Lucknow, May 21: THE Uttar Pradesh State Bio-diversity Board, Lucknow, is hosting a national conference on Tuesday to celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD). It is to be noted that the United Nations has proclaimed May 22 as the International Day for Biological Diversity to increase the understanding and awareness of issues related to bio-diversity. Bio-diversity means the variety of life on earth and the essential interdependence of all living things. Of the total biological system, the scientists have identified and named around 1.4 million species only. The conference is intended to provide a platform for experience sharing, brainstorming and preparing a strategy to preserve habitats of our wildlife.
Policy makers, managers, government officers, scientists, NGOs, and research scholars will be participating in the conference. The conference will focus on the inter-linkages between climate change and bio-diversity conservation. The event will be inaugurated by the State Minister for Forest and Wildlife, Fateh Bahadur Singh, while Chairman, National Bio-diversity Authority, Dr S Kannaiyan, will be the special guest on the occasion. Other eminent speakers include SPS Ahlawat, director, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Dr Paul Verghese, TERI, Sudhanshu Sinha, Canadian Environment Faculty, and Sujoy Banerjee, WWF. The board has also invited professional or amateur photographers to capture images of flora and fauna and participate in the photo competition.
2010 is the target date set by world leaders to reduce bio-diversity loss, to contribute to poverty alleviation, and to benefit all life forms on earth.
India comprises two per cent of the world’s landmass but is home to seven per cent of the flora and 6.5 per cent of the fauna of the world. Surveys conducted by the Botanical Survey of India and Zoological Survey of India have revealed that there are 47,000 species of plants and 81,000 species of animals in the country.
Two-day workshop on bio-safety
THE National Academy of Customs, Excise & Narcotics, Kanpur, is organising a two-day workshop on ‘Bio-safety’ for senior customs officers at a city hotel in Gomti Nagar. The workshop was inaugurated on Monday by the chief commissioner of customs & central excise, Anil Bhatnagar.
On the first day of the workshop, the officials said the need for such training programmes has arisen due to the fast changing developments in the arena of bio-technology which has engendered concerns for bio-safety. “The new technologies can help reduce pesticide consumption, leaving the environment relatively safer. But the new trends in bio-technology have also raised concerns for human health and environment when untested technologies and novel products are recommended for mass consumption,” said officials.
The countries of the world have given themselves a new landmark treaty called Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety, which came into force in 2003. The Protocol lays stress on handling, transport, packaging and identification of genetically modified organisms and living modified organisms.
