Mangalore:‘Sasyakashi’, the Arboretum of Dr Shivarama Karantha Pilikula Nisargadhama will be upgraded to ‘Lead Garden’.
It will be the second of its kind in the state, if done so. The first one is at GKVK in Bengaluru.
The project will focus on the threatened, endemic and endangered plant species of Western Ghats.
Nisargadhama Executive Director S A Prabhakar Sharma told Deccan Herald that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, approved the project last year under the scheme of assistance to botanical gardens. The duration of the project is five years and a fund of Rs 96 lakh has been reserved by the ministry for the purpose. The proposal was submitted to the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) which functions under the ministry. The funds are expected to be released in near future, he said.
Under the Lead Garden Project, the arboretum will be enriched with more varieties of endangered plant species. The main objective is to identify, conserve and multiply the endangered plant species of Western Ghats. The infrastructure will be upgraded by creating facilities, such as entry gate, pathways, interpretation centre equipped with audio visual system to provide description on various species of plants to visitors. Also, fencing and irrigation system will be provided.
Arboretum Division Head and Principal Scientist
Dr H Suryaprakash Shenoy told Deccan Herald that only one lead garden project is sanctioned to a state generally. But, in the case of Pilikula, the area and diversity of species with reference to endemic and threatened species have been taken into account by the BSI. The arboretum is spread across an area of 85 acres. It houses 65,000 plants of 250 species, including Myristica malabarica (wild nutmeg or Ramapatre), Myristica fatua var.magnifica (Dodda Ele Ramapatre), Madhuca insignis (Nanil) and Syzygium Kanarese (a variety of Jamun tree).
He said new species are being added to the arboretum through an exchange programme with other universities. Also, seeds gathered from the Western Ghats are grown in arboretum, multiplied and handed over to the Forest Department to grow them back in their natural habitats. According to the ministry guidelines, the Lead Garden must contain 20 plants of each threatened, endangered or endemic species.
Nisargadhama also has a separate garden for threatened plants with 300 plants of 50 threatened species of Western Ghats.
An arboretum sub committee has been formed and Dr D C Chowta is the chairman while Mangalore University Former Vice Chancellor Prof K M Kaveriappa, BSI former director Dr Sanjappa, GKVK former Professor of Botany Dr Rajanna, Taxonomist Gopalakrishna Bhat, Senior Scientist and the Scientific Officer are the members of the sub committee.