Urgent need to conserve wildlife: VC BGSBU

Rajouri, March 03: “There is an urgent need to conserve wildlife and to create awareness among the masses of endangered species and what we all can do,” said Prof. Akbar Masood, Vice Chancellor of the Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) on Friday.
Prof. Akbar was delivering a lecture on the theme ‘Engaging Communities for Wildlife Conservation’ to celebrate World Wildlife Day organized by the Centre for Hospitality and Tourism under the UGC’s outreach program of ‘ University Connect’, to create awareness among the students regarding India’s G20 Presidency.
In his message, Prof. Akbar Masood, Vice Chancellor of the Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University said that World Wildlife Day has brought an opportunity to create awareness about the varied forms of wild flora and fauna and their multitude of benefits for mankind.
“As Indians, we all have a duty and a role to play in fostering community-based conservation to allow our rich biodiversity to thrive for future generations,” he said.
The lecture was delivered by Dr. Danish Iqbal Raina. Dr. Raina highlighted that local communities being the true stakeholders could play a fundamental role in the conservation of wildlife. He said that the traditional knowledge, cultural heritage, and centuries-old practices of the local communities could provide the most sustainable ways and means to protect and conserve biological diversity.
“There is a need to engage local communities to address their issues and concerns and involve them in decision-making for successful conservation programs,” he said.
Faculty members, research scholars, and a large number of students from Tourism and Environment Sciences attended the lecture.