The lush mountain landscapes of Sikkim © ECOSS

Boasting some 194 Buddhist monasteries, Sikkim shares many features with neighbouring Bhutan and Tibet, lying to the east and north beyond high mountain ranges. Sikkim itself lies in the shadow of Khangchendzonga, the third highest mountain in the world, which towers majestically above the mountains in its vicinity like a god surrounded by smaller deities and can be seen from almost any part of Sikkim.

Sikkim is a major regional centre for biodiversity, due to its variety of landscapes and climates ranging from tropical to alpine. There are some 6,000 plant species, including around 4,000 flowering plants, and the state’s alpine areas are famous for their medicinal herbs (100 species) and rhododendrons, while the temperate and sub-tropical belts boast 400 species of orchid. Sikkim has around 1,400 species of butterfly, many hundred different species of birds and tens of different species of amphibians and reptiles. Around 13% of the state’s area has been declared a protected area for wildlife.

The second of the UNESCO regional ecotourism programme’s project sites in India, after activities carried out by UNESCO partner the Snow Leopard Conservancy in Ladakh and Himalchal Pradesh, the Sikkim project is being implemented by UNESCO project partner in Sikkim, the Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Sikkim (ECOSS), together with the Khangchendzonga Conservation Committee and the Dzongu Ecotourism Committee, at sites in Dzongu and Yuksam in north and west Sikkim.

The aim of the UNESCO / ECOSS project in Sikkim is to promote community participation in the area’s tourism development, helping to generate employment opportunities and income-generating activities for local people through the development and management of tourist home-stays, as well as through training in the skills needed for local people to become cultural and nature guides.

A Code of Best Practice is being drawn up for home-stay development and awareness of community-based tourism opportunities promoted. Training is being given in enhancing awareness of the outstanding natural environment and cultural heritage of Sikkim, and information produced on the state, both in electronic and print form, for a wider audience worldwide.