Mizoram University designated India’s 21st biodiversity repository

New Delhi, July 7: In a significant step towards strengthening India’s biodiversity conservation framework, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has designated the Natural History Museum (NHM) at Mizoram University, Aizawl, as a Designated Repository under Section 39 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

The notification, issued on June 19, 2026, follows the recommendation of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and makes the NHM the country’s 21st Designated Repository, expanding India’s scientific infrastructure for preserving and documenting biological diversity.

Designated Repositories play a vital role in safeguarding authenticated biological specimens collected under the Biological Diversity Act. The NHM will preserve voucher specimens of select flora, including pteridophytes and macrofungi, and fauna such as reptiles, amphibians, fishes, moths, beetles and butterflies.

It will also serve as the official depository for type specimens of newly discovered species from the region, providing a permanent scientific record for taxonomy, conservation and future research.

Officials said the authenticated collections will strengthen species identification, improve traceability of biological resources and support ecological restoration efforts in the event of habitat degradation, natural disasters or species decline.

Established in 2022 under the aegis of Mizoram University, a Central University, the museum occupies a strategic location within the globally significant Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, one of the world’s richest centres of biological diversity.

Mizoram and the wider Northeast are home to more than 7,500 species of flowering plants and over 2,000 faunal species, making the region a critical landscape for biodiversity conservation.

The NHM has developed specialised expertise in documenting pteridophytes, macrofungi, moths, beetles and other relatively understudied taxonomic groups, filling important gaps in India’s national biodiversity documentation network.

The repository will also contribute to the conservation of endemic species unique to the region, including Leptobrachella tamdil, a recently described amphibian discovered in the forests of Mizoram, highlighting the Northeast’s continuing role in global species discovery.

Even before receiving the designation, the museum had demonstrated its scientific capability by preserving more than 500 biological specimens, including herbarium sheets and wet-preserved collections. Its multidisciplinary team comprises taxonomic experts from Mizoram University covering seven specialised biological groups.

The Ministry said the designation would facilitate preservation of biological specimens closer to their natural habitats, improve scientific documentation, reduce logistical challenges and strengthen collaboration with the Mizoram State Biodiversity Board and regional research institutions.

The move also complements the existing network of repositories maintained by the Botanical Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India and other notified institutions. It advances National Biodiversity Target 4 under India’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (2024–2030), while supporting the conservation of genetic diversity in line with Target 4 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.