Yaya Tso to be Ladakh’s first biodiversity heritage site: Yaya Tso, a lovely lake located at an elevation of 4,820 metres that is regarded as a bird sanctuary, has been proposed as Ladakh’s first biodiversity heritage site (BHS). The Biodiversity Management Committee, the panchayat of Chumathang village, along with SECURE Himalaya Project recently resolved to declare Yaya Tso as Ladakh’s first BHS under the Biological Diversity Act.
The resolution was signed after multiple rounds of consultations between the village stakeholders and SECURE Himalaya project to declare the high-altitude lake and its catchment as a biodiversity heritage site.
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Further, the project will facilitate the official notification of the BHS after taking the application up with the Ladakh Biodiversity Council.SECURE Himalaya has also proposed to subsequently develop a management plan for the BHS and pilot interventions to support conservation of this lake, they said.
They added that Yaya Tso is one of Ladakh’s most beautiful lakes, and the proposed Yaya Tso site will comprise a roughly 60 square kilometre area, which will also cover the lake’s watershed. The lake could be reached from Mahe monastery on the way to Tsomoriri lake after driving up to the nunnery and then crossing a small mountain pass.