Two-day Seminar on
Bioresources Conservation inaugurated at USTM

Dignitaries releasing the Book of Abstracts at National
Seminar on Bioresources Conservation and Management
Strategies for Rural Development at USTM on 22 August
2019s
9th Mile, Ri-Bhoi, 22 August 2019: Many fold
increase in world human population in the recent decades
has adverse impact on bio-diversity, and surprisingly
within less than 45 years since 1975 there has been a
loss of 65% of the plant and animal species in the
world. The North East of India in this context is still
regarded as a biodiversity hot spot but thoughtful
planning is needed by the government for conservation of
the region’s biodiversity, in the absence of which it
would not take more years for this status to vanish.
This was stated by Dr NC Talukdar, Director, Institute
of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) in
the National Seminar titled “Bioresources Conservation
and Management Strategies for Rural Development”
organised by the University of Science & Technology-Meghalaya
here today. A Book of Abstracts of the Seminar Papers
was also released by the dignitaries on the occasion.
Delivering his keynote address, Dr Talukdar said that
increase in human population has resulted in reduce of
arable land, biodiversity loss which in turn has led to
reduced access of safe drinking water giving rise to
global sustainability issue. According to him, the North
East India harbours wide array of ecological niches that
support unique sets of rich microbial resources. A
varied climatic condition, diverse topology, diverse
cultures ethnic communities are therefore characteristic
qualities of the region.
A total of 65 papers would be presented at different
sessions by participants coming from various colleges
and universities of different states. Organised under
the initiative of the Botany department of USTM, the
two-day-long Seminar would also see 51 poster
presentations on the theme of the seminar which will be
made by various participants. Earlier, the welcome
address was made by Dr PK Goswami, Vice Chancellor of
USTM. Dr RK Sharma, Advisor of USTM also addressed the
inaugural session with his insightful speech on the
subject. |