SunstarTV Bureau: Nature aficionados thronging for eco-tourism hotspots cannot turn blind eye towards Odisha’s initiation of sharing a wealth of biodiversity knowledge through a trained programme.
From presenting minute details about local flora and fauna to ecological history and traditional knowledge of plants and animals, tourists will get a richer experience of Odisha’s ecological diversity.
Sources in the Board said, “Biodiversity conservation is not only about tigers and elephants but also the Plants with their medicinal and ecological values do matter. So do small mammals, reptiles, birds and even insects and their conservation is of high priority as they protect the bio-resources. The community members must be aware of their local, national and global significance which is what the programme aims at.”
Staffs of the board including Prasad Kumar Dash (Botanist), Satya Ranjan Behera (zoologist) and Shubhransu Nayak (Microbiologist) trained the guides who were taken to nearby eco-trails where 100 plant species, 50 animal species and 20 crop wild relatives were explained from their natural history, ecology, biology and associated indigenous traditional ecological knowledge point of views in a three languages module.
Under this training programme, Local community members of 42 ecotourism sites were trained as eco-guides and naturalists to explain ecological significance of the sites to the tourists.
