One of the major contributing factors to the extinction of orchid species is Global warming. Many orchids are happy when in a very narrow temperature band (as many of you will have witnessed when growing orchids at home). In many mountainous regions such as the Sikkim Himalayas, this temperature is achieved by altitude – the higher you go, the cooler it is.

The problems arrive in more flat areas where the orchids have no option to migrate to a higher altitude. In these areas, the orchids cannot adapt to the quickly changing temperature and as a result, many have been driven to the edge of extinction.