Institute in Himachal's Nauni to study western Himalayan flora

A regional centre has been set up in Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Nauni near here to study and conserve species of flora in the western Himalayas, officials said on Thursday.

The High Altitude Western Himalayan Regional Centre was inaugurated on Wednesday by CK Mishra, who is Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

The centre will carry out intensive and extensive field surveys to explore and document floral diversity of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh over 1.57 lakh sq km under its jurisdiction.

The region has a rich diversity of endemic, endangered and threatened plant species.

It was very difficult to adequately explore western Himalayas due to its long distance from the Botanical Survey of India headquarters in Kolkata and Northern Regional Centre in Dehradun, a university statement said.

The centre will not only collect basic data on plants but also help in building rural economy by conserving and judicious management and utilisation of plant resources, it said.

The data from the centre will help institutes involved in studies of the Himalayan ecology.

Initially, the centre's office will operate from the university, which will also provide land near its campus for experimental botanical garden.IANS