Biodiversity congress from today

Thiruvananthapuram: Initiatives aimed at conserving biodiversity should go beyond sensitisation, K.C. Shashidhar, Chief General Manager, NABARD, said here on Monday.

Inaugurating an expo organised at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium here in connection with the first Indian Biodiversity Congress (IBC 2010), he said, “there is lack of grassroots-level institutions to take up such moves beyond seminars. Banks, R&D centres and self-help groups can join hands for biodiversity conservation”.

Dr. R.V. Varma, Chairman, Kerala State Biodiversity Board, and the former chairman Prof. V.S. Vijayan participated. Over 300 varieties of medicinal plants, cultivated and wild varieties of tubers based on the Western Ghats biodiversity, rare vegetables and fruits, a photo gallery on endangered wildlife species in India and a collection of orchids and anthuriams are among the exhibits at the expo.

The stall of the Kerala State Horticulture Board includes a pictorial representation of activities like fish monitoring, wetland conservation and mapping, organic farming and the Children's Ecological Congress conducted every year.

Exotic medicinal plants brought from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka form a part of the exhibition.

The State Horticulture Mission, Vegetable and Fruits Promotion Council, Kerala, Cut Flower Producers Society, Central Tuber Crops Research Institute and several NGOs are participating in the expo.

“The main objective of the event is to spread awareness among people, especially the youth, about the deterioration of biodiversity”, said Dr. Usha of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board.

Around 15 schools from across the city have set up stalls exhibiting projects and models on biodiversity.

The five-day Biodiversity Congress includes an exhibition showcasing the heritage, wisdom and potential of Indian biodiversity, paper presentations by scientists, workshops on biodiversity conservation, documentary film shows on nature, photography competition and book fair. More than 200 organisations, leading research and development centres and State Biodiversity Boards are involved in the event.

Earlier in the day, filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan inaugurated a documentary film festival organised as part of the congress. Speaking on the occasion, he stressed the need to preserve the rich diversity of flora and fauna in India.

He said humans had no right to disrupt the balance of the ecosystem. “Indiscriminate use of plastic and pesticides like Endosulfan has adversely impacted on nature, he said. Patrick Rouxel's film Green was screened as the inaugural movie.

Environmentalist Vandana Shiva is scheduled to inaugurate the IBC at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.

Source: The Hindu, 28-12-2010

Malabar's green gold set to go places

Kozhikode: Thirty-two aquatic plant species from the northern districts of Kerala will be among the exhibits at the Indian Biodiversity Congress 2010 to be held in Thiruvananthapuram from December 27 to 31.

The Malabar Botanical Garden Society, funded by the State government, is exhibiting the plants from a rich and huge collection at the Malabar Botanical Garden maintained by it at Olavanna, near here.

“This region (once known as Malabar) is a treasure trove of several exotic varieties of aquatic plants that have high medicinal as well as commercial values,” says R. Prakash Kumar, Director of the garden.

Eriocaulon cuspdastum (‘chootheh' in Malayalam), endemic to the Western Ghats, and floating heart (“Elaambal” in local parlance) will be among the exhibits. They are found only in some parts of Madayippara, near Payyannur, in Kannur district. Also to be showcased are orthosiphon, a rare plant found in streams in the shade near forests; Rotala macrandra, used as aquarium plants for their beautiful leaves; castanea; hydrilla grown in wells for water purification; fairy moss; an aquatic fern used as a bio-fertilizer; acanthus (‘eruma-kalli' in local parlance) found in mangroves and used for fomentations in rheumatism and neuralgia; dust seed used for healing wounds; Burman's sundew, an insectivorous plant; bacopa (popular as Brahmi) used as a nerve tonic to treat epilepsy, insanity and diabetes; and ovata (‘kinar vazha' in Malayalam), which is considered poisonous but used in treatment of kidney disorders, heart ailments and swellings. The Indian Biodiversity Congress, in the International Year of Biodiversity declared by the United Nations, has the theme of “Biodiversity and development: mainstreaming biodiversity into policy-making.”

Source: The Hindu, 16-12-2010

Biodiversity congress in December

Thiruvananthapuram: A photography exhibition on miniature paintings organised by the National Museum, Delhi, will be one of the highlights of the first Indian Biodiversity Congress (IBC) 2010, beginning here on December 27.

A host of national institutes and research and development organisations across the country have confirmed participation in the five-day event hosted by the University of Kerala on its campus.

The National Natural History Museum, Delhi, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) -India, the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA), M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems (CIKS) and C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer Foundation will be represented at the event.

The Congress is being jointly organised by the Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA) in association with the Kerala Biodiversity Board, National Biodiversity Authority, University of Kerala and Navdanya.

An Indian biodiversity expo will showcase India's rich biodiversity heritage. A documentary film festival on biodiversity is another major attraction. A book fair and a national photography competition on biodiversity and people are also being organised along with a national seminar in 12 sessions.

Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh is expected to deliver the keynote address at the inaugural session of the Indian Biodiversity Congress on December 28. He will also inaugurate a civil society meet organised in connection with the IBC.

Source: The Hindu, 29-11-2010