Delhi varsity, Kerala govt tie-up for amphibian conservation

Updated on: Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The University of Delhi and Kerala State Forest Department are jointly organising a workshop here tomorrow to draw up a strategy for conservation of the amphibian population, which is facing extinction globally.

The programme, titled "Advancing frontiers of Amphibian Conservation" will see participation of forest officials, conservationists and mediapersons from Western Ghats states like Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the event.

The workshop would have a technical session "Perspectives from Western Ghats States" and a media interaction session "Amphibian ConservationFocus on Media".

"We should protect all the tiniest species to make the planet a better place to live. And we should bring in some order into the existing system for their conservation," Prof Dinesh Singh, Vice Chancellor, University of Delhi said.

Habitat destruction and the bias of conservation initiatives towards elephants and tigers are the reasons for the fast dwindling of the amphibians in India, S D Biju, faculty of the Department Environmental Biology of University of Delhi said.

"Almost half of all known amphibian varieties including frogs, the most widely known amphibian, are declining fast. If the present trend continues many varities of frogs could disappear forever," Biju said.

"India's wildlife outlook and conservation initiatives are centered around elephants and tigers. The country spends more than Rs one crore for the conservation of a tiger in a year. But, the species like frogs are ignored largely at the same time," he said.

According to experts, a total of 6,771 species of amphibians exist in the world, out of which 321 can be found in India.

Delhi varsity, Kerala govt tie-up for amphibian conservation

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