With geographical coverage of over 0.53 million km² area, the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) constitutes nearly 17% of country’s geographical area and contributes greatly to richness and representativeness of its biodiversity components at all levels (i.e., genes, species and ecosystems). Although the region represents only about 4% of total human population of the country, it exhibits great diversity of ethnic groups (e.g., 171 out of a total 573 reported scheduled tribes in India), often inhabiting remote and inhospitable terrains. The diversity of biophysical features in IHR is adequately represented through representation of 3 bio-geographical zones and 9 bio-geographic provinces (Table).