Khangchendzonga National Park:
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently rated Khangchendzonga National Park as “good” in its latest global review of natural World Heritage sites.
- Khangchendzonga National Park is located in the north of Sikkim.
- It is a part of the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (KBR).
- KBR is India’s first “mixed” UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised in 2016 for its combination of natural beauty and cultural importance.
- It is home to Khangchendzonga, the third highest peak in the world.
- It lies entirely along the Sikkim-Nepal border.
- It is a part of the Himalaya global biodiversity hotspot.
- It encompasses an area covering 1784 sq.km.
- It exhibits one of the widest altitudinal ranges of any protected area worldwide. The park has an extraordinary vertical sweep of over 7 kilometres (1,220 m to 8,586 m).
- It has a unique diversity of plains, valleys, lakes, glaciers, and spectacular, snow-capped mountains covered with ancient forests.
- It has, in total, 18 glaciers, the largest one being Zemu Glacier, one of the largest glaciers in Asia.
- It is one of the very few places where you will find the Lepcha tribal settlements.
- It is home to important flagship species such as the snow leopard, Tibetan wolf, red panda, blue sheep, Himalayan Tahr, and mainland serow, among many.
- It is home to nearly half of India’s bird diversity.
