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| 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.
