Ziro gets wild orchids conservation and propagation centre

Our Correspondent

ZIRO: A centre for conservation and propagation of wild orchids of Arunachal Pradesh was inaugurated on Sunday by Agriculture and Horticulture Minister Tage Taki at Hapoli in Lower Subansiri district of the State. The centre is an initiative of Hapoli Forest Division and is located in the campus of the DFO office.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister commended the efforts of Hapoli forest division and said that the forest department was special as it had the noble responsibility of preserving nature in its form.

"The present orchid conservation centre will help in educating the local population with the wealth of orchids that are present around them but remain unappreciated," Taki said. DFO Abhinav Kumar informed that there were 50 species of orchids presently at the centre and are available for sale at a nominal price to the public.

"The centre will be the second such facility for orchid's conservation after the Orchid Research Centre located at Tippi in West Kameng district," Kumar said.

He added that the purpose of the centre is twofold - to make the display of orchids more accessible to the public compared to the trail located at Pange and to help in creating awareness about its preservation by allowing people to buy them for their homes and offices. Orchids form one of the largest families of flowering plants and there are nearly 24.500 orchid species in the world. Arunachal Pradesh, with 558 recorded species of orchids, has the largest number of orchid species in India.

Hapoli forest division has been striving to preserve the natural treasure of the State and a first of its kind wild orchid conservation trail was launched at Pange camp under Tale Wildlife Sanctuary two years ago. The trail has seen relocation of 182 species of rare and endemic orchids of the district. Six species present in the trail are a new record and addition to the orchid flora of the country.

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