Bhubaneswar, April 15: The urana, the pani ambo, the sinduka and the sundari —these rare species of trees growing at Orissa’s Bhitarkanika and Mahanadi delta would soon be grown outside their habitat.

The Regional Plant Resource Centre in Bhubaneswar has started a project to promote ex situ conservation and propagation of rare, endangered and threatened mangrove trees of the Orissa coast. Loss of habitat, soil water salinity, human interference, and limited natural regeneration has been a major threat to these species.

Despite the presence of protected areas in national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves that play an important role in conservation, endangered plants still require ex situ conservation.

“It’s with an aim to explore and provide alternate protection to such vulnerable species, that the resource centre initiated this project. The research objective was also to share results relating to vegetative multiplication of selected rare, endangered and threatened species and highlight the significance of its conservation,” said principal investigator U.C. Basak.

The project emphasises on indigenous mangrove species of Orissa that has a medicinal utility.

Of late, wetlands, islands and coastal ecosystems have been infested with weeds. Climate change, associated with increasing temperature, changing hydrologic regimes, rising sea-level and increasing magnitude and frequency of tropical storms and natural calamities such as tsunamis remain growing threats to mangrove ecosystem.

K. Kathirsesan of the Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology in Annamalai University said: “Mangroves are likely to be one of the first ecosystems to be affected especially in low-lying areas, because of their location at the interface between land and sea. As the sea rises, mangroves would tend to shift landward.”

Human encroachment on land would be the prime factor for depletion of rich bio-diversity of the mangroves. There are a few genetically superior plant species, which can overcome any climatic change. “Those species have to be identified and propagated,” Kathirsesan added.