Hyderabad, Oct 10: Media has opportunities to convince society and policy makers about the value of conserving biodiversity, its sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits, top officials and experts said.
With the impact of climate change already visible through extreme weather events, the genetic wealth in biological diversity could be the key to providing ecological and economic stability to countries and building climate-resilient agriculture, they said.
The Forum for Environment Journalists in India (FEJI), Panos South Asia (PSA) and the National Biodiversity Authority of India (NBA), organized a side-event at the 11th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at Hyderabad, India, to interact with the media.
According to Chairman of the National Biodiversity Authority of India Balakrishna Pisupati, the media can help spread the message on the value of biodiversity.
“Media and social networks in today's world are constantly redefining our approaches and focus on outreach and public awareness on a range of issues starting from social to political and environmental.
Policy debates have reached kitchens and roadside stalls,” he was quoted as saying in a release from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) here.
“Media has the strength to leverage this reach pro-actively for protecting biodiversity,” Pisupati said.
