Valley National Park, distributed across 10 different habitat types. Aconitum Rotundifolium, Arnebia Euchroma, Ferula Zaschkeana, and Hyoscymus niger are endangered but medicinally important plants found in this national park.
