Agrass conservatoryspread across 2 acres and having 90species of grass, which theUttarakhandforest department claims to be the first of its kind in the country, was opened in Ranikhet on Sunday for the public.
The germplasm conservation centre built by the research wing of the forest department over three years using compensatory afforestation (CAMPA) funds – displays scientific, ecological, medicinal and cultural information related to all 90grassspecies.
The conservatory, which has segmented grass species into aromatic, medicinal, fodder, ornamental, religiously- important, agricultural and miscellaneous, aims to recognize the role of various types of grasslands in the ecosystem and promote threatened species. Authorities said , the process of vegetation capturing and storing atmospheric carbon, has gone down due to Urbanization, deforestation and intensive mining.