ELAYNE TAKEMOTO

The eastern Himalaya, encompassing Nepal, is a global biodiversity treasure trove with 353 new species discovered in the past ten years. But this ecosystem is now threatened by habitat destruction and climate change. One of the new species discovered here is the Impatiens namchabarwensis which is normally deep blue but changes to purple when it gets hotter. Among the other new species are Nepal's only scorpion and a 100 million year old gecko trapped in amber that lived before the Himalaya was even formed.

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A Himalayan treasure trove - FROM ISSUE #465 (21 AUG 2009 - 27 AUG 2009)