ZSI launches ‘Fauna of India Checklist Portal’
Kolkata: The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) on Sunday launched the ‘Fauna of India Checklist Portal’ which is a first-of-its-kind covering all the faunal species reported from India. It comprises 121 checklists of all known taxa covering 36 phyla providing information of 104,561 species distributed in the states and union territories of India.
Endemic, threatened and scheduled species have also been included in the list.
Union minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav unveiled the portal to mark the occasion of 109th Foundation Day of ZSI. Dhriti Banerjee, Director ZSI said that 153 scientists and experts from ZSI worked tirelessly to produce information in the portal with India becoming the first country in the world which has prepared the complete list of fauna documented from the country.
The Union minister also released ‘Animal Discoveries-2023’ comprising 641 new animal species and new records from India and ‘Plant Discoveries- 2023’ of Botanical Survey of India comprising 339 new plant species and new records from the country published by the scientists, faculties and researchers from India.
On this occasion, the ZSI exchanged 10 MoUs with universities and colleges in the likes of Vidyasagar University, Berhampur University, Madurai Kamraj University, Himalayan University, Ferguson College and Kongunadu Arts & Science College and with National institutes (ICAR-NBFGR, ICAR-NBAIR, ICAR-CIFA, BITS, Pilani) for better coordination and benefits to masses. In commemoration of 109th foundation day, ‘Animal Taxonomy Summit-2024’ has been scheduled on July 1 to 3, 2024 in Kolkata.
As many as 1,700 participants from Zimbabwe, Rwanda, UK, UAE, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be attending the summit. Some important publications were also released by the Union minister.
Underscoring the need to preserve our flora and fauna, Yadav on Sunday cautioned against indiscriminate plunder of natural resources.
“If the mindless, endless plunder of our resources continues, there will be a day in this world when only humans will be around, not animals, avian species, fishes, plants. Just think about what such a situation will bring to our future. We must work towards saving the planet,” he added.