DEHRADUN: Research wing of the Uttarakhand forest department on Sunday released its ‘Annual Report’ listing a total of 1943 species which have been conserved through in situ and ex-situ conservation measures in the year 2021-2022.
The species have been conserved across six centres – Haldwani, Nainital, Ranikhet, Pithoragarh, Gopeshwar and Dehradun. Last year, the number of species stood at 1576.
Sanjiv Chaturvedi, chief conservator of forests (Research), who heads the research wing of the department told The New Indian, “This year our focus and theme was the conservation of endemic plant species. Endemic species are those which are found only in a particular geographical region and nowhere else in the world, and therefore, if these disappear from their natural habitat, will become extinct forever.”
Names of some prominent species in the list include the state flower of Uttarakhand Saussurea Obvallata known as ‘Brahmkamal’, Cymbidium Iridioides or Boat Orchid, Saraca Asoca locally known as Seeta Ashok, Ficus Krishnae is known as Krishnavat, Ferula Asafoetida or Hing along with various other species.
The endemic species include Pittosporium Eriocarpum locally known as Tumri, Grewia Oppositifolia or Bhimal, Ajuga Parviflora known as Ratpatiya, Angelica Glauca or Choru and many others.
The list has 464 tree species, 166 herbs,146 shrubs, 46 bamboo, 109 orchid species, 106 grass, 156 fern and 225 cactus or succulent species.
Most of such species are already listed as threatened or endangered, because of various types of biotic interference and effects of climatic change.
Names of threatened species include Gastrochilus Calceolaris or Shoe-shaped Belly-Lip, Trillium Govanianum or Nagchatri, Phaius Tankervilleae known as Nun’s Pechida along with many others.
These plant species have to be protected not only from a biodiversity point of view as these species are unique but also because many other species of animals and insects depending on these species, may also go extinct with these plants, said Chaturvedi.
The state forest department has so far conserved 56 plant species endemic to Uttarakhand and the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), of which 35 are near-endemic, 7 species are endemic to Uttarakhand, and 14 are endemic to the Indian Himalayan Region.
Out of total conserved species, 79 are threatened as per different indicators- 12 species are critically endangered, 23 species are endangered, 12 species are vulnerable, and 14 are near-threatened as per International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categorisation.
One species is endangered, three species are vulnerable and five species are rare as per Environment Information System (ENVIS).
Five are critically endangered, seven are endangered, and five are vulnerable as per the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).
Thirteen species are threatened as per the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board list while one species is endangered, and 3 species are vulnerable.
Out of total conserved plants around 560 have medicinal properties.