One of the 26 biodiversity hotspots, Sikkim is a veritable treasure house of some of the world’s most beautiful streams, lakes and waterfalls. The state has rich flora and fauna despite having only 0.5% of the land of the country. It is a land of vast variation in altitude within very short distances. Elevation plays a prime role in fashioning the ecoregions of the state. Based on altitude, tropical, sub-tropical, temperate-alpine and trans-Himalayan are the four vegetation zones of the state of which the alpine is rich in medicinal plants. Sikkim has 4,500 species of flowering plants with more than 450 species of orchids.

1. Department of Horticulture and Cash Crops, Government of Sikkim, East Sikkim
2. State Medicinal Plant Board, Department of Forest, Environment and Wild Life Management, Gangtok
3. Eshwaramma Social Welfare Association, Gangtok
4. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Gangtok