HYDERABAD, India -
April 3, 2016 -
PRLog -- Framed Himalaya: Lachen Valley, is a first-hand photographic account of the biodiversity, people and culture of the Valley, by researchers working on various ecological and social aspects in the Valley for four years. Deep in the eastern recesses of the Himalaya lies the mystical valley of Lachen. The valley is tucked away among the snow laden peaks of the Eastern Himalaya and has a steep elevation gradient ranging from 2000 meters to over 7000 meters. This gradient has resulted in diverse ecological zones including rich oak dominated forests moving into coniferous habitats dominated by mighty hemlocks, firs and larches, alpine pastures carpeted by an abundance of colorful high altitude herbs and the rugged Tibetan plateau's cold desert. Joseph Dalton Hooker, the British Naturalist, remarked "it appears incredible that such a limited area, buried in the depths of the Himalaya, should present nearly all the types of the flora of the north temperate zone." He underscores the uniqueness of the valley's biodiversity by describing it as "Far to the northward of the snowy Himalaya on a lofty plateau, whose plants and animals are different from anything I had previously seen. This book tries to capture a glimpse of the fast disappearing and threatened biodiversity and kaleidoscopic array of cultural traditions, beliefs, and knowledge systems of the indigenous communities in the valley, so that it can be shared with people far away and future generations before it is all lost.
http://vimeo.com/121822526
