A fragile sub-Himalayan ecosystem
The North-eastern region of India including Assam with its peculiar bio-geographical location, marked with rugged and high hills to low alluvial plains and dominated by a wide variety of forests, grasslands, swamps and flood-plains exhibits a spectacularly unique bio-diversity.
This region is the original home of many of the wild varieties of rice, citrus, mango and bamboo and medicinal plants. The genetic diversity of its flora is accompanied by a wide range of diversity of its faunal resources. The region is now recognized as one of the eighteen identified ‘hot spot’ areas of the world for its high concentration of bio-diversity with particular reference to the threats faced by many valuable species of its rich flora and fauna. Growing urbanization, industrialization and human settlements, wanton destruction of forests, improper land use including unscientific shifting cultivation practices, commercial greed and poaching, besides natural calamities of floods, earthquakes and landslides etcetera have caused severe erosion to our genetic resources.
It is necessary that urgent measures and policy initiatives are taken to conserve and propagate the region’s valuable endemic genetic resources, both flora and fauna, that are threatened and rare, and further promote such schemes which will enable our environmental resources to develop as valuable economic assets for the people. In this context that in medicinal plants alone, the North-eastern region can have a substantial share in the international market to the tune of several crores of rupees, provided appropriate steps including application of modern technology are taken for conservation and propagation of these plants in the region.
For the purpose of protection of this gene-rich area, the approach should be on a regional basis rather than on confining ourselves to a particular state. The North Eastern Council, it is hoped, will take a leading role in forming a multidisciplinary Task Force to address to the region’s various issues on bio-diversity conservation and in organizing special training programmes for core groups of scientists on modern concepts of conservation of nature and bio-diversity.
This region is the original home of many of the wild varieties of rice, citrus, mango and bamboo and medicinal plants. The genetic diversity of its flora is accompanied by a wide range of diversity of its faunal resources. The region is now recognized as one of the eighteen identified ‘hot spot’ areas of the world for its high concentration of bio-diversity with particular reference to the threats faced by many valuable species of its rich flora and fauna. Growing urbanization, industrialization and human settlements, wanton destruction of forests, improper land use including unscientific shifting cultivation practices, commercial greed and poaching, besides natural calamities of floods, earthquakes and landslides etcetera have caused severe erosion to our genetic resources.
It is necessary that urgent measures and policy initiatives are taken to conserve and propagate the region’s valuable endemic genetic resources, both flora and fauna, that are threatened and rare, and further promote such schemes which will enable our environmental resources to develop as valuable economic assets for the people. In this context that in medicinal plants alone, the North-eastern region can have a substantial share in the international market to the tune of several crores of rupees, provided appropriate steps including application of modern technology are taken for conservation and propagation of these plants in the region.
For the purpose of protection of this gene-rich area, the approach should be on a regional basis rather than on confining ourselves to a particular state. The North Eastern Council, it is hoped, will take a leading role in forming a multidisciplinary Task Force to address to the region’s various issues on bio-diversity conservation and in organizing special training programmes for core groups of scientists on modern concepts of conservation of nature and bio-diversity.
posted by marvin at 10:57 AM
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