India's Valley of Flowers Named World Heritage Site

India's Valley of Flowers, unknown to westerners until the 1930's, has been named a World Heritage Site. The beautiful alpine valley is known for its carpet of wildflowers brought forth by the monsoons. The valley covers over 87.5 square kilometers at an altitude of between 3,250 and 6,750 metres above sea level within the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, which was designated a World Heritage site in 1988. The area is home to several endangered animals and 521 varieties of flowering plants.

Years of work by forest service workers and local volunteers led by Indian Forest Service officer, Jyotsna Sitling helped to clean up and regenerate areas of the flower fields. Ms. Sitling submitted the request for heritage status with the Archeological Survey of India in 2004. World Heritage status was granted to the region in July 2005.

Links:

• Woman Behind Valley of Flowers from The Indian Express
• Uttaranchal's Valley of flowers becomes world heritage site from Web India 123
• India's Valley of flowers on UNESCO's list from the Central Chronicle
• UNESCO World Heritage website of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's World Heritage Program

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:53 PM on August 8, 2005

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