Palas valley watershed lies in the Kohistan district, NWFP Province, Pakistan. It covers an area of 1325 sq. km, whileits geographic extent is from72° 57'E to 73° 36'Eand from34° 44'Nto 35° 12'Nand is located on the right bankof IndusRiver acrossPattanTown. Serghaziabad, Sherakot, Sheryal, Kunsher, Paro, Gadar and Kolai are the important andheavilypopulatedvillages inthearea. Kaghan bounds the Palas in the east, Indus River in the west, Jalkot in the north and Allai in the south. It enjoyed the status of independent tribal area afterwhich it became a part of KohistanDistrict in1976, thetimeof creationof thedistrict. Previous initiatives at Palas have helped approximately 50,000 inhabitants of the Valley organized themselves into CBOs most of which have developed Village Conservation and Development Plans that outline a local strategy for social, economicandnatural resourcedevelopment.

The valley is recognized as “biodiversity hotspot” because:

It contains Pakistan's most important remaining tract of Western Himalayan temperate forests with some in pristine condition

The valley has about 600 plant species, 130 having medicinal value & three plants just new to science

The area harbors 30 mammal species including vulnerable Musk deer, endangered Himalayan Black bear, Leopard cat and the Goral & Ibex

The 75 kmlong river “Mushaga” acting as fresh water ecosystemfor associated aquatic fauna including fish species

There are more than 160 bird species found including eight of the eleven species endemic to Western Himalaya

It provides habitat to the largest viable population of the vulnerable Western Tragopan Pheasant; the flagship specie for conservation in the area

Palas is the only valley in Pakistan where four pheasant species occur in one forest tract