Agriculture scientist and visionary M.S. Swaminathan has said that a comprehensive strategy is needed to conserve the biological diversity of Wayanad, a major biodiversity hotspot on the Western Ghats, and to make it a model conservation district.
Inaugurating a media workshop on biodiversity through videoconferencing here on Wednesday, Dr. Swaminathan emphasised the need for dialogue with media to bring greater discussion on this subject.
Expressing concern that genetic erosion is happening to our rich biodiversity, Dr. Swaminathan reiterated that every gene and species was precious.
The three-day workshop, ‘Bringing biodiversity into the media space’, is organised jointly by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF ) and the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) for selected journalists in south India.
Delivering the keynote address, B. Meenakumari, chairperson, NBA, said technological advancement was important for a country, but the basic need for life was food.
For survival
“We need to remember that only by preserving our biodiversity we can ensure the continuance of our survival,” Dr. Meenakumari said.
Delivering a speech on ‘What the Biodiversity Act is about’, T Rabikumar, secretary, NBA, said Biological Diversity Act, 2002, had been enacted to provide a framework for sustainable usage of resources and equitable benefit sharing.
“The importance of biodiversity is so high that the Parliament has considered violation of this Act as serious as a capital offence,” Mr. Rabikumar said, adding that 27 Indian ministries were linked to biodiversity one way or the other.
Gopikrishna Warrier, Contributing Editor, Mongabay; Kunhikrishnan, environmentalist; and N. Anil Kumar, senior director, MSSRF; handled the sessions. V. Balakrishnan, head, Community Agrobiodiversity Centre, MSSRF, and B. Jayashree, head, Media Resource Centre, MSSRF ,Chennai, spoke .
Thirty selected journalists from Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu are participating in the programme.
The workshop will conclude on Friday.
