ScarlettNicholso at 05:44, 2 March 2026

2026-03-02T05:44:09Z

imported>Sennecaster: Rescuing 7 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.8

2021-05-04T16:06:31Z

Rescuing 7 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.8

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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Sessa Orchid Sanctuary
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name =
| nickname =
| settlement_type = wildlife sanctuary
| image_skyline = Coelogyne nitida.jpg
| image_alt =
| image_caption = '''[[Coelogyne nitida]]'''
| pushpin_map = India Arunachal Pradesh#India
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Arunachal Pradesh, India
| coordinates = {{coord|27.2|N|92.5|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Arunachal Pradesh]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[West Kameng]]
| established_title = Established
| established_date = 1989
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 = 100
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total =
| population_as_of =
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[English language|English]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = 
| postal_code =
| registration_plate = [[Vehicle registration plates of India|AR]]
| blank1_name_sec1 = Nearest city
| blank1_info_sec1 = [[Bomdila]]
| blank2_name_sec1 = [[IUCN protected area categories|IUCN category]]
| blank2_info_sec1 = IV
| blank3_name_sec1 = Governing body
| blank3_info_sec1 = [http://arunachalpradesh.nic.in/tourism.htm '''Secretary (Political), Government of Arunachal Pradesh''']
| website =
| footnotes = '''Website:'''[http://sfri.nic.in/sessa.htm SESSA ORCHID SANCTUARY & NURSERY]'''
}}
'''Sessa Orchid Sanctuary''' is a 100 km2 [[Protected areas of India|protected area of India]] in the [[Himalaya#Midlands|Himalayan foothills]] in [[Bhalukpong]] Forest Division of [[West Kameng District]], [[Arunachal Pradesh]]. It conjoins [[Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary]] to the southwest. It is a part of the Kameng Protected Area Complex (KPAC), which is an [[Project Elephant|Elephant Reserve]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070918192235/http://www.clsp.jhu.edu/people/zak/ramana/wapLocEaglenest.htm#EaglenestMap See map]. The [[Department of Environment and Forest of Arunachal Pradesh|department of Environment & Forests]] has developed trekking routes for visitors to enjoy the natural habitats of [[orchids]]. There are deep gorges and valleys, high peaks and rugged terrain that are rewarding for nature lovers and adventure tourists. A nursery includes representative specimens of various orchid species of the sanctuary and a demonstration farm of [[Cymbidium]] hybrids for cut-flower production. Most of Sessa has traditionally been claimed by the [[Bugun]] tribe as part of their territory.

==Geography and climate==
Sessa and Eaglenest together occupy a rough east–west rectangle with Sessa occupying the north-east quadrant. The [[Bhalukpong]]-[[Bomdila]] highway (and Pakke immediately beyond) are its eastern boundary. It is bounded to the north by the [[Tenga River]] valley.<ref>Athreya Ramana M, Kartikeyan S., The Wildlife Sanctuaries in the Dafla Hills of Arunachal Pradesh [http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~sbhatnag/Nature/warunachal/Docs/kameng94_rep.pdf Sessa Orchid Sanctuary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516233457/http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~sbhatnag/Nature/warunachal/Docs/kameng94_rep.pdf |date=16 May 2011 }}</ref> Altitude is {{convert|900|m|ft|0}} to {{convert|3250|m|ft|0}}.

Sessa and Eaglenest ridges rise to {{convert|3250|m|ft|0}} and {{convert|2700|m|ft|0}} respectively and are the first major barriers to the [[monsoon]] as it moves north from the plains of Assam. These ridges get over {{convert|3000|mm|in}} of rain on the southern slopes and about {{convert|1500|mm|in}} on the northern slopes.<ref>Choudhury A. 2003: Birds of Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary and Sessa Orchid Sanctuary,
Arunachal Pradesh, India. Forktail 19:1</ref>

Sessa sanctuary is drained by the Tippi Naala (Tippi river), which joins the Kameng river at Tippi village on the Bhalukpong-Bomdila highway. [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/india/ng-46-02.jpg Topographic map] <ref>Army Map Service, Corps of Engineers (1955) Series U502, Sheet NG-46-2, Towang, India; Bhutan; China, topographic map 1:250,000, retrieved 10/2/2007 [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/india/ng-46-02.jpg Topographic map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010124107/http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/india/ng-46-02.jpg |date=10 October 2007 }}</ref>

Sessa is part of the Kameng protected area complex (KPAC), the largest contiguous closed-canopy forest tract of Arunachal Pradesh, which includes Sessa, Eaglenest, Pakke, Nameri, and Sonai Rupai sanctuaries and associated reserved forest blocks. The Complex covers 3500 km2 in area and ranges from {{convert|100|m|ft|0}} to {{convert|3300|m|ft|0}}3300m in altitude.<ref>Official website of West Kameng District (6/21/2007) [http://westkameng.nic.in/geography.htm Geography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102052829/http://westkameng.nic.in/geography.htm |date=2007-11-02 }}</ref>

