Plants from Western Ghats to get new home in Mangalore

BANGALORE, JULY 3: Mangalore may soon become a haven for all the endangered plant and tree species from the Western Ghats if the Centre okays a proposal to build an arboretum there. The project awaiting the approval of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) is estimated to cost Rs 1.8 crore. And the 85–acre botanical garden will surround a 15–acre lake–Pilikulam—situated at Mudshedde, 9 kilometres from Mangalore.The Bangalore-based Indo Norwegian Environmental Project (INEP) will provide the funds. Professors and students from Mangalore University’s Department of Applied Botany will take on the task of identifying tree and plant species for the `ex–situ’ (outside the Ghats) conservation programme.

According to INEP project co-ordinator B S Ramaprasad, the proposal is already with the MOEF. Establishing an arboretum was an extension of the activities of the society — the Pilikulam Nisaraga Dhama, Ramaprasad said.He explained that the Society had initially been formed by the Botanystudents and the Mangalore public to revive and beautify the lake. “The lake was in a very bad condition. It was slowly dying. These people gave it a new life,” he explained.

The INEP was willing to fund the arboretum project for two-and-a-half years because of the Society’s excellent track record, Ramaprasad said. “Besides, the INEP considers any project that will help save a portion of the Western Ghats as a very important one,” he added. The Western Ghats, he went on to say, was one of the `world’s 19 hotspots’ with its plant and tree species becoming extinct at rapid rates. Botanists from the University will identify and collect the seeds of the endangered plants and trees. They will also try and propagate the plant varieties.

But an arboretum is not the only thing planned on the 85 acres. The Society wants to set up an aviary (for bees), an aquarium, a science centre and even wildlife safaris. “We also plan to build a small auditorium and an audiovisual centre. The Society will maintain thearboretum with the University’s help,” Ramaprasad said. The INEP co-ordinator was confident of getting the MOEF’s approval for the proposed project. “It is already in the final stages. All that is needed is implementing and sustaining the project,” he added.