Aligarh: Subject experts discussed the protection and management of biodiversity to obtain resources for sustainable development in the webinar on ‘Biodiversity Conservation’ of the Department of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University.

The webinar was presented to mark the ‘International Day for Biological Diversity’.

In the keynote address, Dr PK Mathur, Former Dean, Faculty of Wildlife Science, Wildlife Institute of India, gave a detailed look at biodiversity and its conservation to explore the strategies and concepts of biodiversity conservation.

He said: “Biodiversity is the pillar on which a sustainable future for all the planet’s life should be built—and it is imperative to raise global awareness about the importance of protecting biological resources and the global biodiversity that shapes our environment”.

Dr Biwash Pandav, the Director, Bombay Natural History Society of Mumbai, shared his experiences with the conservation of the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger.

He pointed out that we not only need to save various species of plants, animals and microorganisms for sustainable development, but also the genetic diversity of each of them, as well as the great variety of ecosystems that make up our planet.

Dr Divakar Sharma, Director, National Conservation Program, WWF-India, spoke about the role of NGOs in Biodiversity Conservation and Dr Khursid K Khan discussed the biodiversity of Dachigam National Park, one of the most fragile areas of India.

In the welcome address, Prof Jamal A Khan highlighted the challenges in the conservation of biological diversity.

He spoke about endangered species across different biogeographic zones of India and paid rich tributes to HS Panwar and Dr WA Rodgers, for preparing the document titled ‘Planning Protected Area Network in India’ in 1988 which has provided a foundation for biodiversity conservation across the Country.

Dr Nazneen Zehra, Organizing Secretary of the programme, elaborated on the importance of the International Day for Biological Diversity and extended the vote of thanks.