Every weekend, VU Sabu from Ambalavayal village in Wayanad district, Kerala, embarks on a journey to the Western Ghats, not for leisure but with a mission to safeguard wild orchids. Known for their beauty, wild orchids possess a pleasant aroma and hold significant value in medicine and horticulture.
Sabu's passion for these plants blossomed while completing higher studies in healthcare management. "I started reading up on wild orchids and realised that they play a crucial role in climate control and biodiversity maintenance. Their flowers are indicators of ecosystem health and they do not thrive in polluted air. I also found that the population of wild orchids in the hilly terrains of the Western Ghats has witnessed a decline in the past decades," said Sabu, who works as a senior manager in operations at Dr Moopen's Medical College Healthcare in Wayanad.
In 2016, he decided to pursue conservation as a hobby, venturing into the forest to collect and protect wild orchids. Despite lacking agricultural expertise, he initiated his own approach to collect, conserve and augment these plants.
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