Sessa Orchid Sanctuary is a 100-km2 protected area of India in the 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 elephant reserve. The Environment & Forests Department 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.Athreya Ramana M, Kartikeyan S., The Wildlife Sanctuaries in the Dafla Hills of Arunachal Pradesh Sessa Orchid Sanctuary Altitude is to .
Sessa and Eaglenest ridges rise to and respectively and are the first major barriers to the monsoon as it moves north from the plains of Assam. These ridges get over of rain on the southern slopes and about on the northern slopes.Choudhury A. 2003: Birds of Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary and Sessa Orchid Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Forktail 19:1
Sessa sanctuary is drained by the Tippi Naala (Tippi river), which joins the Kameng river at Tippi village on the Bhalukpong-Bomdila highway.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 Topographic map
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 km3 in area and ranges from to in altitude.Official website of West Kameng District (6/21/2007) Geography
Orchids Sessa is noted for the occurrence of more than 200 orchid species with 5 new and endemic species.Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, National Informatics Centre, Arunachal Pradesh State Unit, Orchid Tourism Orchid Tourism Sub-tropical types include the genera Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum, Coelogyne, Eria, Phaius and Liparis. The sanctuary is unique in having 7 endemic species of saprotrophic orchids.State Forest Research Institute, Department of Environment & Forests, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, retrieved 10/3/2007 SESSA ORCHID SANCTUARY & NURSERY, SESSA 12 rare species of different families were found in one study of the area.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 species composition
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 way. 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 following species: Biermannia jainiana, Cleistoma tricallosum, Dendrobium kentrophyllum, Epipogium sessanum, Eria jengingensis, Eria lohitensis, Gastrodia arunachalenisis and Herminium longilonbatum.ENVIS Centre Sikkim on Tourism, Physical Setting, retrieved 10/2/2007 ORCHIDS-The Jewel of Arunachal Pradesh State Forest Research Institute, Department of Environment & Forests, Government of Arunachal Pradesh,ORCHIDOLOGY-RESEARCH PAPERS
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.Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Project database Eastern Himalayas Region Strategic Directions
Sessa is within the Conservation International Himalaya Biodiversity Hotspot area.
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.BirdLife International (2006) BirdLife IBA Factsheet, retrieved 10/1/2007 IN344 Eaglenest and Sessa Sanctuaries
Visitor information Visitors may contact the 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.
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