By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 25 Oct: A five-day training programme on Para-taxonomy is being organised by Forest Research Institute, here, from 25 to 29 October for twenty-five residents of Gangotri-Govind and Darma-Byans valleys. It is part of the UNDP SECURE Himalaya Project, which is being implemented through the Uttarakhand Forest Department.
Chief Guest RP Singh, Head, Silviculture and Forest Management Division, inaugurated the programme and apprised participants about their responsibilities and rights in the ecology of the inaccessible Himalayan region. He also emphasised on the contribution of the snow leopard to the ecology of the upper Himalayan region.
Special Guest Ranjan Kumar Mishra, Additional Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Nodal Officer, Secure Himalaya Project, praised the trainees for participating in the programme. He added that the Para-taxonomist has the similar role in biodiversity conservation as Para-military in the security of the country. Dr Anup Chandra, Head, Forest Botany Division, welcomed the guests and briefed about the programme. He informed them that various important topics such as method of plant collection and importance of herbarium, mushrooms and diseases, butterflies’ diversity, nursery techniques, People Biodiversity Register, etc., would be covered.
Aparna Pandey, State Project Officer, UNDP, briefly described the various aspects of the Secure Himalaya project. On this occasion, a book based on the success story of the trained people from the workshops organised, earlier, was also released. Dr Praveen Kumar Verma, Scientist, Forest Botany Division, proposed the vote of thanks.
