Environment ministry notifies Mizoram museum as country's 21st designated repository

New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) The Environment Ministry has designated the Natural History Museum (NHM) in Mizoram as a designated repository, making it the 21st such repository in the country, officials said on Tuesday. Designated repositories constitute an important component of India’s biodiversity governance framework by preserving authenticated biological specimens accessed under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. "Based on the recommendation of the National Biodiversity Authority and after due examination of the proposal, the central government notified the institution as a designated repository on June 19, 2026," a senior ministry official said. "With this notification, NHM becomes India's 21st Designated Repository, further strengthening the country's biodiversity conservation and scientific infrastructure," the official said. The NHM will maintain voucher specimens of select flora, including pteridophytes and macrofungi, and fauna such as reptiles, amphibians, fishes, moths, beetles and butterflies, according to the official. "It will also serve as the designated depository for type specimens of newly discovered species from the region. These authenticated collections will strengthen species identification, traceability and scientific research while safeguarding India’s biological resources for long-term conservation. "They will also support future ecological restoration in the event of habitat loss, natural disasters or species decline," the official said. Established in 2022 under the aegis of Mizoram University, a Central University established by an Act of Parliament, the NHM is uniquely positioned because of its location within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot and its specialised taxonomic expertise. Mizoram and the wider Northeast region harbour more than 7,500 species of flowering plants and over 2,000 faunal species. The museum's expertise in pteridophytes, macrofungi, moths, beetles and other lesser-studied taxa fills an important gap in India’s network of Designated Repositories and strengthens the scientific documentation of the region’s rich biodiversity. "The repository will also support the documentation and conservation of endemic species unique to the region, including the recently described amphibian Leptobrachella tamdil, discovered in the forests of Mizoram, underscoring the Northeast’s global importance as a centre of biodiversity and species discovery," the official said. "Complementing the existing repositories of the Botanical Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India and other notified institutions, the designation advances National Biodiversity Target 4 of India’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (2024-2030) by strengthening ex situ conservation and the conservation of genetic diversity, in line with Target 4 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework," the official added. PTI GJS RHL