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Friday, Jan 23, 2009
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Kerala - Kozhikode
New facilities at Western Ghats Field Research Station
Staff Reporter
ZSI centre to be developed as centre of excellence |
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Facilitating development: Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Namo Narain Meena taking a look at the exhibits at the Zoological Survey of India’s museum in the city on Thursday.
Kozhikode: Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Namo Narain Meena opened the newly constructed office-cum-laboratory building and residential quarters of the Zoological Survey of India’s (ZSI) Western Ghats Field Research Station (WGFRS) at Jafferkhan Colony here on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Meena said the regional station of the ZSI here would be developed as a centre of excellence. The Union Ministry was committed to assisting the States in the conservation of their biodiversity and ensure the benefits to the local community, he said. “Besides facilitating conservation, it is one of the main priorities of the ministry to build offices with latest instruments and proper manpower to enhance the taxonomic awareness among society.”
The Minister said the Centre had several initiatives in place to ensure conservation and sustained utilisation of the biodiversity for the benefit of the people.
The WGFRS is one of the 16 different ecosystem-based regional stations of the ZSI. The new ZSI facility could undertake researches on subjects like systematic zoology, animal ecology, wildlife, zoogeography, animal behaviour, animal population, marine fauna, besides other topics.
In his introductory address, Joint-Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, A.K. Goyal said there was an increasing public interest in matters pertaining to animal life. “The constant stream of enquiries that continues to pour into the concerned offices, including the regional stations, stand testimony to the public interest in the matter and the public confidence in the institutes,” he said.
The seven-storey new facility of the ZSI comprises a zoological museum at the first and ground floors of the building.
The administrative section and the seminar hall have been arranged at the second floor. The research laboratories and the scientists’ chambers have been facilitated at the third floor, while the fourth story is used as collection room.
The fifth and sixth floors have been arranged as the library and visiting scientists’ rooms respectively.
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Kerala - Kozhikode
Museum opens window to the Western Ghats
An exhibit at the Zoological Survey of India museum.
Kozhikode: The museum at the Zoological Survey of India’s (ZSI) recently inaugurated facility, which is the Western Ghats Field Research Station (WGFRS) of the ZSI in Kozhikode, is a rich showcase of endemic species from the Western Ghats besides an array of amazing bio-diversity collected and preserved from the forests, waters and different terrains of South India. The museum with its rare collection of informative exhibits is unique in several respects and is of interest to the student community as well as the public. The exhibits are arranged on the first two floors. On the first floor, the items include a pictorial series on the shore-birds of Kerala; a collection of animal homes, including nests of birds; a collection of common seashells found off Kozhikode coast; living fossils; and a posture series on ‘climate change.’
A section titled ‘Can you find them’ is meant to encourage visitors to observe the infinite variety of nature.
A collection of colourful crabs, lobsters, the rostrum of the sawfish and a variety of corals and seashells from the Lakshadweep islands are some of the other attractions at the museum. It also has a range of insects, dragonflies; damselflies land snails, fishes, reptiles and amphibians besides a collection of rare butterflies, birds and mammals among the exhibits.
A major portion of the first floor of the museum is dedicated to the rich biological wealth of the Western Ghats, which is one among the 34 biodiversity hot spots in the world. The pictorial series — A journey through Western Ghats — effectively conveys the magnificent faunal diversity of the Western Ghats. The representative fauna of the Ghats on display, including vertebrates and invertebrates, is supplemented with brief write-ups and photographs.
Also, the first floor houses an interactive display system, introducing the official animals and birds of all Indian States. The floor also has a video corner exhibiting short movies on the animals of the Western Ghats. Entry to the museum is free and will be from 10 a.m. to 12.30 noon on weekdays.