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9 – 11 Feb 2012

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT,

CONSERVATION & UTILIZATION

Dr. K Kasturirangan, Member, Planning Commission, Govt. of India, in his inaugural speech

Organised by: M.E.S. Abasaheb Garware College, Pune

Co‐organized by: BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune

Venue: Abasaheb Garwrae

College, Karve Road, Pune 4

National Conference on Biodiveristy Assessment, Conservation and Utilization

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The National Conference on Biodiversity is ably supported by

National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai

BCUD, Pune

University Grants Commission, Govt. of India

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

NABARD

ITC

State Forest Department

KEIPL, Pune

BMC Software, Pune

Nirmal Seeds Pvt., Ltd., Jalgaon

Deepak Nitrite, Pune

Tata Trust

RANWA, Pune

Nestians 1990 A


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NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT, CONSERVATION & UTILIZATION

AT M.E.S. ABASAHEB GARWARE COLLEGE PUNE,

9th -11th FEBRUARY 2012

Organized by the Department of Biodiversity, Abasaheb Garware College, Pune &

BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune

INTRODUCTION:

Biological diversity is at increasing risk due to climate change & other development pressures. Simultaneously, its importance as valuable products like lac, honey, silk (forest) & medicines is growing rapidly. Hence, there is growing need to systematically assess & monitor its status & health, besides promoting its sustainable use at large & conservation of the threatened species in particular.

This conference was organized to take a stalk of the emerging trends in this sector nationally so that the researches & students can learn & adopt these. It was 3 day event attended by over 200 participants with over 50 delegates visiting from 15 states ranging from Jammu-Kashmir state in the north to Sikkim in the east, Tamilnadu in the South & Gujrat in the west.

The Conference was organized in 5 sessions of 2-3 hours duration on an average & a separate poster session at each evening & at the lunch, tea breaks. Totally 25 oral & 80 posters presentations were made in the conference. The topics covered included wide range from the microbes in the human gut to the giant elephant & cold desert of the Ladakh to the coral in the oceanic depths of the Gulf of Munnar.

The Conference started off with a grand inaugural session on 9th February 10.00 am.

INAUGURAL SESSION:

The conference was inaugurated by Padmavibhushan Dr. K. Kasturirangan, the ex-Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Member, National Advisory Council. He stressed on the vital & growing role of satellite technology in environment management of biodiversity significance such as the forest cover monitoring & Green house gas (GHG) emissions. He also noted the ambitions target in


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the Green India Mission (GIM) & the 12th 5 year plan of the Indian Govt. to restore the forest cover that could help to protect the biodiversity. Stressing on the need to rank the

Release of Book of Abstracts at the hands of Chief Guest Hon’ble Dr. K Kasturirangan

state wise development with Environment Performance Index (EPI), he suggested that a side event be organized at Pune during the impending Conference of parties (COP) of the international Convention on Biological Diversity (CBO) in June 2012.

Mr. Pravin Singh Pardeshi, IAS & Principle Secretary, Dept of Revenue & Forest, Govt. of Maharashtra was the Chief Guest. He stressed the need to bridge the gap between plan or talk & action & promote co-existence of biodiversity & human development.He gave a brief account of the activities of the Forest Department lined up regarding the issues related to Biodiversity and environment.

Mr. R. Wanjarwadkar, Chairman, Maharashtra Education Society, the parent organisation of the college, made a passionate appeal for the need to preserve the


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environment & biodiversity in the rapid human development. He also stressed on the need for alternative to economic indicators such as Gross happiness index (GHI).

Mr. Girish Sohani, Chairman, BAIF suggested review the development path that has been destructive to the biodiversity so far.

Prof. Madhav Gadgil, Chairman of the conference highlighted the Western Ghats as a biodiversity hotspot & the need to preserve this ecological sensitive area. He argued for eco-sensitivity zoning of the area as proposed by the government of Goa state & even village councils as in the Kolhapur & Sindhudurg district of the Maharashtra state. He urged to halt the proposed scheme of wind mill chain from Bhimashankar to Mahabaleshwar along the hill crest line as it is an ecologically fragile zone & the false clearance by the forest department that could damage biodiversity here.

