THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has promised that the area under forests in the state will continue to remain as forests, even under severe pressure for land for development activities. He said this while inaugurating a workshop on ‘Advancing frontiers of amphibian conservation’ jointly organised by the Kerala Forest Department and the University of Delhi here on Monday. ‘’This government realises that conservation of environment is vital to water security, energy security, health security and climate security. Not only will we conserve forests, but also the wetlands, the soil, the water, the whole environment,’’ said Chandy. In his presidential address, Forest Minister Ganesh Kumar said it is heartening to note that the policy-makers, forest officials, scientists, environmentalists, research fellows and the media are getting together for the conservation of Western Ghats, especially the amphibians of the area. Don R Church, director of the Global Wildlife Conservation, USA, pointed out at the workshop that the grand challenges for the 21st century would be the global loss of biodiversity and emerging infectious diseases. He said that as much as 95 per cent of the demand for frog legs are met with supplies from the wild stocks. ‘’While debates are still on as to whether a single pathogen is able to drive a host population to extinction, infectious diseases such as the chytrid fungal infection have definitely led to the massive decline of frogs across the world,’’ said Don R Church, who listed the other causes of extinction as contaminants such as agricultural chemicals, climate change, land use change, commercial uses and introduction of new species causing disturbance in the microecosystem. K V Gururaja from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said that the focus of the conservation initiatives should be on the 146 endemic species of frogs, which are not found anywhere else in the world, but the Western Ghats. He also proposed a catchment-based conservation effort, which would be basically in the catchment area of a river, not influenced by administrative boundaries. ‘’This would also ensure protection of unique habitats such as the myristica swamps,’’ he said. Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Dinesh Singh, who described his trip to Kerala as a pilgrimage to the land of renowned mathematician Madhavacharya, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests T M Manoharan, Delhi University faculty member S D Biju and Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests N V Trivedi Babu also spoke at the workshop.
Comments
0 comment