Decadal Nanda Devi Biomonitoring Expedition flagged off

Dehradun: The decadal Nanda Devi Biomonitoring Expedition 2026 was flagged off by Uttarakhand forest minister Subodh Uniyal on Saturday in Chamoli. The expedition will cover an 86 km trail within the Nanda Devi National Park, a core zone of the UNESCO World Heritage Site over 22 days, traversing altitudes varying from 2,000 to 4,500 m.Forest department authorities said a 32-member core team has set out on the expedition. The team consists of forest officials, scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the G B Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, three State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel, and eight Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) members, supported by around 50 porters and guides.Nanda Devi National Park, one of the core zones of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, was closed to human activity in 1983 following environmental degradation of the mountains due to excessive anthropogenic (human-induced) pressure from mountaineering expeditions.

To monitor the ecological impact of closing the peaks to human interference, a decadal scientific review of the flora and fauna is conducted. Officials noted that the previous reviews were carried out in 1993, 2003 and 2015.Uniyal remarked that the expedition would not only scientifically assess the current status of wildlife, flora and the ecosystem in the high-altitude Himalayan areas but also provide a foundation for future conservation strategies.

He emphasised that comprehensive scientific studies in the region would play a crucial role in advancing the understanding of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem resilience and the broader impacts of climate change on the fragile high-altitude Himalayan environment.Abhimanyu Singh, DFO of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, told TOI, “The Nanda Devi National Park landscape has remained one of the longest-standing restricted 'no-go' zones in the Himalayas. The latest scientific data on this landscape’s flora and fauna will enable policymakers and scientists to evaluate the effects of minimal human interference on glacier dynamics, wildlife populations, and endemic species inhabiting this fragile ecosystem.

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