Endangered adjutant storks. Picture by S.H. Patgiri

April 18: The Assam Science Society is all set to start a photography gallery to educate students on the biodiversity of the region and to motivate them into conservation effort.

?The present generation is hardly able to recognise plant and animal species despite the region being a biodiversity hotspot,? said M.C. Kalita, a senior office bearer of Assam Science Society.

The gallery will be housed in the society?s science complex at Khanapara.

Kalita said the society would, in due course, transform the gallery into a natural history museum.

He said already 100 photographs of plants and amphibians have been collected with all relevant details. Another 200 will be collected within this month.

?Care will be taken for proper preservation of photographs and experts? guidance will be taken for the purpose,? said Kalita.

He said this was a mammoth effort and required huge funding from various sources. The project will cost approximately Rs 1 crore, he added.

Assam Rajya Sabha MP Anwara Taimur has already given Rs 5 lakh for the project.

Kalita said the society would also send a proposal to the ministry of environment and forests for assistance.

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, a joint initiative of funding organisations, including the World Bank, recently decided to fund wildlife projects in the eastern Himalayas, including the Northeast.

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is a joint initiative of Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the government of Japan, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank.

?We are appealing to the concerned individuals to come forward to donate quality photographs of both plant and animals for this project. The expenses will be borne and the photographs will be duly acknowledged,? Kalita said.