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Environmental Information
System(ENVIS) Centre

With great pleasure we would like to share with you that Ministry of Environment Forest and climate change (MOEFCC) has sanctioned an ENVIS (Environmental Information System) Centre to disseminate scientific, technical, and semi-technical information on various issues related to biological invasion (Invasive Alien Species) and conduct related research and extension activities.

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Environmental Information System(ENVIS) Centre

With great pleasure we would like to share with you that Ministry of Environment Forest and climate change (MOEFCC) has sanctioned an ENVIS (Environmental Information System) Centre to disseminate scientific, technical, and semi-technical information on various issues related to biological invasion (Invasive Alien Species) and conduct related research and extension activities.

Our Activities

Envis network has been designed as the National Focal Point…

Education
Education

The Centre’s nature club organized various activities like Rangoli Contest…

GSDP
GSDP

The Centre promotes, implements, and coordinates Green Skill…

Research
Research

Research Articles on Aquatic Invasive Species in India…

Latest News

Newsletter

ENVIS Team

Centre Co-ordinator

Dr. Maya Mahajan
Associate Professor
Centre for Sustainable Future
Amrita VishwaVidyapeetham
Coimbatore 641112, Tamil Nadu, India
Email: m_maya@cb.amrita.edu
Phone: +919489518865

Program Officer

Sushmita Krishnan
k_sushmita@cb.amrita.edu

Information Officer

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Data Entry Operator

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Wetland Day Celebrations Contest

Customer Feedback

“My discovery of Lantana Furniture

In the United States, lantana is a favored ornamental plant. Its delicate inflorescences of red, yellow, orange, blue and pink grace the garden plantings of suburbanites throughout the country who flock to garden centers every spring and pay good money for cultivars with names like Miss Huff and Patriot Cowboy. In most of the country, winters are too cold for the plants to survive, so they remain annual adornments to our gardens.

In India, however, these non-native plants have become obnoxious and unwelcome guests, crowding out the scrub growth under forest trees and producing only toxic leaves that cannot be eaten by most animals.

I was therefore delighted to learn that a method had been developed by Dr. Maya Mahajan at Amrita University to manage these difficult plants. Unlike the gentle North American varieties, these fierce invaders grow study canes several feet in length which are harvested by hill station tribals who then use them to construct attractive rustic furniture. The furniture is quite cheap and very sturdy, the undergrowth of lantana is successfully managed, and the tribals have a new source of revenue. Everybody wins.

When I heard about this furniture, I made a trip to Amrita, where Dr. Mahajan and some of her assistants showed me the pieces on hand and took measurements for special-use items. At the end of what could be called a very long day (due to the weather interference on the cane harvesting), I had eighteen pieces at a total cost of less than  40,000 rupees. These include armchairs, armless chairs, coffee tables, a settee, a bed, bookshelves, and more. The commissioned pieces didn’t always come out the way I had intended, but they are all useful and attractive. Everything has been admired by friends around the globe.

Lantana furniture has allowed me to help with a forest management project, to provide income to tribals, and to buy attractive cane furniture at a very low price. It has been a happy discovery.”

Jon William Bauer

Contact us

Centre for Sustainable Future
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
Coimbatore 641112, Tamil Nadu, India

Email: m_maya@cb.amrita.edu
Phone: +919489518865

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