Kerala to host Indian biodiversity congress

Kerala will host the first Indian Biodiversity Congress IBC-2010 from 27 to 31 December. The United Nations has selected the Kerala-based Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA) as the partner organization to celebrate International Year of Biodiversity in India.

Accordingly, CISSA, supported by the National Biodiversity Authority, the Kerala State Biodiversity Board, the University of Kerala and the Navdanya, a Delhi-based NGO will host the congress at Thiruvananthapuram. 

The conference would focus on the importance of mainstreaming biodiversity in all developmental policies in order to realise the dream of sustainable development and achieve food security, alleviate poverty and fight globalisation.

The congress will hold a special session on Biodiversity Conservation in Western Ghats. The focal theme of IBC-2010 will be Biodiversity & Development: Mainstreaming Biodiversity into Policy Making. 

The presentations during IBC are arranged in 10 parallel sessions. Leading biodiversity experts in the country will participate in the event. About 1,500 delegates are expected for the five-day congress, represented by a cross-section of people working in biodiversity and related fields in India, include leading scientists and researchers, NGOs, bureaucrats, policy makers, community members and conservationists.