Behind the island tree planting and conservation drives: the ZSI centre at Sri Vijaya Puram and India's first coral reef institute

Background

Tree planting and conservation drives are under way in the islands, and much of the research behind island biodiversity work is done at one centre. The Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences visited the Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre of the Zoological Survey of India at Sri Vijaya Puram, which was set up in 1977. The centre works on taxonomy, molecular systematics, DNA barcoding, biodiversity assessment and training. It has reported more than 20 species new to science, among them the Narcondam Tree Shrew. Nearly 90 research programmes have been completed, with 85 books and more than 850 research papers published, and nearly 900 new faunal records from the islands, India and Southeast Asia. Its museum holds about 3,500 specimens across 22 faunal groups and draws 75,000 to 100,000 visitors a year. The centre is also the nodal centre for India's first National Coral Reef Research Institute.