The Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand state is an outstandingly beautiful high-altitude Himalayan valley that has been acknowledged as such by renowned mountaineers and botanists in literature for over a century and in Hindu mythology for much longer. Its ‘gentle’ landscape, breathtakingly beautiful meadows of Alpine flowers and ease of access, complement the rugged, mountain wilderness for which the inner basin of Nanda Devi National Park is renowned.

The Valley of Flowers is internationally important on account of its diverse Alpine flora, representative of the West Himalaya bio-geographic zone. The rich diversity of species reflects the valley’s location within a transition zone between the Zanskar and Great Himalaya ranges to the north and south, respectively and between the Eastern and Western Himalayan flora. The diversity of threatened species of medicinal plants is higher than what was recorded in other Indian Himalayan protected areas. The entire Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve lies within the Western Himalayas Endemic Bird Area (EBA). Seven restricted-range bird species are endemic to this part of the EBA.

The Park is in the catchment basin of the Rishi Ganga, an eastern tributary of the Dhauli Ganga, which flows into a major tributary of the Ganges – the Alaknanda River at Joshimath.