==Orchids==
Sessa is noted for the occurrence of more than 200 [[orchid]] species with 5 new and [[Endemism|endemic]] species.<ref>Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, National Informatics Centre, Arunachal Pradesh State Unit, Orchid Tourism [http://arunachalpradesh.nic.in/tourism-orchid.htm Orchid Tourism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810202912/http://arunachalpradesh.nic.in/tourism-orchid.htm |date=10 August 2007 }}</ref> Sub-tropical types include the genera ''[[Dendrobium]]'', ''[[Bulbophyllum]]'', ''[[Coelogyne]]'', ''[[Eria]]'', ''[[Phaius]]'' and ''[[Liparis (plant)|Liparis]]''. The sanctuary is unique in having 7 [[Endemism|endemic]] species of [[saprotrophic]] orchids.<ref>State Forest Research Institute,
Department of Environment & Forests, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, retrieved 10/3/2007 [http://sfri.nic.in/sessa.htm SESSA ORCHID SANCTUARY & NURSERY, SESSA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410011542/http://sfri.nic.in/sessa.htm |date=10 April 2009 }}</ref> 12 rare species of different families were found in one study of the area.<ref>Padmawathe, R (2006) Edge related changes in species composition in vascular epiphyte in forests of Sessa Orchid Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, retrieved 10/3/2007 [http://www.wii.gov.in/publications/msc_dess/2001/padmawathe_content_summary.pdf species composition]</ref>

==Orchid Research and Development Centre==
The Government of Arunachal Pradesh in the late 1970s created a post of orchidologist in the Forest Department and in 1989 established the Orchid Research and Development Centre (ORDC) at Tipi, and the Sessa Orchid Sanctuary 20 km awy. The ORDC is actively engaged in exploration and collection of orchid species, cultivation in orchidaria and gardens for their taxonomic study, conservation of rare and endangered species, creation of germplasm collections and multiplication of rare species through tissue culture techniques.
The ORDC discovered the new species: [[Biermannia jainiana]], [[Cleistoma tricallosum]], [[Dendrobium kentrophyllum]], [[Epipogium sessanum]], [[Eria jengingensis]], [[Eria lohitensis]], [[Gastrodia arunachalenisis]] and [[Herminium longilonbatum]].,<ref>ENVIS Centre Sikkim on Tourism, Physical Setting, retrieved 10/2/2007 [http://www.scstsenvis.nic.in/manipur2.html ORCHIDS-The Jewel of Arunachal Pradesh] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410080308/http://scstsenvis.nic.in/manipur2.html |date=10 April 2009 }}</ref><ref>State Forest Research Institute, Department of Environment & Forests, Government of Arunachal Pradesh,[http://sfri.nic.in/p_orchidology.htm ORCHIDOLOGY-RESEARCH PAPERS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620011718/http://sfri.nic.in/p_orchidology.htm |date=20 June 2008 }}</ref>

==Conservation==
The [[Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund]] (CEPF), a consortium of major international and
regional organizations, has identified the Eastern Himalayan region around Arunachal Pradesh
(Nepal, Bhutan and all of North-East India) as a critical global biodiversity rich area
deserving of conservation focus. They identified the North-Bank Landscape (i.e. north bank of Brahmaputra, extending up the Eaglenest and Sessa slopes) and the [[Tawang]] region as worthy of particular focus.<ref>Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Project database [http://www.cepf.net/xp/cepf/project_database/eastern_himalayas.xml Eastern Himalayas Region Strategic Directions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108132103/http://www.cepf.net/xp/cepf/project_database/eastern_himalayas.xml |date=2007-11-08 }}</ref>

Sessa is within the [[Conservation International]] [[Himalaya]] [[Biodiversity Hotspot]] area.<ref>Conservation International (2007) Himalaya - conservation action and protected areas, retrieved 10/1/2007 [http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/himalaya/Pages/conservation.aspx Himalaya - conservation action and protected areas] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109032016/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/himalaya/Pages/conservation.aspx |date=2007-11-09 }}</ref>

[[BirdLife International]] has designated Sessa and Eaglenest Sanctuaries as an Important Bird Area (IBA IN344), with [[Blyth's tragopan]] identified as a [[vulnerable species]] of the area.<ref>BirdLife International (2006) BirdLife IBA Factsheet, retrieved 10/1/2007 [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=18041&m=0 IN344 Eaglenest and Sessa Sanctuaries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122092352/http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=18041&m=0 |date=22 November 2008 }}</ref>

==Visitor information==
Visitors may contact the [[Indian_Forest_Service|DFO]] Pakke WLS Division, Seijosa, East Kameng District or The Range Officer (WL), Sessa Orchid Sanctuary, Sessa, West Kameng District or the Asst. Orchidologist, Tipi Orchid Center, Tipi, West Kameng District.<ref>The Hindu (9/3/2005) retrieved 10/3/07 [https://web.archive.org/web/20060625050442/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/09/03/stories/2005090301990300.htm Sessa Orchid Sanctuary]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Orchid organizations]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Arunachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:West Kameng district]]
[[Category:1989 establishments in Arunachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1989]]

Sessa Orchid Sanctuary - Revision history

ScarlettNicholso at 05:44, 2 March 2026

imported>Sennecaster: Rescuing 7 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.8