Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Mar 29: Pilikula Dr Shivaram Karanth Nisargadhama has a well-equipped botanical park, zoo and waterpark. However, now the number of tourists visiting the Nisargadhama has been meagre. Those who visit are normally people who study botany.

Herbarium and botanical museum have been set up at Nisargadhama with the sponsorship of Karnataka state Bio-diversity Board. Seeds and parts of medicinal plants found in various parts of the Western Ghats have been collected in pots and kept here on display.

The museum section boasts of different species of vegetation from Western Ghats, local varieties, plants facing extinction, etc are kept here along with a mega photo exhibition. The herbarium has vegetation models of about 2,000 plants and trees. Scientific officer here, Ramakrishna Marathi, provides information to students coming here for studies.

There is dearth of information about the herbarium and botanical museum among the tourists. At the entry gate, suitable information is not available. Most return after visiting the park, zoo and planetarium. For protecting medicinal plants, over 60,000 medicinal plants from 250 different species have been grown in 85 acres of land under the Indo Norwegian environment programme. But regrettably this facility has not been properly utilised. The area also has 27 species of bamboo. In addition, plants facing extinction, different kinds of paddy, orchids etc have been conserved. Absence of guides is a disadvantage.

Gokuldas Nayak, executive director, agrees that herbarium and botanical museum have to be made use of in a better way. He said enough information is available. To enable interested people to visit these facilities, he said, publicity will be given.