Tourism stealing bio-diversity show

Jun 14, 2012 |

Hyderabad

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Central and state governments seem to be focusing more on tourism than biodiversity for the COP-11 international conference to be held in the city. The Conference of Parties (CoP) on Convention on Biological Diversity is being hosted by India at Hyderabad between October 1 and 19, 2012.

Even the COP-11 website — www.cbdcop11india.in —launched recently by the minister of forest and environment, speaks more about Hyderabad tourism, food, clothing and language than the issues related to biodiversity. Moreover, there are no signs of any arrangements being made for this prestigious international event as ministers, who are on the several panels, were busy with the by-elections.

Most of the content on the official website is copied from the tourism websites of Incredible India. Even the movie clips are promoting tourism. Incongruous information about the dance forms of India, Hyderabad biryani, and the slangs spoken in the city have been posted. No effort has been made to showcase the bio-diversity of Andhra Pradesh and India. “The website should have explained why the conference is important, what is the bio-diversity in the state, issues like bio-piracy, sharing of biological resources and conservation. It could have given details about the agenda for COP 11,” said a forest department official. The centre is yet to react to the requirement of Rs 1,040 crore the State government has asked for to host the conference.

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