ABOUT WESTERN HIMALAYAS

Western Himalayas starts from Badshahkahan in North Eastern Afghanistan and extending upto Central Nepal. In India, states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand fall in this region.  It supports diverse habitats, species, populations, communities and ecosystems. This area has a rich biodiversity. The vegetation comprises of sub-tropical, temperate, sub-alpine and alpine types.

A map of Western Himalayas

The area is mostly hilly and comes under sub-tropical and temperate zones. Soil type in this area ranges from terai soil, forest soil, podzols, red and black soils, arid soil, mountain and hill soils as well as high altitude meadow soil. Inhabitants of this area are largely dependent on forest resources to meet out their daily needs like foods, medicines, fibres, fodders, dyes, body ornamentation, etc.

An attempt has been made in this website to inform readers about  wild growing plants which are consumed by local people in the hills of Western Himalayas. The harvest from a few of these plants is traded in local markets. The produce from one plant, Morchella esculenta, sells over ten thousand rupees a kilo and goes far and wide, even out of country.  But most of these plants are not much known even beyond their native areas of occurrence.

Many of these plants have even also escaped the attention of systematic botanists and plant explorers.  These have not even found a place in botanical floras and other encyclopaedic books on Himalayan plants.  So this website will familiarize people about the existence and utility of these plants for the first time.

It is also for the first time that information on these plants is being brought out in a systematic manner under one umbrella. Recipe mentioned in this website are actually prepared and eaten by author herself, so no fear of any harmful effect on human body is ensured