What we are doing
Situated in close proximity to the Eastern Himalayan global biodiversity hotspot, the city of Gangtok is the capital and the largest urban centre in Sikkim. It also is the headquarters of the East Sikkim district. Gangtok is located in the Eastern Himalayan range, at an elevation of 1,650 m. The city’s population of 1,00,286 is comprised of people of different ethnicities such as Nepali, Lepchas and Bhutia. Gangtok accounts for more than 65% of the total urban population of Sikkim (Housing and Urban Department Cooperation). The last decade i.e. 2001-2011 has observed the most exceptional growth rate of 241.64%. Rapid urbanization has led to reduction and exploitation of the natural resources like surface and groundwater and also led to dwindling of traditional resource utilization and management practices which were earlier followed by the communities. Urbanization has also led to acceleration of pollution, which has in turn had an impact on the biodiversity of the city-region (area comprising of the city and its vicinity). Mainstreaming biodiversity conservation and natural resource management into urban planning is thus needed to ensure sustainable development.
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