Goa takes bio-diversity conservation lessons from Kerala

Kerala, a pioneer in bio-diversity conservation, will now help Goa frame its own suitable policies in the field, said a Kerala government official Monday.

Goa has sought the help of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB). As the first step, the board's member secretary K.P. Laladhas spend two days in Goa where he held discussions with officials on how to go about it.

After returning Sunday, Laladhas told IANS Monday that during his visit he travelled across the state and took classes for more than 100 village sarpanchs on bio-diversity conservation.

"The seeds of conservation need to be sowed at the grassroot level," Laladhas said.

He said the sarpanches were given a class on the importance of constituting a bio-diversity management committee (BMC) in all local bodies to prepare a people's bio-diversity register (PBR).

The BMC is a statutory body comprising of elected local government representatives and experts from the village council, while the PBR is a document that lists the flora and fauna in each village.

Kerala is the only state that has formed the BMC in every village council, and most of them have prepared their PBR, the official said.

"If bio-diversity conservation has to succeed then the local self government institutions have to play their role in utmost seriousness and we have emphasised this to the Goan authorities," said Laladhas.