In the first session entitled “Biodiversity assessment & Landscape ecology”, Prof R. Vasudeva, College of Forestry, Sirsi highlighted the importance of Myristica (Nutmeg tree) swamps as home to the threatened biodiversity elements in the forests of the Uttarakannda district Karnataka state. He also depicted conservation & replanting efforts initiated jointly by the community & the forest department including the solar driers & efficient stoves to reduce the fuel wood consumption. The swamps are included in the Aghnashini Lion tailed macaque reserve for posterity.

Ms. Avtar Kaur Sidhu, Zoological Survey of India, solan regional centre mentioned 36 butterfly species in habit the Himalayan Mountains in the Himachal Pradesh state. This includes many rare species that need for more research & conservation.

Ms. Banu S., from Guwahati University biotechnology dept. presented the genetic structure of Symplocos laurina, a tree called “Lodhra: in Sanskrit distributed in the Western & Eastern Ghats & Himalayan Mountains. Its bark is used in women healthcare. It is part of a study by the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) showed separation of the Southern & northern mountain zones & detected gene flow between the Eastern & the Western Ghat populations. She explained vicariance than migration as the plausible model to explain in the genetic structure differentiation between the populations.

Ms Kavita P., College of Forestry, Sirsi, highlighted the biodiversity richness of Leaf manure purpose private forests called ‘Soppina Betta’ (leaf groves) in northern hill of the Karnataka state.


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Mr. Hameed Haghaparast, Dept of Botany, University of Pune elaborated on the carbon sequestration by the urban forest in the University campus.

Ms Indu Sharma, Zoological Survey of India, regional office, mentioned that 36 species of fish are found in the cold desert of Ladakh & 4 of them are endemic. She indicated that exotic fish like carp pose the invasive species risk.

Mr. Nachiket Marathe, National Centre of Cell Sciences, Pune revealed the changes in gut flora in related humans with the age, family lineage & with the Europe people.

Ms. Prachi Mehta, Wildlife Research Conservation Society, depicted the diversity distribution pattern of 225 resident birds of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra including 16 endemic ones. She pointed out the negative correlation of the diversity with altitude & indicated Koyna, Chandoli & Radhanagari as richest areas needing conservation focus. She suggested more community involvement & ecotourism for protected areas & declaration of important bird area (IBA) & private conservation sites.

Ms. Shamika Mone reported high ant diversity in organic farms than the chemical input managed ones in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka state. She found this in a study in collaboration with the University of Agriculture Science, Bangalore.

Dr. R. M. Sharma, Zoological Survey of India Western Region office, Pune said that about 3600 species of animals are recorded in the Western Ghats of the Maharashtra state. This includes about 602 invertebrates, 1065 vertebrates & 1865 insects. The endemic species include 26 vertebrates.

Ms. Geeta R. reported the occurrence of 117 fish species in the coral reef of the Gulf of Mannar in Tamilnadu state in a study of the Zoological Survey of India.


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The second day of the conference marked the beginning with an invited lecture of Dr. R.J. Ranjit Daniels, Care earth Trust, Chennai. He presented the difficulties estimation of the population of reptiles, amphibian & fish which includes polymorphism, change with age & taxonomic revisions. He reported the occurrence of snakes at just 3% of the sample points in survey around Chennai with the skilled tribal called “Irula”. Over 10,000 snakes are caught annually to extract venom, from across Tamilnadu state which appears unsustainable, he lamented. He also questioned the non harmful nature claim of the venom extraction process & success of the released snakes in the wild. His talk was well appreciated by one and all.

