Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve
Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Natural Vegetation"
Meaning
Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve was set up in 2009 in Lahaul-Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. A cold desert is a high, dry mountain land with very little rain and very cold winters. A biosphere reserve has a protected core, a buffer zone and a transition zone where people live. The reserve protects the snow leopard and other high-mountain life. It joined UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 2025, becoming the 13th Indian reserve on the list (verify current).
Example
The Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh, with its bare slopes and thin plant cover, lies within the reserve. The snow leopard (Vulnerable) lives here.
Don't confuse with
- Hot desert biosphere reserve: Kachchh in Gujarat is a hot salt desert, and it is not on UNESCO's list. Cold Desert is a high Himalayan cold desert, and it is on the list.
Related concepts
- Biosphere reserve
- Man and Biosphere Programme
- Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
- Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve
- Nokrek Biosphere Reserve
- Manas Biosphere Reserve
- Sunderban Biosphere Reserve
- Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve
- Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve
- Similipal Biosphere Reserve