The Sikkim butterfly survey: a tiny state’s enormous biodiversity census
Citizen scientists have logged 700 butterfly species in Sikkim — a record for any Indian state its size.
Sikkim, the second-smallest state in India, has logged 700 butterfly species — more than any state of comparable size, a density that puts it among the richest butterfly habitats on earth.
The census is powered by citizen scientists: schoolchildren, teachers and forest staff with phone cameras and field guides.
Conservationists hope the butterflies become the state’s newest emblem — a flashier argument for keeping the hills green.