The Forest Department is expected to take steps to protect specimens of Buchanania barberi, an extremely rare evergreen tree species, discovered by the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) at Palode.
A team of officials led by DFO Pradeep Kumar and Range Officer, Palode, Ajith Kumar, checked out the specimens, which stand by the roadside at Palode, on Sunday. Buchanania barberi is categorised ‘critically endangered’ in the IUCN Red List. JNTBGRI had found only two mature trees of this species within a five-sq-km region in Palode.
A specimen of the species was first collected in 1904 by C.A. Barber and described by J.S. Gamble in 1916. The JNTBGRI had launched a conservation project for the species a few years ago. Recently, the JNTBGRI effort to save Buchanania barberi from extinction was featured as a case study in the Plant Conservation Report 2020, a review of global conservation efforts during the past decade. The report was published by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).
