Amkhoi Wood Fossil Park in Birbhum now a ‘Biodiversity Heritage Site’

Kolkata: The state Environment department has declared Amkhoi Wood Fossil Park in Birbhum district as a Biodiversity Heritage Site.

Amkhoi Wood Fossil Park is a unique repository of well-preserved angiosperm wood fossils representing the existence of a forest 20 million years ago in the late Miocene period. This is the only park of its kind in Bengal and only the third in the country.

The silicified wood specimens found in Amkhoi are the remains of a dry deciduous forest with a few evergreen species comparable to that of present-day Myanmar and Malaysia and the Eastern and Western Ghats of India.

It can be presumed that a vast river system carried the wood before fossilisation and deposited it.

The specimens are mostly well preserved, in which cells and tissues are replaced by silica (silicon dioxide) and these can be studied under the microscope to identify and compare to present-day plant families.

Bengal Forest Department established this park in 2015 intending to preserve priceless wood fossils, which were collected while digging a pond in Amkhoi village.

The primary aims of the initiative are the preservation of natural heritage, to educate the visitors about fossils, in-situ and ex-situ conservation of fossils, livelihood generation for villagers residing around the

fossil park, promotion of ecotourism and offering visitors a unique opportunity to experience nature and the natural traditions of the village.

The park is maintained and supervised by Birbhum Forest Division. Located on the Illambazar-Bolpur-Santiniketan road, which cuts across the famous Chowpahari Sal Forest, the park is spread over an area of approximately 10 hectares.

The parkland is notified as a protected forest, with the whole area proposed to be protected and conserved in situ.

The Amkhoi Wood Fossil Park, which now has an open-air museum with wood fossils on display has emerged as a major tourist attraction in the district.