
Conservation programme targets endangered Syzygium alternifolium tree species
The programme was jointly organised by GREENS and the Department of Botany, Bishop Heber College, in an integrated conservation partnership with Botanic Garden Conservation International (BGCI), Kew, UK, from April 27 to 28.
Department of Botany head V. Anand Gideon, assistant professor Immanuel Sagayaraj, and Alexander Amirtham, Executive Director of GREENS Biodiversity Sanctuary, led the various activities that included arboretum and pollinator garden walks, tropical dry evergreen forest exploration and talks on ecological awareness.
'Syzygium alternifolium [of the family Myrtaceae] is endemic to southern Eastern Ghats and located only in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Over 40 types of pollinators are associated with this tree. It flowers once in three years, so seed collection is a long-drawn process. Moth larvae tend to feed on the seeds extensively,' Alexander Amirtham, founder and executive director of GREENS, told The Hindu.
The programme concluded with student commitment to act as conservation ambassadors by identifying and protecting Syzygium alternifolium in their native lands, raising nurseries, and educating their communities. 'Botany students from our college will follow this up with data collection on a periodic basis from the sites in Malaiyur Hills,' said Mr. Gideon.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Applications invited for JRF posts by Lakireddy Hanimireddy Degree College at Mylavaram
The Department of Botany in Dr. Lakireddy Hanimireddy Government Degree College, Mylavaram, has invited applications for the position of Junior Research Fellow (JRF) for a period of three years under the research project titled 'Study of Orchidaceae Family Plants in Andhra Pradesh' sanctioned by Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), New Delhi. In a statement on Saturday (July 26, 2025), project Director J. Ramudu said the candidates must have completed in Botany/Plant Sciences/Plant Biotechnology. Preference would be given to candidates who have qualified CSIR-UGC NET, GATE or SLET/SET. They should not have completed 28 years of age as on the date of application and age relaxation would be given as per government norms for SC/ST/BC/PWD/Women candidates. Dr. Ramudu said interested candidates should e-mail their bio data and scanned copies of educational qualifications in PDF format to rusabotany2024@ by 5 p.m. on August 10, 2025. For further details, aspirants can contact the Project Director, Dr. J. Ramudu, head of the department of Botany, Dr. Lakireddy Hanimireddy Government Degree College, Mylavaram, NTR district, Andhra Pradesh - 521230.


The Hindu
05-07-2025
- The Hindu
New plant species found in Western Ghats
A new plant species belonging to the genus Pinda in the family Apiaceae has been discovered in the Western Ghats. A release said that it was identified as part of the research work of C. Rekha, a research scholar in the Department of Botany, St. Joseph's College, Devagiri, Kozhikode. The study was carried out under the guidance of K.M. Manudev, with contributions from co-researchers M.K. Prashanth of St. Joseph's College, Devagiri, and Ajay Nath Gangurde of the Institute of Science, Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, Mumbai. This attractive plant, with white flowers emerging from a tuberous rootstock at the onset of the monsoon, was discovered at Torna Fort in Pune district, Maharashtra. The details have been published in the July issue of the international journal Nordic Journal of Botany. The species grows up to about one metre tall and starts flowering from June. It belongs to the carrot-cumin family (Apiaceae). The species has been named Pinda mukherjeeana in honour of Prasanta Kumar Mukherjee, an eminent botanist.


Time of India
11-06-2025
- Time of India
Dhansiri River: A Silent Cry for Help Amid Pollution and Neglect
MUMBAI: There's a river in the North East that the rest of the country has forgotten. The Dhansiri, which threads through the hills and valleys of Nagaland and Assam, is not just a lifeline for those who live along its banks—it is also an archive of their waste. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now It carries with it traces of careless urban planning, unregulated sand mining, the aftertaste of pesticides, and the silent seepage of sewage. But now, for the first time, scientists are listening to what the river is saying, in all four seasons. Led by Dr M. Romeo Singh from the Department of Botany at Nagaland University, a team of researchers spent a year travelling between the upstream serenity, the muddled middle, and the choked tail of Dhansiri. What they found was sobering: in the peak of summer, when the river is thinnest and the heat cruel, its waters breach national and global health standards. Turbidity, total alkalinity, dissolved solids—each measure became a red flag waving from the river's surface. By winter, the water rests and clears, as though it were briefly allowed to breathe. Using the Weighted Arithmetic Index (WAI)—a more nuanced model that gives greater importance to the parameters most crucial to human health—the team developed a Water Quality Index (WQI) that paints an exacting portrait of decline. In the downstream stretch, where urban runoff and religious offerings accumulate, the water was rated 'non-potable' in all seasons. Dhansiri is not the Brahmaputra. It does not command headlines or policy attention. But it is a river of consequence—for the farmers who use it to irrigate, the women who wash their clothes in it, the children who wade into its shallows. For them, this is not just water. It is future. 'The study,' says Dr Singh, 'fills a critical research gap, not only because Dhansiri has long been overlooked, but because it models how science, policy, and community must intersect if we are to reverse ecological collapse.' Tired of too many ads? go ad free now His recommendations are not flashy: relocate waste dumps, ban direct discharge, invest in wastewater treatment, educate locals. But it's the quiet interventions, he says, that change the course of rivers. If implemented, the measures could prevent disease, improve crop health, and bring back biodiversity that's been driven away by years of unchecked pollution. In later phases, the team hopes to expand the study to include biological indicators—fish, plankton, and microbial life—as silent storytellers of riverine health. And to trace newer threats: heavy metals and emerging pollutants that don't float, but settle—and stay. In 2022, parts of this work were published in the International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. But the story, Dr Singh insists, is not in the journal—it is in the river. Every drop is evidence. Every season is a plea. And somewhere in Nagaland, a river still runs—wounded, but not voiceless.