The 2nd session began on ‘Bioprospecting& Utilization’ with the lead talk by Prof. R Umashaanker, University of Agriculture Science, Bangalore. He demonstrated 3 approaches for sustainable development of Camptothecin (CPT), a chemical used in the cancer treatment. These include development of high yielding varieties & agro-techniques, promotion of alternate species of trees & lastly, its artificial, microbial synthesis. He lamented the little bio-prospecting effort in the Western Ghats & despite huge scope for it.

Dr. R. C. Bhagat, BAIF, described the rare cattle breed conservation approaches & efforts.

Ms. Harshada Vaidya, Aghakar Research Institute, underlined the scope of Propolis, a product of the honey comb and stressed on the need for more such studies on Indian Propolis.

Dr. P. Ramana, University of Agriculture Science, Dharwad elaborated on the impact of 5 species of plant extracts on teak defoliator insect. Datura stramonium (Solanaceae family) was the most potent of them & its impacts enhanced with the concentration & phenols had the highest effect.

Dr. M. Ranganathswami, College of Agriculture, Andhra Pardesh, stated that biocontrol agent Trichoderma herjanium is harmed by many fungicides, so these cannot be used in integrated pest management.

Mr. Pramod Meshram, BAIF, depicted the scope of Non timber forest products (NTFP) in the tribal livelihood development in the Gadchiroli district, Vidarbha region, Maharashtra state such as Chironji, Mahua, Satavar & various gums that need value addition.


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In the 3rd session on ‘Ecosystem Functions’, Prof. C.G. Kushalappa, College of Forestry, Ponnampet, Karnataka highlighted the concept of Payment for ecosystem services (PES) & its relevance for the coffee plantations & forests of Kodagu district, Karnataka compared to the exotic plantation. He stressed that natural tree cover in the coffee plantation as rich as the forests. He underlined the importance of various certification schemes such as fair-trade & organic in getting premium.

Mr. Gaurav B. of IISER presented the dormancy of seeds of monsoon plants that grow on the lateritic plateaus in the Western Ghats of the Maharashtra state while majority had dormancy up to an year while a few germinated soon.

Mr. Utkarsh Ghate, Trustee, RANWA, underlined the need for artificial regeneration & value addition for ecosystem restoration & sustainable livelihood development such as the artificial reef to enhance the fish diversity & yield, besides lac silk (kosa/Tassar) & honey besides medicinal plants.

On the 3rd day in the 4th session, Dr. Ramana Athreya revealed the magic of community based ecotourism and biodiversity conservation. The work initiated in a grant of Rs. 13 lakh in 2003-04 is continued & 2 times more income accrued to the local Bagun tribe in the Arunachal Pradesh.

Mr. Pankaj Sheksaria, Kalpavriksha, underscored the importance of the tribal reserve in the Andaman island, in biodiversity conservation. This is 3 times more than the protected areas & needs continued support, given the damaging experience in the past.

Mr. Prashant presented inventive methods to reduce the growing human elephant conflict in northern Karnataka such as the early warning system, watch tower, chilly fence & smoke, playing audio record of honey bee humming etc.

Mr. Sanjay Patil, BAIF, depicted the efforts of ago-biodiversity conservation in Thane & Nagar districts of Maharashtra through the tribal community participation. This has led to the presentation & renewed farming of hundreds of cultivars of paddy, wheat, maize & millets. These have nutritional & medicinal properties.

Mr. M.V. Rao, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF- wildlife), Maharashtra State Forest Dept (MSFD) noted various interventions at Bhimashankar wildlife sanctuary to reduce the pressure due to the growing tourism. These include ecotourism including collective garbage cleaning, efficient fuel stoves, community volunteers for watch ward to reduce poaching, better relief in case of the wildlife damage etc..


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Mr. Darshan Shankar delivered the lead talk to the last, 5th session on ‘Role of Corporate in Conservation’. He depicted the work of the Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) to document, assess, conserve & develop medicinal plant diversity of the country including sustainable viable commercialization through the Gram Moolige (Village Herbs) Co. Ltd owned by the village women gatherer groups.

Mr. Ashish Wele, President (Business Head), Nirmal seeds said the company is developing Indian cotton variety for BT unlike American by other Companies. His company involves NGO’s & farmers & also promotes organic inputs for sustainability.

