A survey was conducted to explore the resource diversity and their uses by the local communities situated in the fringes of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand. Consumption pattern and impact on the forest resources were also taken into consideration. For this study randomly 12 villages were selected and from each village, 20 people were interviewed randomly. Only one person was interviewed from a household. A total 240 respondents were interviewed. Study revealed that 316 species belonging to 79 families and 212 genera are utilized by the local people for various purposes. Species are used as fodder (145), medicinal (126), fuelwood (89), edible (27), construction (21), fibre (5), oil seeds (4) and other miscellaneous (61) uses by the local communities. Some plant species has multiple uses

The western Himalayan biogeographic zone is the richest zone in India for Compositae and supports ca 540 species. The distribution and density pattern of some of these species over recent decades reveals a perceptible decline in their populations. An account of such endemic and endangered species is provided here which includes their status, distribution pattern and cause of threats, etc.