International Webinar on "Enhancing Conservation of River Dolphins through Sub-Regional Cooperation" inaugurated

International Webinar on "Enhancing Conservation of River Dolphins through Sub-Regional Cooperation" inaugurated

24thAugust, 2020, Barrackpore

Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, I.A.S., Special Secretary & Director General, National Mission on Clean Ganga (NMCG), Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India inaugurated the two-day International Webinar on “Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the ecosystem health of rivers and its dolphin population: Present status and future strategy for conservation in India-Bangladesh-Myanmar-Nepal” today. The Webinar has been jointly organized by the National Mission on Clean Ganga, India; Inland Fisheries Society of India; Professional Fisheries Graduate Forum, India and AEHMS, Canada.

In his inaugural address, Shri Mishra stressed that the Biodiversity Conservation is one of the priority areas of the Namami Gange with the projects like Biodiversity Conservation with Ganga Rejuvenation and Ganga River Dolphin Conservation Education Programme. He also highlighted the proposal to initiate the “Project River Dolphin” by the Hon'ble Prime Minister in the first meeting of NMCG to save and enhance the Gangetic Dolphin's population.

Dr. Joykrushna Jena, Deputy Director General (Fisheries Science), ICAR outlined the River Dolphin's status in the country. He also highlighted the working of two ICAR Fisheries Institutes that are working on Dolphin Conservation - ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackpore, Kolkata on the River Dolphin and ICAR-CMFRI, Kochi on the mammals of the Indian Ocean including Marine Dolphins.

Dr. Dilip Kumar, Former Vice-Chancellor, ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai discussed about the Dolphin population in the Indo-Nepal Rivers. He also outlined the social aspects of the fishers' life and Dolphin in rural India.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr. B.K. Das, Director, ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata underlined the main aim and objectives of the Webinar. Dr. Das emphasized on the participation of the representatives from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Indonesia in the noble cause for striving for the conservation of Dolphins. He also stressed that the Webinar would enhance the Dolphin's conservation in the South-East Asian Regional Countries and strengthen the Hon'ble Prime Minister's Flagship Project - River Dolphin.

The Webinar aims at the conservation of River Dolphins in the South-East Asian Region through the regional strategy and partnership.

The experts on Dolphins from the various countries, viz., India, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Indonesia along with more than 1,000 participants from the various Research Organizations, Colleges, Universities of India and other countries have registered their participation for the Webinar.

(Source: ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata)