Amity Institute of Wildlife Sciences in association with National Institute of Disaster Management flagged a three-day training workshop on "Impacts of Natural Disasters on Wild Animals and Mitigation Strategies" at its Amity Campus here today.
The three day workshop will witness the presence of Forest Officers, Researchers, Academicians and Students. It will educate the participants with key components leading to natural disaster and its impact on wildlife. The participants will be submitting the research paper at the end of the workshop.
Welcoming the guests and participants, Dr. N.P.S Chauhan, Director, Amity Institute of Wildlife Sciences said, "India has a varied and rich wildlife which should be both protected and conserved."
Expressing his concern, he said "there are some valuable species that have become extinct with time due to various causes such as poaching, hunting and natural disasters."
He further added that the workshop would provide an opportunity to discuss and deliberate on the impact of natural disasters on wildlife and the measures to conserve it.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Satendra, IFS, Executive Director, National Institute of Disaster Management said," in India, it the first ever programme which is organized addressing this issue. Referring to Uttrakhand Disaster and Phailin Cyclone Disaster in 2013, he added that India is prone to disasters and such disasters not only affect the mankind but also the flora and fauna."
He said that Rehabilitation is a very important part of Disaster Management. The basic objective of the workshop is to develop some tools to create awareness in society, orient the policy makers and educate the planners that they devise measures to protect and conserve the wildlife from natural disasters, he opined.
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During the technical session, P.R Sinha discussed the topic "Man-Made and Natural Disaster and their Impacts on Wildlife". He said that Natural Disasters have caused the extinction of species in the past and man-made calamity act as a trigger to the disasters for such extinctions.
He further mentioned that it is important to create corridor areas in the conservation areas meant for biodiversity because the animals can easily sense the disaster early and through the corridor they can migrate. He insisted that there is a requirement of deeper understanding of the causes and impacts of natural disasters and planning of immediate strategies for action should be done.
Sharing her thoughts, Dr. Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Uttar Pradesh said, "in early years, there was an adequate population of wildlife but due to reasons such as deforestation and expansion of agriculture in certain areas, the wildlife has migrated or became extinct. She also said that animals are often the forgotten victims when natural disasters strike; hence there is a need to do research on the re-creation of forest and protection of wildlife."
She expressed her hope that there will be new learning for everyone during the three day workshop.
During the occasion, Chief Guest P.R. Sinha, Country Representative, IUCN-India, released the study material.
During the three day training workshop, various topics will be discussed such as "Flood Management in Kaziranga" by Mr. B.S Bonal, Member Secretary, Central Zoo Authority; "Impact of Natural Disaster in and around crucial wild habitats" by Dr. Harendrra Singh Bargali, Deputy Director, Corbett Foundation; "Rescuing wildlife in Crisis and Distress during Natural and Man Made Calamities" by Dr. NVK Ashraf, Senior Veterinarian and COO, Wildlife Trust of India among several others.
