Nature interpretation center for Lava soon

A visit to Lava in the Pujas this time could yield something more than pine trees, bird song and tranquility.

Located around 30km from Kalimpong and 100km from Siliguri, the tourist hotspot will have a nature interpretation centre soon. According to forest department officials, the centre will be opened before Durga Puja.

“We have been working on the project for the last two years and are in the final leg,” said Tapas Das, divisional forest officer, Wildlife-II. “We intend to open it for visitors by late September or early October.”

The centre has been built over a 5,000sqft area at a cost of Rs 15 lakh. The funds have been provided by the Uttar Banga Unnayan Parishad, Das said.

Sujit Sinha Choudhury of Swell Publicity which is engineering and putting together the displays, said the visitors will be given a virtual tour of the neighbouring Neora Valley National Park at the centre.

“With the help of fibre-glass relief work, we have recreated Neora Valley with all its flora and fauna,” Sinha Choudhury said. “A visitor will get the chance of going on a virtual trail right from the base of the park to its highest point.”

According to Das, the centre will provide a unique opportunity to study the wealth of the national park, entry to which is otherwise restricted.

“Besides being a source of entertainment, the centre will provide a learning experience. Neora Valley National Park is one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in the country and there will be artefacts and displays to showcase this at the centre,” he said.

The divisional forest officer has recently concluded the first-ever documentation of medicinal plants and orchids in Neora Valley (See chart).

There are more than 1000 species of medicinal plants in the national park, Das said. “We have completed the documentation of around 50 plant species, which are found in abundance here. Most of them are otherwise rare and are of great medicinal value.”

Displays and charts of the study findings would be put up at the centre.

During the study Das was assisted by S.S. Giri, range officer, Upper Neora Range, Praveen Katwal, deputy ranger, foresters and the staff of the national park.

Source: The Telegraph