Sustainable use of bio resources in the Eastern Himalaya

This project, supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, provides technical innovations and ecological research for the sustainable use of bio-resources in the Eastern Himalayas. The project has brought together the unique strengths of researchers at the National Centre for Biological Research (NCBS) and ATREE. Sikkim, as part of the Eastern Himalayas, is in the forefront of climate change. Its bio-resources, both natural and agricultural, will face the brunt of global change drivers in the near future, which will affect vegetation health and productivity. This project has paved the way for establishing long-term monitoring sites for bio-resources and ecosystem services, which will emerge as pioneers in the entire Himalayas for a comprehensive understanding of how ecosystems respond to global change. These early-warning sites will also help detect emerging trends and, in combination with improved regional climate change outputs, help forecast the availability of bio-resource availability and critical ecosystem services under future scenarios of climate change.