New Delhi, June 06: The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) today launched a prestigious programme aimed at conservation of threatened plants in india and establishment of an Indian botanic garden network (investing in nature-India). The programme is supported by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), UK, a body set up by United Nations, as part of the HSBC funded investing in nature partnership.

The main objectives of the programme are to protect twenty thousand plants from extinction, educate at least four lakh people through a website with information on 2,000 botanic gardens and target two-and-a-half million people in more than ten countries with new public education programmes.

Science and technology minister for state Bachi Singh Rawat launched the programme here at a function hosted by National Botanic Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow, which will be the nodal CSIR agency for implementing this programme in the country. The CSIR lab, incidentally is celebrating this year the golden jubilee of its inception.
Dr R A Mashelkar, the director general of CSIR, Dr P Pushpangadan, director of NBRI, Dr Peter Wyse Jackson, secretary general, BGCI, UK and Richard Groves, head, Northern India, HSBC were present on the occasion.

Bureau Report