The Union government is revising the National Biodiversity Action Plan and setting national biodiversity targets for 2020, Balakrishna Pisupati, Chairperson of National Biodiversity Authority, has said.
Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the second Indian Biodiversity Congress 2012 here, Mr. Pisupati said the action plan was a policy document that would guide the actions of biodiversity conservation at the national level. “Work on the revision started a few months ago and it should be ready in the next one year,” he said.
Being prepared by the National Biodiversity Authority under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, it would focus on mainstreaming of biodiversity into various sectors. The original biodiversity action plan was announced in 2009, Mr. Pisupati said.
Earlier, making a presentation on ‘Biodiversity: why is it a concern’, he spoke about the linkage of poverty and environmental degradation and efforts around the world on bio-mimicry, biodiversity for economic benefits, and innovations and livelihood.
Union Minister for Oil and Natural Gas M. Veerappa Moily, who inaugurated the event, said the recommendations that come up as part of the deliberations at the three-day meet would be forwarded to the Planning Commission. “This is to ensure that the core issues concerning biodiversity conservation are addressed in a proper manner. There is a need for broader stakeholder involvement, improved science-policy interface and understanding the value of biodiversity,” he said.
The plenary lecture session that followed the inauguration was chaired by Madhav Gadgil, chairman, Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel.
Speaking on ‘protecting the Western Ghats by creating a law-abiding society that values knowledge,’ Prof. Gadgil said the Western Ghats are being stripped of her green cover due to bad governance. “The bureaucracy acts without checks and balances and has been flouting laws and falsifying facts while going about implementing development projects on biodiverse terrain,” he said.
Pointing out that deliberate distortion of facts happens when projects come up in biodiverse areas, Prof. Gadgil said lives of the people were affected.
Anant Hegde Ashisar, Chairperson of Karnataka State Western Ghats Task Force; Vaman Acharya, Chairperson of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board; and Ananth Kumar, MP, were present.
