INAUGURATION: S. Kannaiyan, Chairman, National Biodiversity Authority (centre), with Dr. J.R.B. Alfred, Director Zoological Survey of India (left) and T.N. Ananthakrishnan, former Director, Zoological Survey of India at a symposium in Chennai on Tues day. — Photo: R. Ragu

CHENNAI: Over-exploitation of bio-resources would not only have a negative impact on the environment but also lead to their exhaustion, chairman of the National Bio-Diversity Authority (NBA) S. Kannaiyan said here on Tuesday.

Appropriate handling bio-resources was necessary for optimum use without over-exploitation, Dr. Kannaiyan said, while inaugurating a national symposium on `Conservation and valuation of Marine Bio-diversity'.

The NBA chairman said bio-resources were important to economic activity of a nation. So awareness had to be created about optimum utilisation of bio-resources for both present and future generations.

He said the accelerated loss of coastal and marine bio-diversity over the last a few decades was causing great concern. Already a good number of species had been lost owing to environmental changes, over-exploitation and habitat loss. According to certain estimates on an average one species was being lost per day.

Dr. Kannaiyan said coastal eco-systems played a vital role in the country's economy by virtue of their resources, productive habitats and rich bio-diversity. The present approach to protect the coastal environment and resources failed to provide sustainable development. So a new approach had to be evolved, he said.

In his presidential address, the director of the Zoological Survey India, J.R.B. Alfred said that there was a plethora of laws to protect marine biological species, but the absence of effective implementation had led to the loss of many species.

Lack of data

The former ZSI director, T.N. Ananthakrishnan, said in the absence of authentic data on bio-diversity it was not known what has been lost in the last 50 years. He stressed on the need for a study on the impact of the tsunami on marine biodiversity.

J.T. Jothinayagam of ZSI said the aim of the seminar was to integrate the efforts of specialists in different aspects of marine bio-diversity as at present there was no wholesome approach. He said the outcome of the symposium would provide basic guidelines, which would be useful in dealing with various aspects of marine bio-diversity.

The meet honoured M. Sakthivel, president of the Aquaculture Foundation of India, D.B. James, resident editor of Fishing Chimes, and M. Srinivasan, a fellow of Marine Biological Association of India for their contribution to marine biology.

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