Environment Min holds workshop on loss of biodiversity

Ahead of the climate change conference in Paris, Environment Ministry today held a two-day workshop to study the economic consequences of loss of biological diversity and the associated decline in ecosystem services.
More than forty Indian and international agencies participated in the workshop 'Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity TEEB-India Initiative (TII)'.
The initiative focused on three ecosystems, namely forests, inland wetlands and coastal and marine ecosystems.
"The outcome of the pilot projects will be fed into the sectoral synthesis for the three ecosystems. It will be released at the Brazil-India-Germany TEEB Dialogue, being hosted by India in September," an official statement from the ministry said.

The overall report will be released at the 21st session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) being held in November-December in Paris.
The workshop demonstrated the application of economic approaches to address policy issues related to conservation and sustainable management of these ecosystems.

Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashok Lavasa highlighted the important role of sound ecological economics-based approaches in guiding environmental policies and programmes.
He urged the initiative to provide actionable recommendations to improve effectiveness of various natural resources conservation and sustainable management efforts being made by the ministry.
The participants included senior officers from the Environment Ministry, eminent ecologists and economists from institutes like Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, Botanical Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India, and Institute of Economic Growth.

Conservation organisations like Wetlands International South Asia, International Union for Conservation and Nature, Wildlife Trust of India, World Wildlife Fund and international agencies like United Nations Development Programme and German International Funding Agency also participated.