Even though Sri Lanka is a small island, the diversity of its wildlife is significantly important both in a regional and global scale. Sri Lanka has the highest species density (number of species present per 10,000 sq. km) of flowering plants, amphibians, reptiles and mammals in the Asian region.
At a time when fast food reigns, one hardly thinks of cherishing a local Indian delicacy and conserving a local plant variety. M P Nayar, former director of the Botanical Survey of India who currently heads the government Task Force on Agro-biodiversity Hotspots recently completed mapping these hotspots. P R J Pradeep talks to him On the difference between agro-biodiversity hotspots and
SHWETA KAMAT
PANAJI APRIL 10
Aiming to give voice to the voiceless Sahyadri hill ranges, environmentalists have worked out a manifesto for politicians vying for valuable votes of the people living around this world
The North-east is slated to be India's 'future power house' with approximately 170 large hydroelectric projects to generate around 70,000 MW planned in the region. The large dams juggernaut promises to be the biggest 'development' intervention in this ecologically and geologically fragile, seismically active and culturally sensitive landscape in the days to come.
Variations in climate history pinpoint biodiversity hotpots ecologists are yet to discover all the biodiversity-rich areas on this earth. One way is to map out each region after physical observation. But mapping inaccessible mountainous terrains like the Himalayas is a challenge. A scientific team claimed studying the climatic history of a region can help locate species-rich areas.
The country has over 46,000 plant species, and 573 tribal communities. Ethnic communities are crucial to the conservation of bio-diversity spots, points out Sanjay Pandey
