Proud to be a Sikkimese: Sikkim Travel, Culture & Local Heritage

Ever since the search for Heritage Trees started in Sikkim, I was very curious to be part of this competition. I still remember when the first preliminary results were published in one of the local dailies of Gangtok, the headline of the report read like “ Can this record be broken ”. More than two months later I seem to have the reply.  The search for the biggest tree of Sikkim was an exciting journey for me and my adventure gave me an opportunity to be in the wilds that I had never gone beyond still being a botany student. I have always believed that the land of Sikkim has many amazing ‘things’ to be discovered. It is debatable about the origin of the landforms of Sikkim. I still remember one of my lecturers at Sikkim Government College laughing at me when I asked him about the possibility of fossils in Sikkim. His answer is Sikkim is a young fold mountain and there is no possibility of any fossils in both plants and animals. But yet I have collected a petrified fossil with...

I simply loved the theme.....a search for the biggest / oldest tree of Sikkim. No doubt this hunt for the Biodiversity Heritage Trees is an opening in understanding the floras of ancient Sikkim.  Sikkim celebrates the centenary of the Sikkim Forest Department and the motive behind this exploration is worth an applause from the Government. It is also said that the person providing the information of such trees shall also be awarded. The result of the preliminary survey has the following statistics: North Sikkim:  9 trees including a Juniper with girth of c 42 ft. South Sikkim:  13 trees including a  pipalay kabra  with girth of 29 ft, height 95 ft. East Sikkim:  10 trees including a “bar” with girth 33 ft, height 150 ft. West Sikkim:  Three famous pine in Dubdi, Yuksom complex with girth 21 ft, height 150 ft. source: Now Newspaper