- India’s first open-access native plant germination database, developed by ERA-India, shares methods for growing over 465 native species.
- Resilient and better adapted to local conditions, native plants are essential to ecological restoration but there has been limited practical knowledge about them.
- The database aims to make seed knowledge widely available, helping restoration practitioners, students, nurseries, and citizen ecologists grow the right species for the right landscapes.
With nearly a third of India’s land degraded and a quarter facing desertification, restoring ecological balance is no longer optional; it’s urgent. A new tool — India’s first open-access database of native plant germination methods — makes that work more accessible.
Compiled by the Ecological Restoration Alliance of India (ERA-India), this database consolidates more than 1,000 seed-germination protocols covering 465 native species, including Aegle marmelos (wood apple), Ficus benghalensis (banyan), Hopea indica (Malabar ironwood), Justicia adhatoda (Malabar nut), Madhuca longifolia (mahua), Withania somnifera (ashwagandha) and Ziziphus mauritiana (Indian jujube).
The goal is clear: to democratise access to seed knowledge for scientists, nursery managers, students, and citizen ecologists alike. “One of the fundamental and most practical steps in ecological restoration is to create a native plant nursery. This database is the first step toward that goal,” says Paul Blanchflower, a conservationist and restoration practitioner who co-founded the Auroville Botanical Gardens and contributed to the database.
Why native plants matter
India has pledged to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 under the Bonn Challenge. Native plants are central to that mission because they have evolved with local ecosystems, alongside insects, fungi, animals, and climate conditions. “Some withstand drought, others resist fire. Some hold riverbanks in place or grow from bare rock. Whatever the terrain — dry, wet, unstable, or rocky — there’s a native species ready to grow,” says Arjun Singh, senior project manager at ERA-India.
Native trees are typically hardier, requiring less water and maintenance, and coping better with extreme conditions. Blanchflower notes that when cyclones struck near Puducherry, the first casualties were non-native Acacia auriculiformis, whereas native species from the tropical dry evergreen forest — such as Memecylon umbellatum and Manilkara hexandra — remained standing.
Yet despite these advantages, manually propagating native plants remains a challenge. In the wild, thousands of seeds are propagated and with time on their side. Restoration projects, by contrast, must make every seed count. Complicating matters further, many native Indian trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses are not commercially available, and germination techniques are often buried in field notes or shared only through informal networks.
Bridging a critical gap
ERA-India’s seed-germination database bridges that knowledge gap by providing field-tested, species-specific advice on seed preparation, sowing media and pre-treatments such as soaking, scarification or chilling — details that can markedly boost nursery success rates.
For instance, it notes that Ziziphus xylopyrus seeds must be cleaned, soaked overnight, and sown in beds or trays. Germination typically occurs within a month and is rated as moderately successful. In contrast, Wrightia tinctoria requires no preparation at all — its seeds can be sown directly into grow bags and will usually germinate within 10 to 15 days.
Most conventional nurseries still struggle to supply adequate stocks of native plants. This database can play a vital role in planning large-scale ecological restoration, according to Chetan Misher, a consultant in ecosystem restoration. He, however, cautions that the data must be used with a clear understanding of each species’ ecological role and regional suitability. “Planting the wrong species in the wrong habitat can do more harm than good. The database should not be treated as a universal tool for one-size-fits-all plantation drives. Restoration is much more than planting trees; it is about reviving lost ecosystem functions and services, whether wholly or in part,” he says.
Accessing this information is straightforward: visit era-india.org, navigate to Plants > Seed Germination, and explore. Users contribute via a shared Google Sheet. Submissions are reviewed and verified by the Knowledge and Resources Desk at Auroville Botanical Gardens before going public. “The nursery is the engine house in many restoration projects. Having this knowledge accessible empowers people to take responsibility for our degraded landscapes and step up to do something about it,” Blanchflower says.
Rethinking restoration
The project also challenges a common myth: that restoration is just about planting trees. India’s diverse ecosystems — grasslands, deserts, wetlands — require nuanced, tailored strategies. “It’s a fallacy to believe that digging holes and planting saplings is a recipe for success,” says Gaurav Mehta, head public relations, marketing and corporate social responsibility at DCB Bank. “Scale is great, but proceed with caution.” Through CSR funding, DCB Bank supports ERA-India’s deeper insight — in restoration, knowledge is infrastructure.
Yet for many restoration practitioners, that knowledge remains elusive. Region-specific ecological data is often scarce, forcing them to start from scratch, conducting field visits, creating reference models, and piecing together what once grew where. “If we don’t know exactly what grows where, how can we create an appropriate planting palette for any restoration site?” asks Singh.
Ecological restoration is also inherently site-specific. No two landscapes are the same. While the principles may be shared, implementation has to be tailored to local conditions. Singh also highlights the ethical concerns. “The native plants we source should not come at the cost of the natural regeneration of intact ecosystems,” he warns.
It requires patience as well. Restoration offers a durable solution to ecosystem degradation, but its slow timelines often clash with the appeal of quick, cosmetic fixes like mass tree plantations, initiatives that may look productive but often fail ecologically.
That is where ERA-India, launched in 2022, plays a vital role. With over 470 members — including non-profits engaged in conservation such as Nature Conservation Foundation, Keystone Foundation, and Auroville Botanical Gardens — it is helping make ecological knowledge openly accessible and deepen understanding of India’s diverse ecoregions.
The germination database is part of this growing movement. “What’s most heartening is the commitment of the people running nurseries, their passion and excitement about doing something creative and positive for the planet. What stands out is their openness to share knowledge so others can join in. It’s a true community effort,” says Blanchflower.
In the end, this quiet, collaborative effort serves as a powerful reminder: meaningful restoration begins with seeds, soil and shared knowledge.
Read more: A Coimbatore nursery is reviving rare native flora, one seedling at a time
Banner image: Saplings of the genus Beilschmiedia. As many nurseries still struggle to supply adequate stocks of native plants, the database developed by ERA-India can help plan large-scale ecological restoration. Image by Vaishnavi Suresh.
Credits
