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Botanical Gardens

Context:

  1. Earth Day is celebrated on 22nd April every year.
  1. Recently the Tamil Nadu Government has taken a decision to establish a botanical garden called the Chengalpattu Botanical Garden.
  2. Botanical gardens are extremely significant as they represent the richness of life on Earth. They are also a metric of national success in science and outreach. Thus, efforts should be made to establish new botanical gardens in the country and collaborate with successful countries in this regard.

Botanical Gardens

  1. A botanical garden contains many species of plants, herb gardens, specialist plants etc.
  2. A botanical garden or botanic garden is a garden dedicated to the collection, cultivation, preservation and display of a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names.
  3. As an example of complex engineering, botanical gardens represent the richness of life on earth and a metric of national success in science and outreach

Details:

  1. Earth Day is celebrated on 22nd April every year.
  2. Recently the Tamil Nadu Government has taken a decision to establish a botanical garden called the Chengalpattu Botanical Garden.
  3. It will be built in an area of 138 hectares with an investment of ₹300 crores, thus becoming the largest botanical garden in India.
  4. The Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew (London) will be the key partner for technical expertise.
  5. There are references to home gardens in ancient texts. Moreover, cave paintings also depict gardening.
  6. A garden is an important metric of one’s prosperity and eclectic administration. It is also significant for enjoyment and modern-day research.

Gardens in India:

  1. The botanical gardens in India range from 10 to 35 (the exact number is not known).
  2. The oldest academic garden in India is the Acharya Jagadish Chandra (AJC) Bose Indian Botanic Garden.
  3. It was established in 1787 (under a different name).
  4. It is spread over 109 hectares.
  5. The headquarters of the Botanical Survey of India is located in Kolkata.

Associated Concerns:

  1. India has a high diversity of plants and animals, with around 18,000 to 20,000 plant species.
  2. However, India hosts a very less number of botanical gardens. Moreover, these gardens lack a wider perspective of plant exploration, discovery, research, and biodiversity outreach.
  3. India’s educational and scientific research has neglected various aspects of plant biology like taxonomy, evolution, plant mycorrhizal interactions, population ecology, and stress biology.

Way Ahead:

  1. Collaborations with botanical gardens in Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia can be highly beneficial as they have set new standards in research and have also provided recreational and ecotourism features.
  2. In order to deal with the declining biodiversity and climate change, every inch of the land should be used to nurture native plants and associated living organisms.