Unexplored Bangus Valley Kashmir: The colourful Jammu and Kashmir have a geographic area of 2, 22,236 sq. km and lies between latitude 32°17’ and 37°05’ North and longitude 72°31’ and 80°20’ East. The colourful Jammu and Kashmir have a diverse type of environment and good wildlife resources that sustains mankind. The colourful Jammu and Kashmir are covered with lofty mountain series and with lush green forests and rich wildlife. The Bangus valley is about 140 km away from the summer capital of colourful Jammu and Kashmir and around 10,200 ft. elevation above sea level. Bangus valley is actually a series of valleys surrounding Kashmir from all sides and rendered all the essential services to mankind. The Bangus valley is an unexplored and virgin valley that needs protection and care for a sustainable future. The Bangus series of valleys have a lot to admire and explore and need initial intervention from an environmental perspective and the authorities should promote ecotourism to conserve and protect these beautiful, charming, colourful series of valleys from anthropogenic pressures. There are two ways like Handwara-Mawar Bangus road and Manzgam-Chowkibal road to reach the beautiful series of Bangus valley and from the Manzgam-Chowkibal road, it takes almost 6-8 hours to reach Bangus valley from the summer capital of colourful Kashmir while includes an average of 2 hours of walking from Chowkibal to Bangus by foot. The Bangus valley is currently known by two terms like The Bangus valley is currently known by two terms like ‘’Lokut Bangus’’ and “Boud Bangus” by the Native colorful people.
The series of Bangus valley is replete with a lot of freshwater bodies which acts as a source of drinking and irrigation purposes to millions of people and a source for groundwater recharge. Bangus valley is snow-covered for almost half of the year and lush green for the rest of the months. There are numbers of oligotrophic streams and springs which travel these high altitude landscapes to the plains of north Kashmir with large numbers of Kashmiri fishes and other aquatic species. The Bangus valley is endowed with a variety of green gold, avifauna, wildlife, flora and aesthetic values. The green gold includes Blue Pine (Pinus Wallichiana), Chir Pine (Pinus Roxburghii), Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara), Himalayan Spruce (Picea Smithiana) and many other species. The Bangus valley is blessed with floral diversity and the majority of them have medicinal properties and are still used in traditional ways to cure diseases and tribes (Bakarwals) have expertise in the medicinal properties of plants and flowers growing in these colourful landscapes. The tribal people live in wooden huts and locally these huts are called (Bakh) and they live within these bakhs till there are favourable conditions for them as well as for their livestock, and then they prefer to migrate to other landscapes with their livestock to save from harsh conditions.
The tribal communities always travel from one valley to another valley of colourful Bangus for forage and shelter. The tribal people have advanced knowledge and basic understanding about the medicinal properties of Himalayan flora, while in a conversation with the head of the member of the tribe we left shocked when she replied that we had never used any synthetic drug even in any circumstances like in maternity complications. Noori gul (70) and Jameela Bano (54) years old, tribal women also admitted that due to climate change and human interventions we lost the green gold and we are leading to a disastrous and irreparable end, if we will not conserve and protect these colourful landscaped for a sustainable future. These Himalayan valleys are known for their colourful landscapes and attract varieties of migratory birds; these migratory birds use these places for breeding as well as for feeding purposes. The diverse avifauna keeps the place warm and peaceful with varieties of melodies to attract their mates for beautiful vibes and the colourful include Pheasants, Tragopan, Monal Pheasant, Black Partridge, Bush Quail, Sparrow, Crow, Eagle, Himalayan Snowcock, Common Quail, Snow Partridge, Greater Flamingo, Snow Pigeon, Common Cuckoo, and Stork.
The Bangus valley is home to thousands of unexplored endemic species whose lives may be at stake in future due to irresponsible tourism and pollution. The Bangus valley is home to diverse varieties of wild animals like Black Bear, Monkeys, Antelope, Musk deer, Snow leopard, Markhor, Brown Bear and Red Fox, Marmots, Leopards and many more wildlife species. The endemism of the valley is very high, we cannot take the risk to let these endemic species of plants, and animals suffer habitat loss and stress. Let the endemic species of Bangus valley live in harmony with nature and the tourism be monitored strictly and we should promote eco-tourism in such colourful landscapes that will help to conserve, protect, and preserve the natural legacy of Bangus valley.
The Bangus valley shares its border with Pakistan and the district Kupwara shares its majority of LOC with Pakistan and is always disturbed and burning due to the ever ending Kashmir issue. If the area is declared as a protected area it will not only conserve and protect the endemism, wild flora and fauna of the region but also will reduce the tension and promote peace in the northern area of Kashmir which always keep burning and hostility between India, Pakistan and China. The initiative of the Transboundary Protected Area (Strict Nature Reserve 1a IUCN) will help to protect the area from overexploitation, pollution, degradation and devastation and will help the wild flora and fauna to thrive and live in harmony with nature. The unexplored Bangus valley is actually a hidden paradise in north Kashmir and has a very low tourist influx but once the area is commercialized, it will be impossible to save and protect the hidden paradise from anthropogenic pressures.
The initiative of the Bangus transboundary protected area will reduce the human intervention, exploitation and habitat destruction that will directly help in conserving such high altitude elegant landscapes of Kashmir. The Bangus valley protected area will promote ecotourism and will help to save the pristine water bodies, which originates from the hidden paradise of Bangus valley of north Kashmir. It will help to regulate the climatic conditions of the region and will help in better agriculture production in the area. The northern area of Jammu and Kashmir is burning and wildlife face a lot of anthropogenic threats and challenges that will have adverse impacts on sustainability in future. India, Pakistan and China should come forward and declare the northern part of Jammu and Kashmir a transboundary protected area or international peace park and the idea will seriously reduce the long lasting tension between the countries. The Iguazu Falls, a transboundary protected area between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay are one of the examples of this peace initiative. The initiative of Trans boundary protected area will help and boost the natural connectivity of wild flora and fauna, which is disturbed since long due to the Kashmir issue. The peace and eco friendly initiative will also help the local communities to preserve their indigenous culture and tradition. It will also maintain the traditional and cultural continuity of villages that share similar traditions from time immemorial, but have been separated by the political boundary. The initiative of the Bangus valley Transboundary Protected area will help to restore peace in the region, will help to reduce the anthropogenic pressures, and will help the wildlife to thrive and live in harmony with nature. The initiative of Bangus Protected Area or Peace Park will be a harbinger of peace in the area and will improve the trilateral relationship of India, Pakistan and China with improving the health of nature for a sustainable future. Every life form is as essential as human life and it is our obligatory as well as moral duty to save nature from destruction and conserve it for a better future.
Good one dear keep it up
Dear Khan,
Thanks for your feedback
Good work. Keep going..!
Dear Bhat,
Yeah surely and keep supporting us!
Thankyou.