Resurgence of the Himalayan Rhododendrons

Author [in fur cap] with forest officers- P.O. Pazo, S.M. Rai, C.D. Lama and retinue of camp followers
including village headmen at camp at Hilley before going to Chiwabhanjyang. Just declared
‘Rhododendron Sanctuary’ warden- Kaloo Sherpa at right (sitting). Fr. Karma, FG Namgyal
and  FG Anna Purna Subba [behind S.M. Rai] also in the picture. [Bersey 1969]

BERSEY RHODODENDRON SANCTUARY
The closing ceremony of the International Rhododendron Festival 2010-11 begins 25 March. In an aptly timed contribution, respected forester, KC PRADHAN, shares a chapter from his well-received book, “Life & Times of a Plantsman”. The extract below recounts his visit to the West Sikkim Forest Division in 1969 and of how the idea of a Rhododenron Sanctuary at Bersey was born and how, with it, started the process which earned Sikkim’s Rhododendrons their rightful position as a wealth worth celebrating…

SOMETIME AFTER MY return from Yale, I visited the west forest division. This was in April 1969. I was accompanied by P.O. Pazo, Saharman Rai, L.B. Lama, and a host of other forest staff. We trekked from Hilley to Bersey and found the whole hillside ablaze with a pinkish to an almost white hue of Rhododendron arboretum var. campbelliae. We decided on the spot to declare the area a Rhododendron Sanctuary and got the area marked roughly with the help of natural features. Everyone accepted the need to appoint a chowkidar (caretaker). A dumb fellow - a daredevil nevertheless - accompanying us, Kalloo Sherpa, was the instant choice. He did a really good job and kept all the cow-herders under strict control.

