Bhutan is one of the last remaining biodiversity hot spots in the world, forest cover has now increased to over 72% of the country, with 60% of the country under protection. Bhutan has received international acclaim for its commitment to maintaining biodiversity- keeping at least sixty percent of the country under forest cover and designating more than twenty-five percent as national parks, reserves and protected areas. Bhutan’s flora includes the national flower-the blue poppy, and 360 species of orchids, 46 species of rhododendrons, junipers, magnolia, edelweiss, gentians, primulas, artemisia, daphne, carnivrorous plants, high-altitude plants, 5,400 vascular plants and over 500 species of medicinal plants. Bhutan also has a great variety of bird species. It is recognized as an area of high biological diversity and is known as the East Himalayan ‘hot spot’ situated as it is at the hub of 221 global endemic bird areas. The recorded number of bird species is over 670 and there are chances that this number could still go up. A botanist’s paradise!!

Forest types in Bhutan are Fir Forests, Mixed Conifer Forest, Blue Pine Forest, Chirpine Forest, Broadleaf mixed with Conifer, Upland Hardwood Forest, Lowland Hardwood Forest, and Tropical Lowland Forests. Almost 60% of the plant species that is found in the eastern Himalayan region can be found in Bhutan as well.