- The event aims to raise awareness about the importance of biodiversity and its critical role in sustaining life on Earth
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati’s (IIT Guwahati) Centre for the Environment celebrated the International Day for Biological Diversity 2023 with an event on campus.
The day promotes understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues and encourages actions to conserve and sustainably use natural resources. This year’s theme is ‘From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity’.
The United Nations dedicates 22 May every year as ‘International Day for Biological Diversity’ to create awareness about biodiversity issues. It serves as an occasion to highlight the importance of biodiversity for the planet’s well-being as well as the urgent need to protect and conserve it.
Addressing the event, Prof. Parameswar K. Iyer, Acting Director, IIT Guwahati said, “The entire North-East Region is a biodiversity hotspot. It is our responsibility to preserve our diversity for future generations and bring awareness to society. Celebrating biodiversity should be part of our everyday lives. Every small being and every microorganism should be preserved. IIT Guwahati is taking initiatives through its Centre for Indian Knowledge System to document the traditional knowledge of local communities and tribal areas.”
Jon Jyoti Kalita, Research Scholar, gave an awareness lecture on LiFE(Lifestyle for Environment), an India-led global mass movement curated and piloted by NITI Aayog and implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF & CC), Government of India, to nudge individual and community action to protect and preserve the environment.
Speaking during the event, Chief Guest, Dr. Tarun Chandra Bora, Vice Chancellor, Krishnaguru Adhyatmik Visvavidyalaya, said, “With these events we can sensitise the young generation who are custodians of our biodiversity. The young students should love nature. It is the lifeline of humanity and it should be protected. Half of our food material comes from bees because of which 80 per cent of plants are alive. Pollinators are the backbone of food security.”
Speaking during the event, Guest of Honour Dr. Kartik Neog, Director of Muga Eri Silkworm Seed Organisation, Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, said, “We have been aware since childhood to conserve and protect nature. Our villages still have immense diversity of butterflies and other species but we can no longer see them in the cities.”
The event saw participation from 112 students from Cotton University, Guwahati University, Madanpur MV School, Assam Downtown University, Dr Ambedkar Secondary school and IIT Guwahati. A Debate competition was organised on the Topic: “Use of plastic is endangering biodiversity” where students from different universities actively took part in.
