Central government sanctions ₹1.29 crore to Andhra University for conservation of 30 endangered South Indian plant species

MoEF&CC allocates ₹1.29 crore to Andhra University for conserving 30 endangered plant species in South India.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has sanctioned ₹1.29 crore to the Andhra University’s Department of Botany (AUB) for the conservation of around 30 endangered species of plants grown in the south Indian States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Maharastra.

The project is titled ‘Introduction and Ex-Situ Conservation of Endemic and Threatened Plants in Andhra University Botanical Garden’ under the Assistance to Botanical Garden (ABG) programme, for which the Ministry has allocated ₹1.29 crore fund.

The project team from AUB is responsible for collecting, identifying, introducing, conserving, and future maturation of native and threatened plant species in AUB’s botanical garden.

AUB’s Botanical Garden, one of the oldest botanical gardens in the country for research and conservation of rare plants, was established in 1946. It is spread over an area of 11.5 acres in the South Campus of AU in the heart of Visakhapatnam city. The garden mainly consists of ornamental, aquatic, cycad and Pteridophytes in various sections. The main area of the garden is very dense and the dense canopy cover resembles a natural forest.

The Principal Investigator of the project is Prof. SB Padal, Head of Department. His team are B. Sujata, PK Ratna Kumar, D Sandhya Deepika, B. Sandhya Sri and P. Balaramaswami Yadav, and Herbarium & Museum curator of J. Prakasa Rao.

Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday (April 2), the principal investigator Padal said, “The Ministry has sanctioned such projects to 12 institutes across the country, including the AU Botany in Telugu States. It is a prestigious project for us to conserve the rare species of our mother earth.”

Some of the names of 30 species and their botanical names include– Boswellia Ovalifoliolata (South Indian Olibanum is a narrowly endemic and endangered deciduous tree), Cycas sphaerica Roxb (found in Eastern Ghats of northern Andhra Pradesh and Odisha), Dendrobium aqueum Lindl (an orchid species in upper reaches of the Western Ghats. It is an evergreen herb that grows in the shade of shola trees on hills above 1,300 meters), Hoya alexicaca, Cycas beddomei Dyer, Indigofera barberi Gamble (medicinal plant to treat liver diseases), Isonandra villosa Wight, Kalanchoe bhidei T. Cooke, Pavetta breviflora DC andSyzygium alternifolium.