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Role of local bodies in biodiversity crucial

Local bodies and their representatives have a crucial and paramount role to play in the protection of biodiversity and in the conservation of fauna and flora, according to National Biodiversity Authority chairman S Kannaiyan. There were 15,000 different types of medicinal plants in the country, and 429 varieties were facing threat of extinction, he said. Medicinal plants, available abundantly in the rural areas, needed to be conserved and the local bodies should document them, he said.