What do you call a place where orchids grow on treetops and 600+ different species exist in their unique and wild glory? The ornate state of Arunachal Pradesh, of course! This is more than a flowery title, but according to The Times of India, Arunachal Pradesh has been officially declared India’s Orchid Capital, and it has the receipts to back that up.
Arunachal Pradesh: Orchid Capital Of India
Did you know, more than 600 species of orchids grow in the wild in Arunachal? Its reality sounds like poetry. The number is half of India’s entire orchid population, and it’s all blooming in one state. The place has everything from high-altitude epiphytes that cling to mossy bark to little orchid species that flower for literally one day (Epipogium sessanum, we’re looking at you). This place is a living jungle laboratory, and the government has also taken notice now.
The centre of all this botanical magic is Sessa Orchid Sanctuary, sitting in West Kameng. It’s a misty and fairy-tale kind of forest where researchers and photographers disappear for days! They vanish sometimes to find something beautiful and sometimes to name it. New species have emerged from here with names like Spathoglottis arunachalensis and Gastrodia lohitensis. Nature here is weirdly quirky, and Arunachal gets it.
Arunachal Pradesh To Turn Blooms Into A Tourism Magnet
The state is determined on turning orchids into a tourism magnet. Recently Chief Minister Pema Khandu chaired a review meeting with the planning department. The meeting was held to think of initiatives that would put the state’s unique identity on the world map.
CM Pema Khandu’s team is pushing a larger eco-tourism idea that ropes in kiwi fruit farms and Monpa handmade paper. The state recently signed ₹6,357 crore worth of investment deals at the Rising Northeast Summit. A whopping amount of ₹150 crore is going straight into a tourism-focused hotel in Ziro. Plus, the Arunachal Frontier Highway is also under construction. It is a 1,748 km mega road that will cut through unexplored terrain, opening up orchid-rich pockets that most of us didn’t even know existed.
Also Read: Arunachal Pradesh 7-Day Itinerary: Where To Go, What To See, Budget And More
An Orchid Capital In The Making
Then there’s the conservation side. Arunachal is working with IUCN India to create a state-level red list of its orchids. It can be called a biodiversity version of the Oscars. Out of India’s 1,256 orchid species, over 612 grow in Arunachal adding up to its ornate beauty.
Arunachal’s unique identity is calling out to us with its Orchid capital, will you listen? Go, because Arunachal’s about to bloom into something rare, and you don’t want to say you missed it.
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