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Drive for biodiversity conservation
KASKI, MAY 08 -
Residents of Lekhnath Municipality in Kaski have initiated a campaign to conserve biodiversity by forming groups in all the Wards.
“Though it is a responsibility of the government, the local communities are active in preserving biodiversity,” said Aabiskhar Subedi, a botanist, adding that the campaign had helped conserve valuable medicinal herbs in the area.
The locals have prepared an inventory of the flora and fauna available in their region.
“We found more than 1,500 species of plants and animals in this small area,” local residents said, claiming that studying plant variety and maintaining a record by the community was a first of its kind in the country.
Aided financially and technically by United Nations Development Programme and LI-BIRD, a local NGO, the locals have started their move to preserve the flora and fauna. Conservationists said the initiative of the Lekhnath folks was instrumental in creating a balance in the country’s ecosystem.
“Some rare and critically endangered species are available here,” Subedi said, adding that 100 species of paddy, some of them on the verge of extinction, are found in the area.
Subedi claimed some of the endangered species could soon be extinguished if they were not conserved.
He demanded that the government implement its own plans of conservation. Impressed by the noble idea, the government has decided to prepare such an inventory in the whole of Kaski and 40 other districts.
“Due to the lack of awareness in the grassroots level, smuggling of some plants and animals is on the rise,” said Bharat Bhandari, programme officer at LI-BIRD.
Posted on: 2010-05-09 08:41
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