Research
To develop a research programme with collaboration between Western trained allopathic doctors and doctors of Tibetan traditional medicine in order to determine the efficacy of sowa rigpa medicines on our modern diseases.
A research laboratory to investigate certain medicinal compounds and their components will be put into operation. The analysis of cultivated medicinal plants will be necessary in order to determine whether the medicinal formulas will still be as effective as when wild harvested plants are used.
Medicinal Plant Cultivation and Conservation
The overall aim is to cultivate medicinal plants with the intention to reduce the pressure of the collection of wild medicinal plants and to provide an alternative more affordable supply to local traditional doctors.
In addition, this project will develop protocols for the propagation and cultivation of important medicinal plants in Sikkim and make this information available to local communities and institutes.
This project also aspires to make good quality planting materials available to local communities and institutes.
As a necessary part of conservation we are hoping to reintroduce plant species into their wild habitats.
Threats to medicinal species
Rapidly eroding traditional knowledge of medicinal plants leads to unsympathetic harvesting and creates an extremely fragile situation for these species.
In general, medicinal plants are under the same threats as non-medicinal species. Threats such as habitat destruction/degradation, climate change and invasive alien species.
However, in the addition to the above threats, medicinal plants suffer from non-sustainable harvesting. In a plan for medicinal plant conservation and sustainable utilisation, created by the department of forest, environment and wildlife, Sikkim; ‘destructive extraction for commercial purposes’ was found to be the greatest threat to medicinal plant in the region. In response, the government banned the collection of 28 of the most seriously endangered species such as; Aconitum heterophylum, Podophylum hexandrum and Swertia chirayita.
In general terms, collecting for local use is not a conservation problem, it is the commercial harvesting which is the problem.
Geographical context
Sikkim is situated in the eastern himalayas and covers a wide latitudinal range from 150 to 8500m. A place of extraordinary beauty and biodiversity. It is indeed known as a biodiversity hotspot which is particularly renowned for its medicine plants and beautiful orchid species.
There are over 200 butterfly species within this eastern Himalayan area, which take your breath away with their exquisite colours and patterns.
This diverse topography gives rise to three main vegetation zones, a Tropical zone (150-1500m), a Temperate zone (500-3900m) and an Alpine zone (3900-5500m). So the flora and fauna are extremely varied and diverse as one climbs from the semi- tropical zone up to the alpine meadows that abound in wild medicine plants and flowers. The whole region is graced by the presence of the Khanchanzonga Mountain Range which is visible (on clear days) almost throughout Sikkim. What a gem of a place and how to describe the richness of its natural world!
The Sikkim and Darjeeling area comprise only 0.22% of the India’s total land mass yet hold 25.7% of the countries flowering plant species, making it a valuable biodiversity hotspot.
The state is impressively rich in medicinal plants. Approximately 425 out of 5000 flowering plant species have been documented as being used medicinally by local tribal groups (Chhetri et al . 2005, Gurung 2002).
