National Biodiversity Congress

National Biodiversity Congress

A conference on Mainstreaming Biodiversity for Sustainable Development" was held at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, as part of the National Biodiversity Congress on February 23-24. The issues discussed in the conference included: mainstreaming biodiversity for nutritional security and well being, sustainable utilization and benefit sharing, landscape approaches to biodiversity conservation, empowering Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs), conservation of indigenous breeds and varieties, Peoples Biodiversity Registers, control of invasive species etc. The major outcomes were prioritizing the major threats to biodiversity, and mainstreaming biodiversity for nutritional security and well-being. The conference has brought out about 40 recommendations.

An open forum conducted on February 22, 2017 during the National Biodiversity Congress discussed about local actions being taken for conservation of biodiversity, wherein several practical regional efforts for biodiversity conservation were identified.

The National Biodiversity Congress 2017 was attended by about 230 BMC members from Kerala, 30 Technical Support Group members, 100 farmers and NGOs. Around 118 institutes participated in the biodiversity exhibition, which included eight Central research institutes, 24 State research institutes, 12 NGOs and 25 individuals. The 9th Childrens Biodiversity Congress held on February 25, 2017, was attended by 100 students from Government and Government aided schools. The conference was attended by 253 delegates, including officials from seven State Biodiversity Boards and the National Biodiversity Authority, and students. The participation of delegates was supported through funds from National Biodiversity Authority."

This information was given by Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Anil Madhav Dave, in reply to a written question in Lok Sabha today.