On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee year of the Chennai Snake Park, they partnered with Prakruthi Eco Care group to conduct a workshop ‘ACCEPT – Advanced Centre For Conservation Education, Planning & Training’ on the occasion of World Ocean Day on June 8.
It is the first state-level workshop on ocean, biodiversity conservation and sustainable eco-tourism. The State Minister of Forests, Dr.M.Mathiventhan, who was the Tourism Minister until very recently, will lead the select group of eco conservationists, forestry managers, wildlife experts, tourism administrators, wildlife and adventure stakeholders and service providers into a conclave, to stave off the conflicts of interest that arise due to controversies between commerce versus conservation.
VGP Ravidas will be hosting the workshop at VGP Marine Kingdom. “Nearly 80% of our planet’s biological diversity is in the ocean,” informs Dr.S.Paulraj, Executive Chairman of Chennai Snake Park. The Organising Secretary Dipankar Ghose, adds that, “With so many offbeat experiential tourism activities on the rise, like the dolphin cruise, beach and ocean activities along the Coromandel Coast, and the perceptions of Forest Administrators must be considered from the very beginning itself. They can provide insights on the demographic pressures leading to disdainful activities that could conflict with biodiversity conservation of mangroves, sand dunes, littering on ocean floor, turbidity, etc. None of the stakeholders or service providers would be disappointed if tweaking and course corrections are done on the basis of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development goals, at the start itself. It’s time that Tourism and Environment become inclusive and everybody’s ‘sustainable business.’”
To register for the workshop, contact 73959 17040.