Dr. Jayant Abhyankar, Sharangdhar Pharma Ltd. said his company is developing pollution free medicinal products.

Mr. Vinayak Kelkar, Praj Industries said they work in sustainable way with public in involvement such as biodiversity gardens, habitat conservation/restoration e.g. Sacred groves, efficient stoves/ alternate energy etc. He said industry partnership in sustainable development than mere sponsorship & use of improved SMART indicators of success.

Mr. Zangate, Maharashtra State Horticulture and Medicinal Plant Board (MSHMPB) told about the farmer linkage & industry collaboration initiated across the state.

Mr. Kakodkar, Chief Conservator of Forests (Pune) informed that ecotourism has huge scope & agencies like Tiger Foundation offer scope for industry investment in conservation.

Dr. Erach Bharucha, the session chair & Chairman, Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board, underlined the need for awareness building for industry support in conservation.

Mr. Utkarsh Ghate, while summing up the session stressed on the need for “green” CSR such as carobn credits that are now legal & biodiversity conservation must be a legal provision for industry like CSR.

The Panel Discussion was good platform where Corporate Companies shared the view to take conservation beyond just donation and company should also own the stake in the Project. Besides, Forest Department appealed various environment related NGOs and groups for active participation in the FD programmes.


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The panel discussion marked the end of the 3-day conference and was followed by the Valedictory function.

Mr. A. K. Joshi, Principle Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), MSFD, the Chief Guest, in his concluding remarks underlined the need for wetland conservation & the least damaging development options to be preferred.

Mrs. Bhadbhade, Vice Principal, Abasaheb Garware College thanked the dignitaries & the participants to close the conference.

Following Awards were presented to the most impressive presentations-

• Undergraduate oral- Ms. Saee Gharpure, Ms. Gayatri Kanade, Ms. Shreya Atre

• Undergraduate Poster- Mr. Purushottam Patil • Postgraduate oral- Ms. Harshada Vaidya, Ms. Shamika Mone, Mr. Sanjay

Patil • Postgraduate Poster- Ms. Renuka Nayak, Mr. Vikram Lanjekar • Encouragement- Ms. Purba Bhutia


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Annexure 1.

List of Invited Speakers, Chairpersons and Rapportiers

No Session Speaker Chairpersons proposed Rapportier

1 Biodiversity Assessment and Landscape Ecology

Dr. KN Ganeshaiah Dr. R. Vasudeva

Dr. Ranjit Daniels Dr. Aparna Watve

2 Guest Speaker Dr. Ranjit Daniels - -

3 Ecosystem Functions Dr. CG Kushalappa Dr. Deepak Barua Ms. Amruta Joglekar

4 Bioprospecting and utilization Dr. R. Uma Shaanker Dr. R. Vasudeva Dr. Vaijayanti Tamhane

5 In-situ / Ex-situ Conservation models and Community participation

Dr. Ramana Athreya Dr. Suresh Gokhale

Dr. D.K Kulkarni

6 Role of Corporate in Conservation

Dr. Darshan Shankar Shri. Girish Sohani Shri. Nitin Kakodkar Mr. Ashish Wele Dr. Sarang Abhyankar Mr. Jangate

Dr. Erach Bharucha

Mr. Utkarsh Ghate (Facilitator)


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Annexure 2.

Speech by the Chief Guest, Dr. K. Kasturirangan, of the inaugural function:

National Conference on Biodiversity Assessment, Conservation and Utilization, (9 ‐ 11 Feb 2012), Pune,

Address by Dr K.Kasturirangan,

Member , Planning Commission.

10.30‐1100 am , 9/2/12, Pune

Prof Madhav Gadgil, Teachers, Students , Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to be amongst you all today on the occasion of the National Conference on Biodiversity Assessment, Conservation and Utilization being organized by the Abasaheb Garware College.

