Current Affairs - Environment - Discussion

UNESCO has included the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (KBR) in the list of World Network of Biosphere Reserve (WNBR) at the 30th Session of the Man and Biosphere International Coordinating Council (ICC) in Palembang, Indonesia. With this, KBR has now become the India's 11th internationally designated WNBR and joined the list of other biospheres such as Nandadevi, Simlipal, Sunderbans, Nokrek , Pachmarhi and Nilgiri. The reserve, which is located in Sikkim, includes a range of ecoclines varying from subtropical to arctic, as well as vast natural forests in different biomes that support an immensely rich diversity of forest types and habitats resulting in high species diversity and endemism. The core zone of the biosphere alone has over 150 glaciers and 73 glacial lakes, the prominent one being the famous 26-km-long Zemu glacier. It is home to a number of globally threatened fauna including musk deer, snow leopard, red panda and Himalayan Tahr and many ethnic communities including Lepcha, Nepalese, and Bhutia.