Uttarakhand forest department conserved 2,228 plant species, 120 of them endangered

DEhradun: The Uttarakhand woodland section’s explore backstage on fri released its annual report on conserved plant species, and it’s greener than ever.From rare orchids to insectivorous plants, a total of 2,228 species have been conserved in the Himalayan state. Among them are 120 endangered species, including the striking White Himalayan Lily and the graceful Tree Fern, with 75 of these listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.These plant species have been conserved through in-situ and ex-situ conservation measures across seven different forest ranges of its research wing --- Haldwani, Jeolikote, Ranikhet, Pithoragarh, Gopeshwar, Dehradun, and Uttarkashi.Ex-situ means conservation of species outside their natural habitats while in-situ means conservation of species in the same habitat where they are found.“The conserved plant species include 120 species currently listed under threatened/endangered categories, of which 75 species are in Red List of IUCN. Some of these threatened/endangered that are being conserved include White Himalayan Lilly (Lilium polyphyllum), Trayman (Gentiana kurroo), Atees (Aconitum heterophyllum), Seeta ashok (Saraca asoca), Dolu (Rheum webbianum), Patwa (Meizotropis pellita), Himalyan Golden spike (Eremostachys superba) and Tree fern (Cyathea spinulosa),” chief conservator of forests (CCF) and in charge state forest research wing Sanjeev Chaturvedi said.“The conservation measures are aimed at germplasm conservation of these species in case they disappear from the wild due to any reason. Germplasm conservation means preserving the genetic diversity of a particular plant by collecting its seeds or growing it in its habitat or outside its habitat for preserving its gene pool,” he added.Chaturvedi said the annual report was first released in year 2020, when number of conserved plant species was 1145. “And in five years, number of plant species conserved by our research wing doubled. The idea behind release of this report is to counter the concept of ‘Plant Blindness’. The term coined in 1998 by Elisabeth Schussler and James Wandersee, a pair of US botanists and biology educators, indicates under appreciation of plants – and in a limited interest in plant conservation. Plant conservation not only matters for environmental health but also for human health, in the long run,” Chaturvedi said.Out of these 2228 plant species, there are 528 tree species, 187 herbs, 175 shrubs, 46 bamboo, 88 wild climbers, 12 species of cane, 107 grasses, 192 ferns, 115 orchids, 88 palm, 31 cycads, 290 cacti and succulents, 50 aquatic plants, 29 insectivorous plants, 86 lichens, 118 bryophytes, 14 species of algae and 15 species of air plants. “In the conserved list, there are 60 species that are endemic to Uttarakhand/Indian Himalayan Region. Endemic species are the species or taxonomic group which is within a restricted geographic area, naturally found only in that particular region,” he said.He added that conserved plants which are endemic to Uttarakhand/ Indian Himalayan Region include Tumri, Jamoi, Moru, Kumaon Fan Palm, Patwa, Emroyi, Ganiya, Bhimal and so on.