Biodiversity encompasses all life on earth and is the foundation for the ecosystems which provides four types of services , the provisioning services like food , livestock, fishes, fresh water, plant derived medicines, regulating services like filtration of pollutants both air and water, climate stabilization, water recycling and wetland, supporting services such as soil formation, photosynthesis and nutrient cycling. They contribute to local livelihoods and economic development, as well as our cultural spiritual and aesthetic values.

Status

• India is known for its rich heritage of biological diversity. Over 91,000 species of animals and 45,500 species of plants in its ten bio‐geographic regions have been documented so far.

• Nearly 6,500 native plants are used in indigenous healthcare systems. • Thousands of locally‐adapted crop varieties are grown traditionally since ancient times, and

nearly 140 native breeds of farm livestock, continue to thrive in its diversified farming systems. • The country is recognized as one of the eight Vavilovian Centres of Origin and Diversity of Crop

Plants, having more than 300 wild ancestors and close relatives of cultivated plants still growing and evolving under natural conditions.

• It is estimated that about 4,00,000 more species may exist in India which need to be recorded and described.

• In addition over 3 lakh samples of cultivars , which have gone out of cultivation are under long term storage in the National Gene Bank.

Global information

• Some 80% of people in developing countries rely on traditional medicines, the majority of which are derived from plants.


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• 1.6 billion people worldwide rely on forests for their livelihoods. • 1 billion people depend on fish as their sole or main source of animal protein. • Coral reefs provide food and livelihood for most of the estimated 30 million small‐scale fishers in

the developing world.

Threat;

• Biodiversity is currently disappearing at up to 1000 times the natural background rate of extinction.

• 60% of ecosystems worldwide are in an advanced state of degradation. • Around 80% of global fish stocks are fully exploited or overexploited, which could lead to the

collapse of global fisheries by 2050 • Over the past 8000 years, around 45 % of forests initially present on Earth have disappeared,

with most of them having been destroyed during the last century. • 20% of coral reefs worldwide have disappeared during the few decades • Seventy‐five per cent of the food crop varieties we once grew have disappeared from our fields in

the last 100 year.s • Twenty‐one per cent of the world’s 7,000 livestock breeds are classified as being at risk. • More than 60 breeds are reported to have become extinct during the first six years of this

century alone • Of the 7,000 species of plants that have been domesticated over the history of agriculture, a

mere 30 account for 90 per cent of all the food that we eat every day. • Of all the anti‐cancer drugs available, 42% are natural and 34% semi‐natural. • The estimated global annual cost of biodiversity loss is close to USD 3 trillion • The value of the watershed protection provided by intact coastal ecosystems has been estimated

at USD 845 per hectare per year in Malaysia and USD 1,022 per hectare per year in Hawaii.

Concerns/threat/challenges

Threat to biodiversity stems mainly from habitat fragmentation; degradation and loss; shrinking genetic diversity; invasive alien species; declining forest resource base; climate change and desertification; overexploitation of resources; impact of development projects; and impact of pollution.

• An estimated 41 percent of the country’s forest cover has been degraded to some degree. As much as 78 percent of forest area is subject to heavy grazing and about 50 percent of the forest area is prone to forest fires. Domestic demand for timber and fuelwood is well above the sustainable level.

• The rich diversity of medicinal plants (over 6,500 species) in the country needs conservation and sustainable utilization, as their habitats are either degraded or the species are being over‐exploited. In fact, nearly 90% of the medicinal plants in trade are harvested from the wild

The constraints and challenges to biodiversity conservation relate to biodiversity information base, implementation of Biological Diversity Act , safeguarding traditional knowledge; economic valuation and


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natural resource accounting; policy, legal and administrative measures; and institutional support. Most experts estimate the world's species diversity at 10 to 30 million, which is considered as very approximate and that only 1.4 million species are "known to science" ‐‐ meaning that they have been classified by a specialist. The estimates of 10 to 30 million species are based on expert opinion of how many species are yet to be formally identified.

This workshop is rightly going to discuss the three most important challenges; Biodiversity assessment, Conservation and Utilisation.

