Gangtok, Aug. 27: The areas adjacent to Kanchendzonga National Park and Biosphere Reserve and Singhba rhododendron sanctuary, are likely to be declared a protected area called Tso Lhamo Cold Desert Reserve.

The state government has put forward a proposal in this regard to ensure that the landscape, flora and fauna and animal habitats along Lachen and Lachung valleys in north Sikkim are protected.

Usha Lachungpa, the senior research officer (wildlife) of the forest, wildlife and environment department, said the proposal was the first of its kind in the country.

Lachungpa said such a step was being taken because of ecological, floral, geomorphological and zoological importance of Sikkim’s cold desert.

She also said it was important because this area was the source of the state’s main reviver system and freshwater resource.

Lachungpa, who is the state’s leading expert in wild life and environment, said the area was also the gene bank for a host of wild and domestic species of plants, which had economic and medicinal value.

She, however, said the formal declaration of the area as a cold desert reserve would be made only after consultation with local communities, government agencies and the Indian Army.

“The basic objective will be protection of landscapes, flora and fauna and their habitats, as well as traditional and cultural conservation values. The area will be managed by a Conservation Reserve Management Committee comprising all the stakeholders. They will advise on how to conserve, manage and maintain the reserve”, she said.

“The area is ecologically fragile and vulnerable. It is also the only cold desert in the eastern Himalayas, hence the importance of conserving the natural heritage of the place,” Lachungpa added.