Meet The Orchid Man; On A Journey To Preserve Orchids

Baishali ThapaFebruary 25, 2021

It is interesting to know that there are at least 25,000 species of orchids; 8% of the flowering plants are orchids which makes them the largest family. But, over the years, it seems that orchids are at the risk of extinction. Not many people are nature lovers who take a moment from their life and do something for the betterment of the environment. However, Charles Tympuin, a nature enthusiast from Nonglwai, West Khasi Hills emerges as one of the inspiration who is trying to contribute his part in the preservation of orchids.

He is the founder of Nonglwai Orchid Conservation Society with a main aim to preserve and conserve the indigenous and rare orchids. In 2009-10, Charles started to collect orchids from the forests and nearby districts.

“While collecting the orchids from the forest, I realized that the people in my area are collecting the orchids without cultivating and taking care of it. This is when I realized that if people continued this, the next generation will not be able to get these orchids. So, I decided to collect and grow these orchids on my own.” Charles Tympuin said.

By 2011, his society was registered by the District Planning Department, Nongstoin. As he continued with the journey, Charles realized that he needed formal trainings to manage their orchid production. For this, he and his team approached IBDLP Basin Development Unit (BDU) for helping them out. Here, they received proper training in order to build their identification and plant more species.

Charles Tympuin also received ‘Plant Genome Savior Community Award’ for the year 2014-15 for the conservation of more than 75 species of orchids.

As the world is getting modernized every day, people are becoming less sensitive to the environment they are living in. As a final message for the people, Charles Tympuin says,

“Due to deforestation and climatic change, the orchids are on the verge of extinction. So, I want people to be more responsible. Also, if we have a proper market for the orchids, the farmers will be interested to grow and sell orchids. This way we can preserve the orchids as well.”