The highest altitude herbal garden of India situated at 11,000 feet was inaugurated in Mana village of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Saturday.
"The main aim of this high altitude herbal park is to conserve various medicinally and culturally important alpine species and to do research on their propagation and habitat ecology," said Sanjiv Chaturvedi, Chief Conservator of Forests (Research).
The park has been developed on an area of three acres on the land given by Mana Van Panchayat by the Research Wing of Uttarakhand Forest Department. It has been developed in three years under central government's Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) scheme.
It displays around 40 species that are found in high altitude alpine areas in the Indian Himalayan region. Many of these species are endangered and threatened as per International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list as well as by the State Biodiversity Board. It includes many important medicinal herbs also.
The park has been divided into four sections. The first section contains species associated with Lord Badrinath, which includes Badri tulsi, Badri ber, Badri tree and sacred tree of Bhojpatra.
The second section contains Ashtavarga species, which is a group of eight herbs found in the Himalayan region namely Riddhi, Vriddhi, Jeevak, Rishbhak, Kakoli, Ksheer Kakoli, Maida, and Maha Maida that are the most important ingredients of Chyawanprash.
The third section consists of Saussurea species and includes Brahmakamal, which also happens to be the state flower of Uttarakhand. The other three Saussurea species - Phemkamal, Nilkamal and Koot have also been grown here.
The fourth section consists of other miscellaneous important alpine species, which include Ateesh, Meethavish, Vankakdi and Choru, which are very important medicinal herbs and are in great demand.
Besides this, trees of Thuner whose bark is used in making anti-cancerous drugs, Tansen and Mapple trees have also been grown here.
The inauguration of the park was done by the Sarpanch of Mana Van Panchayat.
( With inputs from ANI )
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