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Site description (2004 baseline):

This is a large IBA on village land, Forest Department land and land under the control of the army and GREF. The total area could be more than 60,000 ha. Starting from the small township of Tsungthang, there are small hamlets at Bop, Maltin, Khedum, Lema, Lachung, Sharchok and Dombang along the Lachung river in North Sikkim. Lachung is the northernmost frontier village in this Valley. Hence, there is heavy army deployment in the area. This IBA is subjected to seasonal grazing by livestock such as highland cows, yak and horses. From subtropical Tsungthang to temperate Dombang Valley with hamlets and villages along Lachung Chu and forest patches under-planted with Large Cardamom Ammomum subulatum, there are mostly village lands with subsistence cultivation. The Mixed Coniferous Forests of Hemlock, Spruce, Pine, Fir and Junipers with shrubby undergrowth of Rhododendron and Arundinaria at Dombang give way to open Alder Alnus nipalensis towards Tsungthang. The degraded areas are overtaken by the ubiquitous Eupatorium an exotic invasive weed locally called ‘Ban-Mara’ or ‘Forest Killer’.

AVIFAUNA: A full checklist of this site is not available but the bird records maintained by U. Lachungpa (pers. comm. 2002) show that this area could have significant populations of Vulnerable Beautiful Nuthatch Sitta formosa and Wood Snipe Gallinago nemoricola. The site lies in Eastern Himalayas Endemic Bird Area (EBA 130) where Stattersfield et al. (1998) have identified 21 restricted range species. Only one such species, White-naped Yuhina Yuhina bakeri has been noticed till now (U. Lachungpa pers. comm. 2002), but looking at the extent of pristine habitat still available in this site, more restricted range species are likely to be found here. This complex, with wide altitudinal variation, basically lies in Biome-7 (Sino-Himalayan Temperate Forest), but avian elements of Biome-5 (Eurasian High Montane - Alpine and Tibetan) and Biome-8 (Sino-Himalayan Subtropical Forest) are also found as these biomes merge with Biome-7, and secondly, many birds show seasonal altitudinal movement. Seventeen out of the 48 species listed in Biome-5 (BirdLife International, undated) are found in this site. Similarly, 47 out of 112 species listed in Biome-7 are found here. As this site also has Montane Mixed Broadleaf- Coniferous Forest, Broadleaf Evergreen Forest and Deciduous Forest, many species of Biome-8 are also found here. Thus, this site perhaps has the most numerous biome restricted species among all the sites of Sikkim. The important birds of the valley are Himalayan Griffon Gyps himalayensis, Wood Snipe Gallinago nemoricola, Snow Pigeon Columba leuconota, Grandala Grandala coelicolor, Plain Mountain-Finch Leucosticte nemoricola and Hill Partridge Arborophila torqueola. A specimen of Tibetan Horned Owl (Eurasian Eagle-Owl) Bubo bubo from Lema was collected and deposited with BNHS (Ganguli-Lachungpa 2002).

OTHER KEY FAUNA: Notable mammals are Yellow-throated Marten Martes flavigula, Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis, Spotted Linsang Prionodon pardicolor, Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus, Goral Nemorhaedus goral, Barking Deer Muntiacus muntjak, Weasels Mustela spp., Orange-bellied Squirrel Dremomys lokriah and Himalayan Palm Civet Paguma larvata. The Himalayan Pit Viper Gloydius himalayanus and other herpetofauna found in this IBA need further study.

MAIN THREATS: Landslides and gully formation due to road construction and maintenance activities; Poaching of wildlife; Stray dogs; River pollution; Uncontrolled tourism.

Subsistence farming of wheat, barley and maize is practised while potato, cabbage and cardamom are grown as cash crops. Some amount of cattle rearing is practiced with stall-fed hybrid milch cows and the rest grazed in forest areas. Farm trials of exotic Lilies, Angora Rabbits and improved livestock breeds are conducted here by the government. Handloom cottage industry for making blankets, rugs and carpets provides alternative employment. As the area is near the international border with China, there is heavy army deployment. Their role so far has been limited to border security, but now they have to be given a major role in the protection of the area’s biodiversity in collaboration with the State Forest Department and local communities. The State Forest Department lacks manpower and infrastructure to patrol these areas. Constant heavy traffic on the roads in this IBA and faulty practices of road construction often using dynamite are responsible for many landslips and slides causing much loss of vegetation cover, besides destabilizing the landscape. Road maintenance workers of the Border Roads Organisation often depend on easily available fuel wood around their shifting camps instead of kerosene that has to be purchased. There are also reports of poaching of wildlife from such areas. So far there is no efficient system of waste disposal from the cantonments such as Pegong or the villages and townships between Lachung and Tsungthang and garbage is more often disposed off the hillside into the Lachung river. More non-biodegradable waste is noticeable nowadays with increase in tourism pressure and the change from tinned milk products to cartons and tetrapacks.

Key contributor: Usha Lachungpa.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Dombang Valley - Lachung - Lema - Tsungthang (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/dombang-valley--lachung--lema--tsungthang-iba-india on 23/12/2024.