Hemis National Park

The  park  houses  numerous  Tibetan  gompas  and  holy  chortens  within  its  boundaries.  These  include  the  famous  400-year-old  Hemis  Monastery.  Hemis  was  a  destination  and  via  point  on  the  silk  routes  of  Tibet.  Over  1,600  people  live  inside  the  park  presently,  with  a  large  number  of  tourists  and  pilgrims  visiting  during  the  Hemis  Tsechu  festival.   

World  famous  for  being  the  best  place  to  see  the  snow  leopard  in  the  wild,  it  is  believed  to  have  the  highest  density  of  snow  leopards  of  any  protected  area  in  the  world.  It  is  the  only  national  park  in  India  north  of  the  Himalayas,  the  largest  notified  protected  area  in  India  (and  thus  the  largest  national  park  of  India),  and  is  the  second  largest  contiguous  protected  area  after  the  Nanda  Devi  Biosphere  Reserve  and  surrounding  protected  areas.  The  park  is  home  to  a  number  of  species  of  endangered  mammals  including  the  snow  leopard. 

  Hemis  National  Park  is  India's  only  protected  area  inside  the  Palearctic  ecozone,  outside  the  Changthang  Wildlife  Sanctuary  northeast  of  Hemis,  and  the  proposed  Tso  Lhamo  Cold  Desert  Conservation  Area  in  North  Sikkim .

The  park  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  banks  of  the  Indus  River,  and  includes  the  cachements  of  Markha,  Sumdah  and  Rumbak,  and  parts  of  the  Zanskar  Range.

This  region  is  in  the  rain  shadow  of  the  Himalayas,  and  does  not  receive  much  precipitation.  Hence,  dry  forests  of  juniper,  Populus  -  Salix  forests,  subalpine  dry  birch  -  fir  are  present  at  lower  altitudes.  You  will  find  alpine  and  steppe  trees  predominantly  at  Hemis  High  National  Park.  These  trees  and  shrubs  are  spread  across  the  valley  bottoms.  

 

 Since  the  upper  mountain  slopes  are  moist,  this  area  is  characterized  by  alpine  vegetation  including:  Anemone,Gentiana,  Thallctrwn,  Lloydia,  Veronica,  Delphinum,  Care.x  and  Kobresia.  The  other  parts  of  the  park  support  steppe  vegetation  which  is  dominated  by  Caragana,  Artemisia,  Stachys,  and  Ephedra,  present  along  the  lower  river  courses.

                                      Blackbuck  National  Park

Blackbuck  National  Park  at  Velavadar  is  situated  in  the  Bhavnagar  District  of  Gujarat  state,  India.  In  July  1976,  when  the  park  was  established,  the  initial  protected  area  measured  about  18  km2.  In  1980,  another  16  km2  were  added,  increasing  the  total  area  to  34.08  km2.

A  southern  portion  of  the  park,  which  adjoins  the  Gulf  of  Khambhat,  is  in  the  Gulf's  high  tide  zone  and  gets  inundated  with  water.  However,  its  semi-arid  conditions,  together  with  this  inundation  of  seawater  during  monsoon,  creates  habitats  suitable  for  various  dependent  fauna  of  the  park.  Flat  land,  dry  grasses  and  herds  of  antelope  have  always  attracted  visitors  to  this  park  which  has  a  grassland  ecosystem.  Successful  conservation  programs  for  the  blackbuck,  wolf  and  lesser  florican  (a  bustard)  are  ongoing.  

 Considered  to  be  an  endemic  Indian  species,  the  lesser  florican,  which  once  lived  throughout  the  country,  has  become  endangered  in  recent  decades.  Today,  the  largest  population  is  in  this  park.  Local  wolf  numbers  are  increasing,  as  are  striped  hyena,  with  sightings  quite  frequent  during  daylight  in  winter  2012-2013.

Established  in  1976  in  the  Bhal  region  of  Saurashtra,  the  park  is  located  around  42  km  from  the  district  headquarters  city  of  Bhavnagar.  Hugging  the  coasts  of  the  Gulf  of  Khambhat  on  the  south,  it  is  spread  over  an  area  of  34.08  km2,  which  was  primarily  a  "vidi"  of  the  maharaja  of  the  princely  state  of  Bhavnagar  for  hunting  the  blackbucks  with  his  famous  hunting  cheetahs.   

 

On  the  northern  side,  it  is  surrounded  by  wastelands  and  agriculture  fields.

                                   Waterton Lakes National Park

 

Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada, and borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States.Waterton was Canada's fourth national park, In 1932, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was formed from Waterton and Glacier. It was dedicated to world peace by Sir Charles Arthur Mander on behalf of Rotary International. Although the park has a lot of diversity for its size, the main highlight is the Waterton lakes the deepest in the Canadian Rockies overlooked by the historic Prince of Wales Hotel National Historic Site. The park is part of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, designated as World Heritage Site in 1995 for their distinctive climate, physiographic setting, mountain-prairie interface, and tri-ocean hydrographical divide.

They are areas of significant scenic values with abundant and diverse flora and fauna. In 1979, Waterton and bordering Glacier National park in the US were designated as World Biosphere reserves, preserving mountains, prairie, lakes and freshwater wetlands ecosystems. Habitats represented in the parks' range include: prairie grasslands, aspen grove forests, alpine tundra/high meadows, lower subalpine forests, deciduous and coniferous forests. Operated by Parks Canada, Waterton is open all year, but the main tourist season is during July and August. The only commercial facilities available within the park are located at the Waterton Park townsite.

 The park ranges in elevation from 1,290 metres (4,232 ft) at the townsite to 2,910 m (9,547 ft) at Mount Blakiston. It offers many scenic trails, including Crypt Lake trail. In 2012/2013, Waterton Lakes National Park had 402,542 visitors .  

The park was the subject of a short film in 2011's National Parks Project, directed by Peter Lynch and scored by Cadence Weapon, Laura Barrett and Mark Hamilton.

 It is formed in 1895 and named afterWaterton Lake, in turn after the Victorian naturalist and conservationist Charles Waterton. The park contains 505 km2(195 sq mi) of rugged mountains and wilderness.