‘Plants of Tamil Nadu’ FB group decides to expand reach

The rising number of health-conscious people oriented towards herbal medicine can henceforth look forward to availing themselves of the utility of more services from the Facebook group 'Plants of Tamil Nadu'.

At their first sitting here on Sunday, 24 administrators of the group, which has membership growing by leaps and bounds and surpassing the 11,000 mark, decided on adding more to their responsibilities going well beyond plant identification.

They discussed the scope for bringing out a periodical, conducting awareness workshops on plant conservation, organising field trips, and undertaking documentation works, during the meeting that was inaugurated by Rev. Fr. S. John Britto, Director, Rapinet Herbarium, St. Joseph's College.

The platform using Facebook was created basically for interaction between the general public and taxonomists who can authentically identify plants dispersed across the country, so as to ensure correctness and safety. For, lack of expertise in correct identification of plants and their usage might trigger unwanted side effects, D. Kandavel, Associate Professor, Periyar EVR College, Tiruchi, one of the administrators, explained.

The administrators representing colleges, research institutions and industry, work in different capacities. There are more than 11,000 members in the group which keeps growing in terms of activity and membership on a daily basis.

Impressed with the service rendered, many in the group mooted expanding the ambit of reach, and hence the added responsibilities, Prof. Kandavel said.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/plants-of-tamil-nadu-fb-group-decides-to-expand-reach/article21013663.ece