Sep 17 2014 : Mirror (Pune)
Conservation blooms in W Ghats
Mayuri Phadnis TWEET @ThePuneMirror
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Research institutes, including city’s ARI, have been reintroducing endangered species into Ghats for 5 years to prevent them from dying out
Even as controversy rages around the conservation of the infinitely rich biodiversity of the Western Ghats in the face of developmental diktats, a small step in that direction has already blossomed over a five-year effort.Observing that various species of Ceropegia (a genus of a flowering plant) were edging dangerously close to extinction, experts and activists of various research institutes have been reintroducing them into the wild, and the project is now close to fruition, with hundreds of plants surviving and thriving in the mountain ranges.
Twenty such Ceropegia species were propagated via tissue culture in laboratories and hardened in polyhouses before being planted in the wild -of these, four were propagated by the Pune-based Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) and the remaining 16 by the Shivaji University in Kolhapur, in the project sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology, Union Ministry of Science and Technology.
Reintroduced species propagated by ARI include Ceropegia (C) Odorata, C Maccanni Maccani, C Mahabalei and C Rollae, while some of the species cultivated by Shivaji University include C Jainii, C Ananti, C Oculata, C Mohanramii, etc. These have been planted at various locations in the Ghats by organisations like Biospheres, Naoroji Godrej Centre for Plant Research (NGCPR), Oikos Ecological Services, and others.
“We have successfully planted at least 1,000 saplings of each species in various areas,” said Dr Anuradha Upadhye, the ARI scientist who head ed the project assisted by Priyanka Waghmode, Pallavi Dhavare and Namrata Gaikwad. She added, “Mature individuals found in the field are very less and restricted to certain pockets.
Some are critically endangered, while others are threatened, falling in various categories of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list.” This reduction is a cause for concern for the ecosystem — the plants often flower only from May to September and in the remaining months, exist as underground bulbs which are regularly extracted by locals for food. This hampers the plant’s lifecycle, disrupting the seeding process.
Besides the consumption of bulbs by locals, several other developmental factors too have been responsible for the plants’ removal from nature.
Sachin Punekar, founder-president of Biospheres and senior scientist at NGCPR, which planted around 200 such saplings in various areas, explained, “These plants are extremely rare and endemic to the Western Ghats.
While re-introducing them into nature, it was necessary to scientifically identify where they should be planted, as each species needs a different type of of climate. Accordingly, specific locations were determined for planting — like C Mahabalei in Ralegan (Junnar) and Palashi-Mirje (Satara), or C Maccanni in Sinhagad, Varandha etc.” At the moment, say scientists, the saplings’ survival rate is pretty satisfactory. Head of the Botany department at Shivaji University, Dr S R Yadav, elaborated on the necessity for such a project, saying, “These are all critically endangered or endangered species. If not taken care of immediately, they will go extinct over the next two or three decades. Hence, we are micro-propagating these plants and introducing them into the wild. We have seen a good result — a majority of these plants are surviving.” Ketaki Ghate, an ecologist from Oikos Ecological Services, also part of a team that planted these, saplings said, “These plants are part of the natural ecosystem — they have an important role to play, and other organisms may depend on them. If these go extinct, the fauna and insects dependent on them could suffer.”
Twenty such Ceropegia species were propagated via tissue culture in laboratories and hardened in polyhouses before being planted in the wild -of these, four were propagated by the Pune-based Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) and the remaining 16 by the Shivaji University in Kolhapur, in the project sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology, Union Ministry of Science and Technology.
Reintroduced species propagated by ARI include Ceropegia (C) Odorata, C Maccanni Maccani, C Mahabalei and C Rollae, while some of the species cultivated by Shivaji University include C Jainii, C Ananti, C Oculata, C Mohanramii, etc. These have been planted at various locations in the Ghats by organisations like Biospheres, Naoroji Godrej Centre for Plant Research (NGCPR), Oikos Ecological Services, and others.
“We have successfully planted at least 1,000 saplings of each species in various areas,” said Dr Anuradha Upadhye, the ARI scientist who head ed the project assisted by Priyanka Waghmode, Pallavi Dhavare and Namrata Gaikwad. She added, “Mature individuals found in the field are very less and restricted to certain pockets.
Some are critically endangered, while others are threatened, falling in various categories of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list.” This reduction is a cause for concern for the ecosystem — the plants often flower only from May to September and in the remaining months, exist as underground bulbs which are regularly extracted by locals for food. This hampers the plant’s lifecycle, disrupting the seeding process.
Besides the consumption of bulbs by locals, several other developmental factors too have been responsible for the plants’ removal from nature.
Sachin Punekar, founder-president of Biospheres and senior scientist at NGCPR, which planted around 200 such saplings in various areas, explained, “These plants are extremely rare and endemic to the Western Ghats.
While re-introducing them into nature, it was necessary to scientifically identify where they should be planted, as each species needs a different type of of climate. Accordingly, specific locations were determined for planting — like C Mahabalei in Ralegan (Junnar) and Palashi-Mirje (Satara), or C Maccanni in Sinhagad, Varandha etc.” At the moment, say scientists, the saplings’ survival rate is pretty satisfactory. Head of the Botany department at Shivaji University, Dr S R Yadav, elaborated on the necessity for such a project, saying, “These are all critically endangered or endangered species. If not taken care of immediately, they will go extinct over the next two or three decades. Hence, we are micro-propagating these plants and introducing them into the wild. We have seen a good result — a majority of these plants are surviving.” Ketaki Ghate, an ecologist from Oikos Ecological Services, also part of a team that planted these, saplings said, “These plants are part of the natural ecosystem — they have an important role to play, and other organisms may depend on them. If these go extinct, the fauna and insects dependent on them could suffer.”
