The Central Karakoram has been a research site since the British Great Trigonometrical Survey first measured K2 in 1856. The science continues today: glaciology, climate, biodiversity, archaeology, and the slowly-improving baseline data on what 10,557 km² of high-altitude wilderness actually contains. Sara on our research team coordinates permit applications and field collaboration; here is the working picture of what is known, what is being studied, and how to access the work.
The Pyramid Laboratory at Urdukas
The single most important piece of research infrastructure inside CKNP is the Pyramid Laboratory and Observatory, a permanent meteorological-glaciological station at Urdukas (3,940 m, on the Baltoro Glacier’s edge). Built and operated through the Italian-Pakistani Ev-K2-CNR Committee partnership and funded under the SEED programme, it has produced one of the longest continuous high-altitude environmental datasets in Asia.
What the Urdukas station logs:
- Air temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure (every 10 minutes).
- Precipitation type and depth (rain gauge plus snow pillow).
- Surface ice albedo and reflected radiation.
- Glacier surface velocity at fixed survey points (annual GPS resurvey).
- Glacier mass balance through the seasonal melt cycle.
- Atmospheric particulate / aerosol concentrations.
The dataset feeds into IPCC working groups, peer-reviewed glaciology papers, and the regional climate models used by Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority for Indus flow forecasting. Without this station we would be guessing at the Karakoram’s climate trajectory; with it, we have one of the most-cited long-term monitoring stations in the high-Asian glacier record.
Glaciology and the Karakoram Anomaly
The single most-published research finding from inside CKNP in the past two decades is the so-called Karakoram Anomaly: glaciers in this range have remained roughly stable or slightly grown in mass while neighbouring ranges (Hindu Kush, Pamir, Himalaya) have retreated significantly. The current scientific consensus is that increased winter precipitation, driven by changes in the westerly atmospheric flow, is offsetting summer melt.
Active research questions:
- How long does the Anomaly persist if atmospheric circulation continues to change?
- What is the role of debris cover in slowing melt on the lower Baltoro and Biafo?
- How are glacier surge cycles (Karakoram has the densest concentration of surge-type glaciers on earth) being affected?
- What is the contribution of glacier melt to Indus base flow under different scenarios?
Recent collaborating institutions include the University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy), the Department of Earth Sciences at Quaid-i-Azam University (Pakistan), the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (Switzerland), and the Centre for Glaciology at Aberystwyth University (UK).
Wildlife and biodiversity research
The park’s wildlife monitoring is camera-trap-led, with deployed grids in the Hushe, Shigar, Hispar, Khurpa Lungma and Bilafond drainages. Camera traps have produced:
- Population estimates for snow leopard (20–40 individuals park-wide).
- Density estimates for ibex, markhor and brown bear.
- The first photographic records of Pallas’s cat in Gilgit-Baltistan (2018, Hispar drainage).
- Behavioural data on lammergeier and Himalayan griffon vulture roosting sites.
The park collaborates with the Snow Leopard Foundation Pakistan, WWF-Pakistan, and the Pakistan Wildlife Department on the camera-trap programme. Research papers from this work appear in Mammalia, Oryx, Mammalian Biology and Wildlife Society Bulletin.
Botanical and ecological work
The park’s plant species checklist stands at approximately 712 species across four ecological zones. Active botanical work:
- Systematic revision of the Saxifragaceae in the high-Karakoram (collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh).
- Treeline migration monitoring through repeat photography at 18 fixed stations.
- Sustainable-yield mapping for traditional medicinal plants — salajeet, taxus, ephedra — in collaboration with Karakoram International University.
- Pollinator survey work in the buffer-zone villages (the relationship between traditional irrigation agriculture and native bee populations).
For botanists, the under-studied drainages include the upper Khurdopin, Bilafond, and Khurpa Lungma. Permit applications welcomed.
Archaeology and rock art
The Indus and Shigar valleys hold one of South Asia’s richest concentrations of pre-Islamic rock art — petroglyphs from the 1st millennium BCE through the 11th century CE. The German Archaeological Institute (Heidelberg Academy of Sciences) led the Pak-German archaeological mission that documented thousands of inscriptions in the region; the work continues with Karakoram International University and Pakistani institutions.
Notable sites within reach of the park’s buffer zone:
- Manthal Buddha Rock outside Skardu — 8th-century Buddhist relief.
- Chilas / Thalpan petroglyph fields — Indus-valley rock art on the road south of Gilgit.
- Shigar valley — medieval Buddhist and early Islamic inscriptions.
Climate, GLOFs and disaster research
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods are the most-watched natural hazard in the region. Research collaboration includes:
- The Pakistan Meteorological Department’s GLOF early-warning network.
- Khurdopin Glacier surge modelling (Aberystwyth, Quaid-i-Azam).
- Shimshal River channel evolution post-2017 GLOF (UN Development Programme).
- Atmospheric particulate transport — black carbon deposition from South Asian sources accelerating glacier melt (collaboration with Stockholm University).
How to do research inside the park
All research that involves sample collection, drone use, GPS-tracking studies, camera-trapping outside our own programme, or any field activity beyond standard tourism, requires a CKNP research permit. The application process:
- Submit a research proposal to the CKNP Directorate at Sadpara Road, Skardu, or via email to [email protected]. Include: principal investigator, host institution, ethical clearance from your institution, methodology, proposed sites, dates, and what you intend to publish.
- Park scientific advisors review the proposal — usually 4 to 8 weeks.
- Approval comes with a permit fee, mandatory liaison-officer attachment for foreign teams, and a published-output requirement (the park gets a copy of any peer-reviewed paper produced from the work).
- Foreign researchers also need a Pakistan visa with research provisions and clearance from the Ministry of Climate Change.
For institutional partnerships beyond single-permit work — long-term monitoring stations, joint-funded projects, postgraduate training programmes — contact the Directorate directly. We are actively seeking partners to continue the long-term Karakoram dataset that SEED started.
Selected references
A short, non-exhaustive bibliography of key recent CKNP-related work:
- Mayer C. et al., “Glaciological characteristics of the ablation zone of Baltoro Glacier”, Annals of Glaciology.
- Bocchiola D. et al., “Streamflow droughts and runoff trends in the upper Indus, Karakoram”, Journal of Hydrology.
- Diolaiuti G. et al., long-term monitoring papers from the Pyramid Laboratory station, The Cryosphere.
- Khan S. et al., snow leopard population estimates, Mammalia.
- Quincey D. et al., Karakoram glacier surge dynamics, Journal of Glaciology.
Full citations and a downloadable bibliography are available on request. Scholars interested in collaborative work or in continuing the Pyramid Laboratory dataset should email the Directorate.
Citizen science
Visitors can also contribute. We welcome:
- Confirmed wildlife sightings (with location, date, photograph if possible).
- Geo-tagged photographs of named alpine plants, especially from less-walked drainages.
- Reports of glacial features — new pond formation, surface change, surge fronts.
- Reports of cultural-heritage damage or unauthorised collection.
Submit through our contact page or directly to [email protected]. The park’s knowledge base is bigger when more people are looking.
Related reading: Karakoram glaciers, wildlife of the Central Karakoram, conservation and SEED legacy.
