The second Indian Biodiversity Congress (IBC), scheduled to be held at JN Tata Auditorium, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore from December 9 to 11, will focus on the conservation of Western Ghats, biofuels and biodiversity conservation, said IBC organising secretary A Bijukumar, who is also the head of the KU Department of Aquatic Biology.
The theme session ‘Biodiversity of the Western Ghats - Challenges and Strategies for Conservation and Sustainable Management’ will discuss the pros and cons of conservation in order to conserve the biodiversity of the Western Ghats in a sustainable manner.
The criticism forwarded by various governments against the report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel and the UNESCO Heritage status to the Western Ghats will be critically analysed in the meeting.
Older than the Himalayas, the Western Ghats mountain chain is recognised as one of the world’s eight ‘hottest hot spots’ of biological diversity.
The World Heritage Committee, which met in St Petersburg in Russia, acknowledged that the Western Ghats forests include some of the best representatives of non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests anywhere and are home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish species. Its ecosystems influence the Indian monsoon weather pattern.
The activities planned in connection with IBC include National Seminar, Indian Biodiversity Expo, Civil Society Meet, Meet on Green Politics, Children’s Biodiversity Conclave, National Photography Competition and Documentary Film Festival. The uniqueness of IBC is that it takes into account the viewpoints of all the stakeholders of biodiversity in India and envisage the concept of people’s involvement in the conservation of biodiversity.
The Indian Biodiversity Expo, the first major public exhibition in the country in the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (2011-2020) at Veterinary College ground, Hebbal, Bangalore during December 8-11, will showcase the rich biodiversity heritage of the country and would present a kaleidoscopic spectacle of the variety of life in India.