Ooty, August 29, 2013: Commemorating the completion of silver jubilee of India’s first biosphere reserve – the Nilgiris, experts from diverse backgrounds have congregated here for the National Conference on Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve to celebrate the occasion, share learning and recommit themselves to secure this unique natural heritage.
The three-day Conference, organised by the Government Arts College, Ooty, supported by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and a number of other agencies, will be held till August 30. The platform will see over 130 individuals – forest officials, conservationists, researchers, scientists, academicians, industrialists, photographers and students present their work in the Nilgiris.
The Nilgiris landscape
Photo credit: N P Jayan
“Over quarter a century’s work has been carried out in the region, but there exists no one comprehensive document of the various kinds of work undertaken,” said the event’s Organising Secretary Dr B Ramakrishnan. “This silver jubilee celebration aims to create one such document, which will allow better conservation and management of NBR, which depends on coordination between government agencies and various other groups.”
Sprawled over 6000 sq km over three south Indian states – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, Nilgiris is host to over 3,300 species of flora and fauna, including 132 endemic. It falls in the Western Ghats region of India – a global biodiversity hotspot and also recognised last year as the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
WTI’s Executive Director Vivek Menon lights the lamp during the inauguration ceremony of the National Conference on the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
Photo credit: Amrit Menon/WTI
It was declared a biosphere reserve on September 1, 1986, to conserve the natural diversity of the region, restore degraded ecosystems and provide baseline data for ecological and environmental research and education.
“As we celebrate its declaration as India’s first biosphere reserve over 25 years ago – a much-deserved recognition, we acknowledge that these epithets notwithstanding, its existence itself is worth celebrating,” said Vivek Menon, Executive Director, WTI. “Yet, these recognition gives us occasions to cheer, reasons to cherish its presence in our midst and remind ourselves of the heritage that we hold the responsibility of preserving.”
“WTI is proud to have been associated with conservation in the Nilgiris, be it doing ground-level work at saving individual animals, helping secure habitats and corridors for animals like the elephant and tiger, or even being a part of the Government delegation that brought it the World Heritage tag. And on this silver jubilee celebration of its biosphere reserve status, we recommit ourselves to saving this unique natural heritage,” he added.
