IMPHAL, February 23: A press release from the Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development, an autonomous national Institute of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India has stated that bio-resources can play a major role in the sustainable development of the North-Eastern (NE) states which have only 8% of the national geographical area but contains over half of all flora and fauna of India making it one of the world`s top ten global biodiversity hotspots. Such resources can also support local livelihoods and also can contribute significantly to the growth and development of the region, if utilized and managed in a sustainable manner, says Prof. Dinabandhu Sahoo, IBSD director in the press release.
It also mentioned the visit of Dr Harshvardhan, the Union minister for Science and Technology, also the president of IBSD into the institute on 17 Feb to lay the foundation stone for the technology and skill development centre which was the first ever visit to IBSD by any Union minister ever since it was established in 2001.
It said Dr Sahoo who joined IBSD as its new Director immediately took initiatives to organize the First ever National Bioresources and Sustainable Development (NBSD) Summit at Imphal, Manipur during February 19-2-0 which was attended by 250 subject experts and bio-resource managers from all over India.
It said the summit discussed the untapped eco-tourism potential of NE states and concluded with the unanimous adoption of the Imphal Declaration on Bioresources and Sustainable Development whose key recommendations include the role of scientists and social scientists from knowledge/industry/civil society sectors in developing evidence-based or science-based policies and implementation strategies for sustainable development in an integrated manner with a bottom-up approach, the development of local capacities for value addition of natural or bio-resources to
maximize their returns to the local producer communities, and the need for bio-resource federations/cooperatives/SHGs empowering local producer communities at the state/district/local level for capacity building, technology transfer/adoption, value addition and economies of scale while maximizing employment and returns to the local producers.