After establishing himself as a terror in the area for a good four decades, he retired. Sadly he had rather an unnatural death just a few months back (January 2007) while rushing back to Gangtok to look up his ailing wife in the hospital. It’s good to know his children are doing well in life.
The area extended right up to the tri-junction of Nepal, Sikkim and Darjeeling (West Bengal), and has now been declared the Bersey Rhododendron Sanctuary under appropriate legislation.
We had a beautiful trek to Kalijhar through forests of large-leafed rhododendrons like R. falconeri, R. hodgsonii, R. grande and R. griffithianum, with scattered trees of giant Magnolia campbellii and flowers almost everywhere. We paddled through marshes of Deo-nigalo bamboo (Sinarundinaria microphylla), a bamboo species much revered by mountain people across Nepal in the belief that a piece of it around the neck would keep the spirits away. The incredible view of the Khangchendzonga mountain range from the rustic Kalijhar camp the next morning was simply superb, with the holy Pemayangtse and Sangacholing monasteries prominent on the landscape. The food from the capable hands of Forest Guard Chabilall was superb. The two brothers, Chabilall and Narad from Gyalzing retired as Forester and Head Forest Guard respectively. Both were very resourceful, having a good command of their respective forest blocks and beats, and highly regarded and efficient. In fact, I would never travel in the south and west divisions without them.
Our next camp was Chiwabhanjang on the Nepal border. We had a dak bungalow there with Dorjee Namgyal Sherpa as the chowkidar. He hailed from Wallangchu in east Nepal and had a herd of yaks of his own. Though his bonafide were suspect at times, no one else was capable of staying at that rather dangerous post and having as good a control of yak grazers on both sides of the border as he did. He also kept us fed with some useful information, especially about trading in herbal plants. I must say I took a liking for him. He was indeed a colourful character and without him the desolate area would have lacked spice, I think.
We then trudged along the slippery path to Uttarey, a beautiful hamlet on a hilly slope with a large lake below. We had an energetic Forester in P.S. Subba from that area, besides a veteran Forest Guard, Agya Tsering. The latter was a typical Lepcha from the neighbouring village of Phrek. Agya Tsering was an authority on the natural resources of the area, though he tended to be irritating at times. L.C. Simick somehow liked him and he was his constant companion in the jungles. The area was once the centre of graphite mining as the carbon content was as high as 80% and considered next only to that of Sri Lanka in quality. Due to problems in logistics, it somehow did not work out. But the deposits are still there. It was also the centre of trade in herbal plants with many medicinal plants especially coming in large quantities from across the border in Nepal. With better communication, the trade was diverted to Dharan within Nepal itself and the business died a natural death.
With the advent of adventure tourism, Uttarey turned into a base for tourists and was well on its way to becoming an alternative to Yuksam. Due to unrest across the border in Nepal, the trek along Singalila to Dzongri had to be closed for a while. Happily, the route having been realigned and re-opened it should bring certain amount of prosperity to this otherwise forgotten area. The area made news when the first group of members of the American Rhododendron Society (ARS) trekked from Phalut (the tri-junction of West Bengal, Nepal and Sikkim) to Chiwabhanjang, Kalijhar, and then to Hilley before taking a bus ride to Gangtok. It was April 1974. The group had eminent members like Clive Justice, Dr. Ned Brockenbrough, Dr. Keith Wade, Dr. Forrest Bump, Dr. Ed and Carol Simons, Pat McMath, Emile Cobb, George and Betty Arrington, E. White Smith, Milton Tangaard, David and Fred Palmer, Warren and Patricia Berg, George, Susan and Emily Muller, Orris E. Thompson, Morris, Pat McDowell, and a few others- all, in spite of having different professions, eminent personalities in the world of rhododendrons. Jean and Britt though met up with the group at Gangtok. An advance team led by our flamboyant DFO P.K. Basnett received them at the Sikkim entry point at Phalut complete with a tastefully decorated welcome-gate made of trusses of rhododendron flowers. I joined them at the campsite at Kalijhar.
A number of school students waiting for their Class X exams results were attached to the group. I was pleasantly surprised when Clive showed me a set of pictures taken by Ned in which Minister S.B. Subedi and Dr. Namgyal Sherpa figured prominently. The former is now Minister of Forests and Environment, and the latter, the Chief Medical Consultant in the Government of Sikkim. They were delighted when they saw the pictures. So were the members who were there at the 2005 ARS (American Rhododendron Society) Convention in Victoria, Canada. Minister Subedi’s short attachment with the group did a world of good and now he is the prime advocate of conservation of rhododendrons and other natural resources in Sikkim. He recollects the trip with nostalgia and always makes it a point to narrate to fellow forest officers. So is Dr. Namgyal who was attached to Ned - eminent surgeon from Seattle area. When Ned asked the school boy Namgyal what is his ambition in life? The instant reply was a medical doctor and he did and doing remarkably well as the chief physician in the state government health department. It was the beginning of the ‘rhododendron resurgence’ in Sikkim. They called on B.S. Das, then Chief Executive and the Chogyal P.T. Namgyal at the Palace. The latter hosted a dinner in their honour and the members stressed the need for conservation of rhododendrons as a prized heritage. Sikkim was then passing through a very difficult political situation, and that incidentally happened to be the final social function at the Palace. I followed the strategies created during my tenure in the Forest Department and pursued them further as I held the posts of Tourism, Finance, and then Chief Secretary to the Government.
The members, under the leadership of Clive Justice decided to establish a Chapter of the ARS here while they were at Phalut on the West Bengal side, just across the Sikkim border. I understood they celebrated with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s brought by Dr. Ed. Simons; the Chapter was christened the ‘J.D. Hooker Chapter’. I was made the Chapter President, with 10 other members nominated from the Departments of Forests and Tourism.
Thirty years of my association with the ARS was really memorable. Initially, it was patronised strongly by the Chogyal and Gyalmo, and I had a very enthusiastic friend in Tse Ten Tashi, previously Private Secretary to the Chogyal and later Secretary, Private Estate of the Palace, in pursuing our goals. We spent a good deal of time recceing along the Gangtok-Tsomgo- Gnathong area, exceedingly rich in rhododendrons. Once Sonam Lachungpa joined the Forest Service, he was of great help in carrying the programme forward. By then, almost all the members of the Forest Service were well sensitised to the cause. A number of rhododendron-rich areas were demarcated and declared as sanctuaries. The Yakchey Niveum Sanctuary, Singba Rhododendron Sanctuary, and many more thus came into being. From then on, this neglected species dumped under Schedule D among trees was upgraded and placed under Schedule A alongside Juglans (walnut) and Morus (mulberry). So if anyone was caught playing mischief with the species they were fined heavily. Now Sonam having assumed the charge of Sikkim forestry as its head, I have every reason to believe conservation and popularization of our exceedingly rich rhododendrons will get further boost.
Jean and Britt Smith, active members-cum-officials of the ARS from Tacoma, USA visited Sikkim seven times in the period 1971 to 2000, advising us every time how to go about our conservation efforts, and, on the other side, publicising Sikkim rhododendrons among fans around the world. So much so Britt’s visit to Sikkim in 1990 was sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. They were the true rhododendron ambassadors of Sikkim. Also of substance was the interest shown by Clive Justice in helping us throughout in the methodology of conservation in the most appropriate manner. Never in the history of Sikkim had rhododendrons received so much importance. After J.D. Hooker some 160 years ago, it was Britt and Clive who brought Sikkim rhododendrons back to the centre-stage, much to the delight of all naturalists working in this part of the Himalayas. We are truly grateful for their thoughtfulness and dedication to our cause.
The highlight of my association with the ARS was attending the 60th Convention of the ARS in Victoria, B.C., and Canada in April 2005, where they honoured me with a Gold Medal as well as the coveted Pioneer Achievement Award. It was a momentous achievement. I had never thought in my wildest dreams that such recognition would come my way, and from such a faraway land. With Britt having just passed away (December 6, 2007), I happen to be the only living member who is recipient of the Pioneer Achievement Award. The Award ceremony as covered by photojournalists Nazima and Earl Kowall and that appeared in Sikkim’s daily NOW is reproduced in chapter forty-two.
The trips that preceded and followed the Convention well orchestrated by affectionate Clive in B.C. and passionately organized by our gracious host Fred and Ann Whitney in Tacoma-Seattle area in US were memorable. Meeting Britt and Jean at their beautiful home at Kent with rhododendrons, mostly created by Britt, all around overlooking the Mt. Rainier at the distance in the sweet company of Fred and Ann was truly an occasion that comes once in lifetime. To know Britt is no more and Jean suffered series of ailments and the house has been sold for Jean to move into a comfortable apartment is heart shattering. Our thoughts and prayers are always with them - the most wonderful, gracious couple that came on our way to enrich our thinking in many a ways.
[The writer retired as Chief Secretary to the Government of Sikkim. His book, “Life and Times of a Plantsman”, is available in all leading bookstores]