Two of Earth’s oldest survivors live on in the forests of Uttarakhand.
They play a crucial role in soil formation by secreting acids and trapping dust, and are also a food source for wildlife. Both gardens are free and open to all. In addition to hosting tourists, locals and school children, there are plans to develop research spaces where scientists can study a diverse range of species in one place.
Lichen, a symbiotic hybrid of a fungus and either algae or cyanobacteria, goes even further back, with fossil evidence dating to at least 400 million years ago.
These spaces are meant to be more than repositories of unusual flora, says Ritu Budhori, a research associate with the Uttarakhand Forest Research Institute, Haldwani, and with the gymnosperm garden in Uttarakashi. Lichen have been largely ignored in terms of research in India, says Yogesh Chandra Tripathi, a research associate with the Uttarakhand Forest Research Institute, Haldwani, and with the Munsiyari garden.
The hope is that the gardens will “offer a glimpse into the diversity of natural life that often goes unnoticed amid the Himalayas’ more conspicuous forests and flowering plants,” says Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Pithoragarh range officer with the Uttarakhand Forest Research Institute, Haldwani.
