Global call against Monsanto and genetically modified food crops on October 12

The Times of India , Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Correspondent : Laxmi Prasanna,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From a global call to march against genetically modified food crops and Monsanto, to a concrete strategy to conserve freshwater ecosystems, scientists and activists at the international conference on ecosystem conservation, climate change and sustainable Development (ECOCASD) made it clear that indigenous biodiversity protection is crucial to sustenance.

As part of the global call against Monsanto, participants including green activists from 400 cities across the world including Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram will organise protest marches and rallies on October 12, calling for Safe Food to prevent contamination of food by genetically modified crops and toxic pesticides. "We have no crisis in food security, it is crisis in distribution of safe food and the government has to address that," Green activist Sridhar Radhakrishnan told TOI on Friday.

Later in the day leading freshwater conservation biologists got together calling for concrete strategies to conserve freshwater biodiversity in a symposium on 'Aichi Targets and freshwater biodiversity conservation in the Western Ghats'. Though freshwater ecosystems occupy less than one per of the Earth's surface, it harbors 10 per cent of the planet's biodiversity. Yet they are one of the most poorly protected ecosystems on earth and face various threats including pollution, overexploitation and alien invasive species.

Dr. Jorg Freyhof, Scientist at the Leibniz Institute of Inland Fisheries in Berlin, Germany stressed the need for larger holistic data bases to convince and prioritise arguments for biodiversity conservation. He said policy makers and conservationists need to collate data that is easily available including species description, ecological trait data, threatened biodiversity, Red List assessment, protected area network and priority areas for restoration.

Zoo Outreach Organization executive director Dr. Sanjay Molur said, prioritization of Indian Freshwater fish the AZE (Alliance for Zero Extinction) species for conservation is an achievable undertaking that will cater to Aichi Biodiversity Target 12 dealing with zero extinction.

IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Species Survival Commission Freshwater Fish Specialist Group-South Asia Co-Chair Dr. Rajeev Raghavan alerted the lack of attention given to freshwater fish as compared to marine fish in terms of popularity.

Kerala University Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries Head Dr. Biju Kumar told TOI on Friday that the growing menace of invasive species mostly native to Amazon threatens indigenous species in freshwater systems, rivers and canals of Kerala and it needs to be addressed through policy interventions in relation to AICHI 2020 targets.

Researcher of Conservation Research Group from Kochi, K. Krishnakumar focused on the role of communities in freshwater fish conservation action. He highlighted local communities as a treasure trove of information and community based conservation planning.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Global-call-against-Monsanto-and-genetically-modified-food-crops-on-October-12/articleshow/23649263.cms
 


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