Khangchendzonga

Khangchendzonga National Park lies in the state of Sikkim, in the eastern Indian Himalaya, and in 2016 was inscribed on the World Heritage List as India's first and only MIXED property, recognised for its natural and cultural values alike.

Its defining feature is the altitudinal gradient: the protected territory runs from 1,220 metres to the 8,586 of Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, which makes it one of the ecosystems of greatest vertical range on the planet. Along that span come subtropical forest, temperate oak and rhododendron forest, conifers, alpine scrub, high meadows, glaciers and finally the domain of rock and ice.

The fauna reflects that variety, with snow leopard, red panda, musk deer, argali and Himalayan black bear. The cultural component is equally significant: for the Lepcha and the Bhutia of Sikkim the massif is a protective deity, and the landscape is scattered with sacred places, meditation caves and pilgrimage routes bound up with Tibetan Buddhism and with indigenous beliefs, through stories and practices that link the community directly to the mountain. The park forms the core zone of the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, brought into the world network of UNESCO's MAB programme in 2018.