Tamil Nadu Government’s mission to conserve endangered and rare flora of the State is gaining momentum with experts having shortlisted eight species of rare plants, which fall under the vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered category.
These eight plants have been shortlisted from a list of 25 rare plants, which were identified by more than 30 taxonomists of premier institutions in the country in October last year under an initiative by the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Conservation and Greening Project for Climate Change Resilience (TBGPCCR), in collaboration with the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB), Coimbatore.
The eight species, population survey of which will be conducted in the first phase of the programme, have been categorised as ‘prioritised species’.
“Out of the eight species, Vernonia shevaroyensis that occurs in Shevaroy hills in Salem is a critically endangered tree. Like this, the status of other species in the list needs to be studied to come up with a conservation strategy at the earliest,” said I. Anwardeen, Principal Conservator of Forests and Chief Project Director of TBGPCCR.
Phyllanthus anamalayanus found in Anamalai hills and some locations of the Valparai plateau in Coimbatore district, Dipterocarpus bourdillonii found in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, and Elaeocarpus blascoi found in Vattakanal shola forests of Palani hills in Kodaikanal are the other plants among the eight species that fall under the critically endangered category.
“There was one tree of Vernonia shevaroyensis at the Botanical Survey of India’s botanical garden at Yercaud. Now BSI scientists have managed to propagate and generate a few saplings. Another progeny of the mother plant is protected and grown in the Eco Park. BSI scientists like S. Kaliamoorthy are in the efforts to generate more saplings of this unique tree,” said Salem District Forest Officer Kashyap Shashank Ravi.
According to A. Rajasekaran, scientist ‘F’ of the Forest Ecology and Climate Change Division of IFGTB, he had seen some trees of Vernonia shevaroyensis close to a mining area at Yercaud some 20 years ago.
“Now such places needed to revisited to check their status. Similarly, only two mature trees of Elaeocarpus blascoi are now available at Vattakanal shola forests of Palani hills,” he said.
The Forest Department and experts will conduct population assessment of these prioritised species in Tamil Nadu, identify key threats to them and formulate measures for conservation and recovery plan.
“In the next level, experts will study propagation methods of these species to raise progenies. Other methods like ex-situ conservation will also be adopted so that their population does not get wiped out,” added Mr. Anwardeen.
