India's largest open air fernery opened in Uttarakhand

India’s largest open-air fernery has been inaugurated in Ranikhet of Uttarakhand. The new centre will serve the dual objective of ‘conservation of fern species as well as ‘create awareness about their ecological role and promote further research. The fernery is home to a large number of fern species, some of which are endemic to the state, some hold medicinal value while some are threatened species that demand care and conservation.

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About the centre:

The fernery has the largest collection of fern species, second to only Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI), Thiruvananthapuram. However, it is the country’s first open-air fernery in natural surroundings which is not under any poly-house/ shade house.
The Ranikhet fernery has around 120 different types of fern, spreads over four acres of land at an altitude of 1,800 metres.
The facility has been developed under Central Government’s Compensatory Afforestation Management Funds Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) scheme, by the Research Wing of Uttarakhand Forest Department over a period of three years.

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