India's first 'Moss Garden' comes up in Nainital district

The Uttarakhand forest department has dedicated the newly-built Moss Garden to the people, claiming that it is the country’s first such garden, spread over 10 hectares in Kumaon’s Nainital district. The moss garden, which took nearly a year to build, was inaugurated by Water Man of India Rajendra Singh. The state forest department had approved research projects to study moss species, considered the most significant indicator of ecosystem fluctuations as they are more sensitive towards habitat and climate changes.

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About “Moss Garden”:

The Moss Garden built near Khurpatal under the CAMPA scheme was developed under a project approved in July 2019, with the aim to conserve various species of moss and other bryophytes and to make the people aware of ecological and other useful roles of moss in our environment.
The country’s first moss garden spread over 10 hectares, with an interpretation centre, 30 representative moss species and other bryophyte species, including two species listed in IUCN Red List (Hyophila involuta and Brachythecium buchananii) and a moss trail nearly 1.25 km long.
Of the 2,300 moss species found in India, 339 are found in Uttarakhand according to experts. Mosses are non-vascular plants that belong to Bryophyta division.
They are small flowerless plants that typically grow in damp and shady locations.
They play a very important role in maintaining and developing the ecosystem and biodiversity including soil formation, water retention, checking erosion and acting as a nutrient sink.