ITANAGAR, 26 Oct: Governor KT Parnaik laid the foundation stone for the Eastern Himalayas Faunal Repository at the Zoological Survey of India’s (ZSI) regional centre here on Thursday.
“The repository building should not only be a place to store faunal collections but also educate the public in the northeastern region, residents or visitors, about the faunal wealth and the enormous variety of fauna and rich biodiversity,” the governor said, and suggested using technology in “highlighting the fauna and flora that abounds in Arunachal Pradesh through niche documentary and photography.”
“Our natural environmental biodiversity resources must be marketed to attract tourists,” he emphasised.
Commending the ZSI for its environmental protection activities, “particularly the green skilling of volunteers,” the governor advised the organisation to “train tribal communities in scientifically protecting the fauna and flora resources.”
He said that environmental consciousness and preservation must be included in the school curriculum by the state government, with the help of the ZSI.
“The ZSI can contribute to promotion of ecology-cum-adventure tourism in the state, in coordination with the environment & forests department and all stakeholders,” he said, adding that “it will facilitate in creating awareness, protection and sustenance of the environment in its natural form.”
Pointing to the imbalance in the ratio of scientists and non-scientists officials in scientific institutions, the governor advised training local scientists to meet the requirements of the ZSI.
Parnaik called upon the people and all stakeholders to “put in concerted effort to curb illegal wildlife trade, encroachment of forest areas, and uncontrolled expansion of industries near forest land.”
The governor released a book titled Amphibians of Arunachal Pradesh, authored by Bhaskar Saikia, Bikramjit Sinha and Kirty Prosad Nath. He also released posters of the Sela macaque (Macaca selai), a new primate, white-bellied heron and new fish species discovered from Arunachal from 1839 to 2022, which stands at 65 species.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Jitendra Kumar, Kolkata (WB)-based ZSI Director Dr Dhriti Banerjee, and ZSI Itanagar Scientist-E Dr SD Gurumayum highlighted the presence of rich fauna in the eastern Himalayas, especially in Arunachal, including rare species.
A large number of zoologists, researchers and officials from different educational institutions and organisations, including the Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, the Botanical Survey of India and the Geological Survey of India attended the function.
The Arunachal ZSI regional centre is the 15th regional centre of the 108-year-old ZSI, a premier research organisation under the environment, forest & climate change ministry.
ZSI Itanagar is tasked with exploring, surveying, inventorying and monitoring of the faunal diversity of the eastern Himalayas, which encompasses the entire state of Arunachal, covering all ecosystems and protected areas. It carries out taxonomic studies of all faunal components collected from the state, besides undertaking periodic review of the status of threatened and endemic species, preparation of red data book and database for recorded species and documentation of the fauna of Arunachal.
The regional centre maintains and develops national zoological collections (NCZ) that house the voucher specimens collected from different parts of Arunachal since its inception. To house the present and future additions to the NZC and its further development, the Rs 29.78 crore faunal building’s foundation stone was laid on Thursday.
