GUWAHATI, Oct 28 - The Balipara Foundation, in collaboration with �Orchid hunter of India� Naresh Swami, author of Terrestrial Orchids (2016) and Hidden Treasures: Rare Plants of the Alpine Himalaya, is shortly going to launch an app �Orchids of Himalaya�.
This app on orchids of the Eastern Himalayas, is the first of its kind on any floral family produced and launched in India. The app will initially display 200 species of orchids, and it would be upgraded to 350 species next year.
�In the coming years, this app will showcase all the orchid species from the region of eastern Himalaya, thus establishing it as a database and reference for further studies and research for everyone across the globe,� Saurav Malhotra of the Balipara Foundation said. Each species page will consist of five stunning images and description, besides other details.
�The most important factor of this app is that, it can be viewed offline and is free to download, thus enabling usage of the same in far-off regions where internet is not available. Also, the free download will help everyone make the most of this app,� he said.
To be available on Google Play, it will have several user-friendly features and search options are added to find each species with ease.
Naresh Swami is a double PhD from Liverpool University and Jawaharlal University. He is said to have travelled about 27,000 km on foot looking for unknown plants, particularly orchids, in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. He has documented over 530 species of orchids in Sikkim, an all-time record for the number of species found and studied by a single person from the region. The app would be launched at the Eastern Himalayas Naturenomics Forum meet slated for November 1 and 2.
