CSIR-Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) is expanding its research efforts in plant forensics in addition to the advances made in animal forensics using cutting edge DNA based technology, said director Rakesh Mishra on Thursday.
‘Boost to bio-economy’
“Both together will be very helpful in a tighter quality control, build effective regulations, and give a boost to our bio-economy,” he said, at the three-day international e-conference “Recent Advances and Status of Wildlife Forensics” by the Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES).
It is the dedicated lab for wildlife research and conservation in India. The meeting brought together nearly 700 wildlife biologists, veterinarians, scientists, students and conservationists from across the world.
The conference was inaugurated by CSIR director-general Shekhar Mande and Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change Prakash Javadekar also addressed the meeting.
Mr. Javadekar underscored the need for wildlife forensics as the country takes up several major conservation efforts for big cats to marine life. But he also alluded to an increasing threat from wildlife criminals to these protected species. “To nip these criminals in their buds, we need to present irrefutable evidences in the court of law, which can come from forensic sciences,” he pointed out.
Dr. Mande commended LaCONES for their long-standing efforts in developing tools in wildlife forensics and called for various stakeholders to come together for conservation. CCMB scientists Ajay Gaur and Anuradha Reddy were convenors of this conference organised to discuss global status of wildlife crime, molecular technologies available to tackle the same, and their applications for law enforcement.
Participants were addressed by renowned wildlife experts and included leaders from various government and non-government organisations in wildlife conservation and sustainable development such as TRAFFIC International, USA, TRACE Wildlife Forensic Network, UK, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, India, Global Tiger Forum and Lawyers’ Initiative for Forest and Environment.
They shared their views on legal applications of wildlife DNA forensics and law enforcement.
A panel discussion was also conducted on possible measures to counter tiger poaching and illegal trade, a release said.
