Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 25: To provide a platform to researchers, scientists, NGOs, community groups and other stakeholders to discuss biodiversity conservation issues, the Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir (KU), inaugurated a 3-day ‘International Conference on Monitoring Biodiversity for Action (ICMBA-2024)’ here today.
The conference, being held in hybrid mode to encourage greater participation of scholars, is being attended by national and international delegates from USA, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Georgia.
On the occasion, KU Vice Chancellor, Prof Nilofer Khan emphasised the importance of biodiversity conservation and advised the specialists to develop international collaborations.
“There’s an urgent need to adopt best practices to stop biodiversity loss in order to achieve a sustainable future,” she reiterated.
Commissioner Secretary to the Government of Jammu & Kashmir, Saurabh Bhagat urged the scientific community to collaborate and engage local community while implementing biodiversity conservation strategies.
“Engagement with local communities is essential for the successful implementation of conservation strategies,” he maintained.
KU Registrar, Prof Naseer Iqbal, highlighted the threats confronted by biodiversity warning that “these could jeopardise the lives and livelihoods of millions of people and the survival of other living species”.
Prof S N Labh from Nepal deliberated on how climate change can affect our biodiversity, livelihood and food security.
Conference Convenor, Dr Tariq Ahmad, stressed on the implementation of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to protect the planet and the initiatives taken by the University of Kashmir in realising these goals.
Organising Secretary, Dr Bilal Ahmad Bhat, emphasised on the need of conducting such conferences regularly for promoting biodiversity conservation and evolving timely recommendations for arresting biodiversity loss.
Dr Bilal Ahmad Bhat and Dr Umer Hameed Shansaz conducted proceedings of the conference while as Dr Altaf Hussain proposed the formal vote of thanks.
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