GUWAHATI: Western Assam's Manas National Park which also covers a part of Bhutan has excited conservationists.

To conserve and further develop biodiversity in city, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) will constitute a committee of corporators, officials, experts and activists.

The biodiversityrich Western Ghats have sprung yet another botanical surprise.

Dozens of British plant and tree species are in danger of dying out because they are not adapting to climate change, according to study led by Cambridge University.

The ‘Nakshathra Vanam’ programme will witness the planting of 27 species of trees associated with the 27 zodiac signs of Malayalam in holdings. A few organisations and 54 individuals have come forward for raising the plants in plots and it would require at least six cents for a project, said S. Unnikrishnan, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Social Forestry (Extension).

A flutter here, a peek-a-boo there and a bright flash of colours elsewhere — welcome to Central Delhi’s only open butterfly conservatory which boasts 24 varieties of the species.

Spread over 3.5 acres of green insecticide/pesticide free zone, the butterfly park — out of bounds for the general public — has a viewing gallery and an array of host plants brought in especially to encourage butterflies to stay and breed.

Environmentalists Back Gadgil Committee Report On Western Ghats Conservation

Kannur: At a time when the Centre has conceded to Kerala’s demands on Western Ghats by withdrawing its inprinciple acceptance of the Kasturirangan committee report, many environmentalists are harping on implementing the suggestions of the Madhav Gadgil committee report for its conservation.

The Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) has drawn up a project for protection and conservation of plant bio-diversity in the Western Ghats areas where mono-culture over the years has severely af

Syzygium travncoricum, a tree endemic to Kerala, is no longer ‘critically endangered’ as classified on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Field studies conducted by the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) in the wake of the IUCN classification suggest that the tree can now move to the ‘endangered’ list.

Known locally as kulavetti or vadhamkolli, the tree entered the IUCN’s ‘critically endangered’ list on the basis of a Conservation Assessment Management Plan (CAMP) workshop conducted under the Biodiversity Conservation Prioritisation Project India in 1998. The IUCN had then suggested periodic updating of the classification based on information provided by authoritative agencies.

A team of researchers from the University of Calicut has reported the discovery of a new subspecies of wild banana that could be developed as an ornamental plant for tropical gardens.

The plant Musa velutina subsp. markkuana was discovered from the forests of Arunachal Pradesh and is characterised by smooth skinned fruits, purple pseudostems, erect maroon-coloured inflorescence and pink fruit. It has been named after Markku Hakkinen, an international expert on wild banana, attached to the Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Finland.