Deptt of Wildlife Protection organises trekking-cum -exploration trip in Jmu

Jammu: Department of Wildlife Protection on Tuesday organized a trekking cum exploration trip for the participants of National workshop organized by the Department of Botany, University of Jammu. The trek started from Jammu to Patnitop and further onward to Sudhmahadev.
The Four day National workshop on Polyphasic Identification of Macrofungi (Field cum Laboratory Training) from August 1-4 has been organized in University of Jammu by Department of Botany in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Protection. The workshop has been organized under a project funded by National Mission on Himalayan Studies. The workshop has both field and laboratory components.
On the 2nd day of the workshop, a trekking cum exploration trip was organized from Patnitop to Sudhmahdev covering 7.5 Kms distance. Speaking on the occasion, Suresh Kumar Gupta, Chief Wildlife Warden, J&K briefed the participants about forest bio-resources in J&K. He highlighted the important Wildlife Protected Areas and Wildlife species of J&K. Chief Wildlife Warden appreciated the Department of Botany for undertaking the programme to identify and understand the role of the fungal species in maintenance of Ecosystem balance.
Professor Yash Paul from the Department of Botany mentioned about species biodiversity of fungal-flora and their relationships with important forest tree species. He mentioned particular aspects of the workshop with respect to various criteria in identification of such species.
The trekking cum exploration trip passed through Sudhmahadev Wildlife Conservation Reserve and participants explored the biodiversity with particular reference to fungal species. Resource persons from the Botanical Survey of India along with fifty participants completed the trek cum exploration trip.
The programme was conducted by Anil Kumar Atri, Wildlife Warden, Jammu and Rakesh Kumar, Wildlife Range Officer under the guidance of Dr. Kumar M.K, Regional Wildlife Warden, Jammu.