Bangalore, September 26, 2014: The fifth edition of the Student Conference on Conservation Science (SCCS) began in Bangalore yesterday, supported by a group of institutions and organisations including Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). Being held at the Indian Institute of Science, the four-day event will be bringing together students, researchers and conservationists from Asia and Africa to discuss wildlife conservation in these two continents and the biggest threats to it.

90 students will present their original research on various themes including but not limited to management of urban lakes, burgeoning amphibian disease, the behaviour of primates and human-wildlife conflict.

“The future of this earth lies with the youth and while every young person must contribute, those who study conservation are equipping themselves with the tools to be the saviours of the planet. WTI is pleased to be able to support the coming together of these young, green minds and hope that the confluence of their thoughts will lead to better possibilities for a more secure natural heritage for India,” said Vivek Menon, Executive Director and CEO, Wildlife Trust of India.

This is the sister conference of the Cambridge SCCS and will see several renowned conservationists from India deliver plenary talks on the conservation challenges being faced in the country. Restoration of forests, captive breeding of endangered species, the use of technology for conservation and human-wildlife conflict mitigation will be some of the themes be discussed.

Behaviour of primates will be one of the key discussion topics. Photo: Dr Mayukh Chatterjee / WTI

“This conference will be ground-breaking and interesting not just because of the range of topics which will include say the use of drones, art and literature in environmental protection but also because the entire event will be technologically enhanced. The entire administration and organisation of the conference will be paperless, as each participant will have their own unique QR code, and live streaming will enable access to people who couldn’t be physically present,” commented Radhika Bhagat, Head of WTI’s Wild Aid Division through which support was provided for the event.

Lead by Dr R Sukumar, Trustee of Wildlife Trust of India, who is also from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, the organising team comprises of Ravi Chellam, Hari Sridhar, Jahnavi Joshi, Vena Kapoor and Robin V.V.

SCCS-Bangalore 2014 is being organised and hosted by the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, the National Centre for Biological Sciences, the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, the Foundation for Ecological Security and the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation.

Dr Raman Sukumar recalled the time he visited the parent Cambridge SCCS saying, “I thought of the immense benefit of bringing this conference to India and I worked with my colleagues here to put this together. I am glad that this has paid off!”