India is 8th, among the 17 identified mega diverse countries of the world. Some locations known as "hotspots" harbour an unusually rich local diversity, perhaps because conditions favour evolutionary diversification. Out of all the hot spots in the world, India has two, Eastern Himalaya and the Western Ghats. With a varied terrain, topography, land use, geographic and climatic factors, the country has ten recognizable bio‐geographic zones that encompass a variety of ecosystems: mountains, plateaus, rivers, forests, deserts, wetlands, lakes, mangroves, coral reefs, coasts and islands

You are lucky to have Prof Madhav Gadgil , who is the world recognized expert on Ecology and for his work on the Western Ghat as your patron. His work evokes pride in all of us.

Prof Gadgil had kindly consented to be the chairman of the working Group on “ constituted for the 12th plan preparation.

Some of the Suggestions made by the group relate to:‐

1. A National Action Plan on species recovery. 2. Provide sufficient resource for relocation of villages from the critical habitats to create inviolate

space for all flagship species 3. A national action plan for management of invasive species be strengthened.

Based on the work of prof Gadgils WG and the other 3 working Groups following are some of the 12th plan Targets which relate to bio‐diversity:

• Greening 5 million ha under Green India Mission including 0.75 million ha of degraded lands and Afforestation and eco‐restoration of 2.0 million ha of ecologically sensitive areas.

• Reclaim wetlands/inland lakes /ponds of 0.1 million Ha by 2017 • Improve forest production and maintain biodiversity. • Prepare and implement recovery plan for identified 16 wildlife species . • Assess ,Coastal Biodiversity resource, use and sustainability

Some of the Strategies and actions required to protect the India's rich bio‐wealth are:

• Formulation of conservation and prudent use strategies for each significant component of biodiversity, with participation of local communities, and stakeholders.


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• implementation of the Biological Diversity ACT through multi‐stakeholder partnerships involving public agencies, local communities, and investors.

• Integration of conservation efforts including conservation of village ponds and tanks, sectoral development plans for poverty alleviation and livelihood improvement, and link with the ongoing rural infrastructure development and employment generation programmes.

• Innovative funding and Strengthening of the institutional mechanism.

The planning commission held an inter ministerial meeting to enable the Ministry of Environment and Forests in promoting the gathering, analysis and dissemination of biodiversity data and information and the status and trends of, programs in place to avert threats to, biodiversity and encourage interaction among experts and decision makers.

Let me share with you that the ISRO and DBT now have on a landscape level the biodiversity map of the country. This spatial and Non spatial data is an important tool for strategic planning. DBT also has prepared digitized inventories of our important bio‐resources , covering: medicinal plants, other economically important plants, animal, marine and microbial resources.

The relevance of biodiversity in sustainable development, economic well‐being cannot be ignored. The Planning Commission is developing a Environmental Performance Index (EPI) that combines ecological performance with economic delivery for purposes of fiscal planning and social delivery.

Being a Mega diverse country, with a large section of the population dependent on natural resources for livelihood, technical & economic potential under utilized, scattered scientific know how and presence of Local Governance systems and traditional knowledge a Bio‐diversity Science policy for India and renewed efforts in biodiversity conservation through assessment and sustainable utilization is the need of the hour

I wish the National Conference all success.


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Dr. Vasant Gowariker addressing Dr. Madhav Gadgil (Emeritus Professor, the audience Dept. of Biodiveristy), delivering

a keynote address

Dr. R. Vasudeva (CoF, Sirsi) Dr. R.J.Ranjit Daniels (Careearth, Chennai)

Dr. Ramana Athreya (IISER, Pune) Dr. C.G. Kushalappa (CoF, Ponnampet)


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Dr. Darshan Shankar (Former Director, Dr. Erach Bharucha and Mr. Utkarsh Ghate FRLHT)

Panel Discussion – Role of Corporate in Mr. A.K.Joshi, PCCF, Chief Guest of Conservation Valedictory Function


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