Deosai National Park is an alpine plateau of exceptional beauty and ecological value located in the western massif of the Himalayas, east of Nanga Parbat Peak and in close proximity to the Central Karakoram Range. The plateau, with an altitude of 3500 to 5200 m., is an area of 358,400 ha. of flat but undulating plains broken by gently rolling hills and surrounded on all sides by mountains. It forms a stark contrast to much of the surrounding landscape which is made up of narrow valleys between steep mountains.

The plateau’s environment is characterized by extreme cold with low atmospheric pressure coupled with low oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, aridity, intense and rapid solar ultraviolet radiation. The Deosai plain receives higher rainfall than adjoining northern and north eastern valleys of Baltistan due to its geographical location facing the monsoon affected outer Himalayas. Annual precipitation varies from 350 to 550 mm., mostly received during winter as snow.

Deosai National Park is located where two biogeographical provinces merge, in the Himalayan and Karakorum-Pamir highlands. As a result, it is a place of very rich biodiversity as species are channelled through the Karakorum range, the main crest of the Himalayas, Zanskar range (Trans-Himalaya), Ladakh range (Trans-Himalaya) and the Indus valley.

These factors combine to create high altitude wetlands characterized by Sheosar Lake, at 4,250m which represents a unique category of alpine wetlands that is confined to the Himalaya, Hindukush and Karakoram mountain cordilleras. The wetlands are fed by snow melt from the surrounding high snow-clad peaks and are drained by many fast-flowing rivers and streams. Large expanses of alpine meadow alternate with drier stony areas, and there are patches of dwarf willows along the rivers and streams with many species of Poa, Saxifraga and Euphorbia. The plateau is highly significant in terms of watershed value. Three important river systems originate from Deosai National Park namely; Shatung, Bara Pani and Kala Pani which form the Shigar River, an important tributary of Indus River.

The park is part of the Conservation International Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot and contains a rich variety of species including a population of Tibetan wolf (Canis lupus chanco), Himalayan ibex (Capra ibex sibrica), Tibetan red fox (Vulpus vulpus montana) and Golden marmots (Marmota caudata). The waters of the Deosai plateau are home to the local snow trout which reach enormous size. The park lies within the BirdLife International’s Western Himalaya Endemic Bird Area and is important as a resting place and breeding ground of residential and migratory birds of international importance. The flora of Deosai is influenced by four major floristic elements: Boreoalpine and Circumpolar; the Euro- Siberian; Southern European/ Mediterranean and Siberian- Mongolian and is home to hundreds of species of medicinal and aromatic plants. In the Spring season it is covered by sweeps of wildflowers and a wide variety of rare butterflies.

The area was designated as Deosai National Park by the Government of Pakistan in 1993 with the primary objective of protection and conservation of the Himalayan Brown Bear (Ursus arctos Isabellinus), unique to this part of the world. The Himalayan brown bear is a critically endangered species in some of its range and the key-stone species of Deosai National Park. The populations in Pakistan are slow reproducing, small, and declining because of habitat loss, fragmentation, poaching, and bear baiting. Bears are legally protected, however, and recently designated as critically endangered in IUCN’s Red List of Mammals of Pakistan. Seven populations probably persist in the Himalaya, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush ranges; but the Deosai Plateau in western Himalaya hosts the only stable population. The sizes of these populations do not exceed 20 individuals, except for Deosai National Park, where 72 bears are currently reported.