Central Department of Botany, TU to host International Conference on Biodiversity, Livelihood and Climate Change in the Himalayas

KATHMANDU: Tribhuvan University Central Department of Botany and the University of Bergen, Norway are jointly hosting an international conference on biodiversity and climate change in Kathmandu from December 12 to 14.

The three-day conference — Biodiversity Livelihood and Climate Change in the Himalayas — will have experts from over 40 countries participating.

Representatives from both the universities today said experts from over 40 countries have confirmed their participation.

“The university planned such a big gathering coinciding with the announcement to declare 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity,” said Prof Krishna Kumar Shrestha, head of the Department of Botany, TU. The conference is co-organised by the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation and Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.

The Himalaya stretches over 4,000 km and occupies approximately 0.3 per cent area of the earth and constitutes nearly 10 per cent of the world flora. Due to its extreme topographic and climatic variability, it is rich in biological diversity.

“The region boasts four biodiversity hot spots, 60 eco-regions, 488 protected areas, 1,106 important bird Areas, and 53 important plant areas, besides rich agro-biodiversity and wild relatives of crops. The Himalayan region, however, faces a high degree of threats, including climate change,” added Shrestha.

Prof Ernst Nordtveit of University of Bergen emphasised on sustainable development to make the earth a good habitat for future generations. “We have to focus on sustainable development to ensure happy life of the future generation for which we have to act from today to save our biodiversity,” said Nordtveit.

In respective to this news, here personally I (Shiva Devkota, Working as the Secretariat for the International Conference on Biodiversity, Livelihood and Climate Change in the Himalayas" would like to add that,
Dr. Ganesh Rasj, Joshi (Secretary of Ministry of Environment) and Prof. Dr. Dayananda Bajracharya (Academician NAST) also delivered their remarks on the press conference.

The conference is organized by Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, and co-organized by Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives. The conference is supported by Erasmus Mundus - LEANES, ICIMOD, NTNC, NAST, The Research Council of Norway, Univeristy Grants Commission, Nepal and University of Bergen, Norway.
Source: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=TU+to+host+int'l+meet+on+biodiversity&NewsID=263370