Dehradun: Forest Ecology and Climate Change Division, FRI organised a one-week training course on ‘‘Conservation and Management of Coastal Ecosystems’ for officers of the Indian Coast Guard. This training program was designed to expose the participants to coastal biodiversity conservation and its management-related plan and issues.
Various topics were discussed to enhance the understanding of the issues related to marine and coastal ecosystems, management plans and policies for improving the Mangroves and coral reefs. Topics covered in the training were from basic to applied such as the application of UAVs in the management of Mangroves and Coral reefs, distribution and migration of Coastal birds, combating illegal wildlife trade with a special focus on marine species, faunal diversity of India with special reference to Indian Coastal region, application of meteorological data and Remote Sensing data in conservation and management of marine and coastal ecosystem in India.
Among 12 officers of Goa, Gujrat, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and New Delhi attended the compulsory programme. Field visits were conducted for the participants in FRI Museums, Mussoorie wildlife sanctuary and Jhilmil Jheel Wetland in Haridwar to expose the officers to the conservation and management of biodiversity. This field visit has been completed successfully by Dr Abhishek Kumar Verma, Scientist-B. In the valedictory occasion, all the participants expressed their experiences of the training and emphasized that such training needs to be conducted regularly to enhance the skills and carrier development on a such important aspects.
