Context: Union Minister of State for Science and Technology dedicated Prakriti Gyan Dham, India’s first-of-its-kind eco-educational hub, to the nation.
About The Eco-Educational Hub:
What It Is?
- Prakriti Gyan Dham (The Eco-Educational Hub) is an interactive, open-air eco-educational facility and living repository of India’s rich botanical wealth, heritage trees, and environmental research.
- It serves as a walkable classroom designed for students, researchers, nature enthusiasts, and farmers to engage directly with plant science and sustainable bio-resources.
Location: Maharishi Parashar Bioresource Centre (MPBC) in Banthra, on the outskirts of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Developing Agency: CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (CSIR-NBRI), Lucknow.
Aim: To extend scientific research beyond institutional laboratory walls into society, fostering experiential environmental education, preserving botanical-cultural heritage, promoting threatened plant conservation, and driving livelihood generation through bio-technologies.
Key Features:
- PAaVan Path (Heritage Trail): The centerpiece of the hub—Plants and Associated Vegetations for Appreciating Nature—is an interpretive trail displaying curated plant species representing India’s diverse ecological regions.
- Indian Heritage Garden with Interactive QR Systems: Features cloned descendants of historically sacred and freedom-struggle trees paired with smartphone-scannable QR audio-guides.
- The Bamboosteum: Houses 43 indigenous and exotic bamboo species demonstrating their role as carbon-sequestering, renewable bioresources for soil restoration, green infrastructure, and sustainable rural crafts.
- Conservation Enclaves (Vibhav & Bhairav):
- Vibhav Enclave: Dedicated to preserving India’s rare, endangered, and threatened (RET) plant species.
- Bhairav Enclave: Features a living map of the official State Plants of all Indian States and Union Territories.
- Lab-to-Society Technology Transfer: Integrates practical bio-technology commercialization on-site, including the official launch and tech-transfer of herbal health formulations developed with industrial partners.
Significance:
- Pioneers a Lab-to-Land model that translates complex botanical and ecological research into an accessible public format, raising environmental literacy across communities.
- Preserves historically significant living trees alongside endangered native flora and eco-tourism across CSIR institutions
