Why in news?  Yaya Tso, known as birds’ paradise has been proposed as Ladakh’s first biodiversity heritage site (BHS)

Highlight

• The Biodiversity Management Committee, the panchayat of Chumathang village, along with SECURE Himalaya Project recently resolved to declare under the Biological Diversity Act
• The lake could be reached from Mahe monastery on the way to Tsomoriri lake

About the Yaya Tso lake

• This lake is a nesting habitat for a large number of birds and animals, such as the bar-headed goose, black-necked crane and brahminy duck
• It also has the distinction of being one of the highest breeding sites of the black-necked crane in India.

About SECURE Himalaya Project

• It is a part of “Global Partnership on Wildlife Conservation and Crime Prevention for Sustainable Development” (Global Wildlife Program) funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF)
• The project promotes sustainable management of alpine pastures and forests in the high range Himalayan ecosystems to secure conservation of globally significant wildlife
• It also aims at conservation of biodiversity and forest biodiversity  in spread over four states like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.
• The conservation includes endangered snow leopard and their habitats to ensure sustainable livelihoods and socio-economic benefits for communities in the selected high altitude landscapes in the Trans- and Greater Himalayan regions.