Prior to 1982, the uncontrolled mountaineering activities to the Nanda Devi peak led to theheavy destruction of the biological resources of the region in the form of poaching of wild animals, treefelling by expedition parties, collection of medicinal herbs and accumulation of garbage. To curb thebiotic interference, the area was declared as Nanda Devi National Park (NDNP) and adventure tourismwas stopped in 1982. Further in 1988, an area of 2236.74km2 was designated as Nanda Devi BiosphereReserve (NDBR) with an inner core zone (NDNP) surrounded by a buffer zone. A ban on tourismactivities, followed by the designation of NDBR directly helped in a significant improvement in forestcover and density. The better status of wild animals, including rare and endangered species such as muskdeer (Moschus chrysogaster) and blue sheep (Psuedois nayaur), is an indicator of such improvements.However, from a socio-economic point of view the loss of income from adventure tourism forced localpeople to migrate from the area, a phenomenon that was reflected in the human population trends,registering 15% decline between 1981 and 1991 and another 13% between 1991 and 1996. In theabsence of alternative income sources, marginal agriculture and animal husbandry became the majorsources of income for the locals. Nonetheless, the low density of human population kept the level ofbiotic pressure under control in NDBR. Promotion of eco-tourism and natural resource based employmentgeneration schemes are suggested to compensate for the economic loss to the local people and tomaintain the biodiversity of NDBR.