Bengaluru, August 2: The event was inaugurated with a welcome address from Ms. Mimi Partha Sarathy and luminaries in wildlife and nature conservation. More than 500 participants gathered in person and online to sensitise and engage people to the urgent issue of climate change affecting the world and the importance of wildlife and conservation.
Mimi Partha Sarathy said, “The aim of Sinhasi Social Impact Initiative is to bring the subject matter experts closer to the contributors and align their interests to solve the global problem in the nature and wildlife domain. The alliance of corporates and dedicated NGOs / institutions is necessary in particular when it comes to wildlife and nature conservation. Having trusted partners and other socially acclaimed stakeholders involved, I believe that this platform can propel the global narrative of finding effective solutions for climate change, mitigating human-animal conflict, preserving biodiversity and other recurring nature issues.”
The full-day conference highlighted several high-impact issues including animal-human conflict, recent developments in the Forest Conservation Act, the role of technology in nature conservation and how climate change is impacting all parts of the world; increasing temperature is leading to unseasonal rains across India, warm winters, droughts and floods, ruining lives and destroying livelihoods, melting ice and glaciers and rising sea levels threaten more socio-economic disruption in the future and stressed on the need for a neutral and curated platform and forum like Sinhasi Social Impact Initiative to contribute to the well-being of our environment and nature and safeguard and nurture our planet for future generations with compassion, responsibility, and environmental stewardship. The entire day’s sessions were curated by Mimi Partha Sarathy .
The impact of climate change is not only limited to the environment but may have a deeper impact on the economy. The latest report of the Reserve Bank of India suggests that up to 4.5 per cent of India’s GDP could be at risk by 2030, owing to lost labour hours from extreme heat and humidity.
A brainchild of Sinhasi Consultants, the Social Impact Initiative is India’s first curated platform for social investments by a wealth management firm. Started as a mechanism to complete life’s holistic approach and built on the foundation of ‘Give Back’ and ‘Pay Forward’, this initiative aims to be an impetus for change towards social welfare. The event brought together participants from fields including ecology, animal behaviour, conservation, biology, education, indigenous communities and public services, to collaborate on forging the path to achieve the target of nature conservation.
Sinhasi designed the conference to offer an enabling platform for the torchbearers of wildlife, nature conservation and sustainability to connect with highly motivated philanthropists, CSR representatives, and individuals to bring about a landmark
change in the environmental programs and implement high-value projects. The conference was to make high-value research and analysis available to larger audiences and close the knowledge gap by creating a knowledge repository that helps the audience associate with the desirable social cause of wildlife conservation. These partnerships can drive mutual commitment and community engagement to ensure consistent efforts in environmental conservation.
Animal population across the world has declined by a whopping 69% since 1970. As per a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in December 2022, about 73 species of Indian fauna, including nine mammals, 18 birds, 26 reptiles, and 20 amphibians are now ‘Critically Endangered’. The number has gone up steeply from 47 in 2011.
Significant changes have been made through public-private partnerships, but the road to nature restoration and regeneration is ponderous. There is a need to rethink the strategies for large-scale and long-term conservation to reduce the negative impact. Since economies and ecosystems are co-related, it is no more of a moral case but an economic case to preserve our world.
Morning Session
- Prof.R.Sukumar-SeniorEcologist-National Science Chairperson attheIISc,Bangalore
- Mr.ChiranjivSingh-Chairman–AMEFoundation, IAS(Retd) Officer–Gov tof Karnataka&
former Ambassador of India to UNESCO in Paris - Mrs.SupranaGanguly and Mrs.SheilaRow-FounderTrustees–CUPA–WRRC,Bangalore
- Mr.VanceGMartin-Internationally renowned Nature Conservationist & Forme rPresident
of The WILD Foundation, Boulder, Colorado - Mr.PaulSpencer Sochacazewski–Former Communications Directo rWWF International,
Author and communications consultant, Geneva, Switzerland - Dr.TarshThekaekara-The Shola Trust,Gudulu r& Co-founder of The Real Elephant
Collective - Mr.AvinashKrishnan-WildlifeBiologist, Director– ARochaIndia
- Dr.NishantSrinivasaiah–Behavior alEcologist, Frontier Elephant Programme, Senior
Researcher – Foundation for Ecological Research Advocacy and Learning (FERAL) - Mr.Sanjay Ajanikar- Asian Nature Conservation Foundation
- Ms Mimi Partha Sarathy- Member B.PAC – B.GREEN, Bangalore Urban Forestry & Environment Programme Afternoon Session
- Ms.HamsiniBijlani-Ecologist and FieldResearch Biologist, EnvironsKimberly, Broome, Western Australia
- Dr.SharachchandraLele- DistinguishedFellow, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecologyand the Environment | ATREE · Centre for Environment and Development
- Dr.NitinDRai- Political Ecologist and Independent Scholar
- Dr.SiddappaSetty–Ethnobotanist, Professor- AshokaTrust for Research in Ecology and
the Environment – ATREE - Dr.TarunChabbria-Senio rEcologist, apractising doctor, ethnobotanist & Todasexpert
- Mrs. SwarnaRamki- Managing Trustee Conservatio India, Co-Founder|Wild life for Cancer
Special Guests - Prof.MadhavGadgil- PadmaShri & PadmaBhushan, Renowned Ecologist, Head of 2010 Gadgil Commission – the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel
- Mr.RomulusWhitaker- PadmaShri ,Globally renowned herpetologist, wildlife conservationist, Founder- Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Founder- Agumbe Rainforest Research Station Karnataka
- DrA.J.TJohnSingh-PadmaShr iAwardee, Distinguished Wild life Biologist, Advisortothe Ministry of Environment and Forests, Honorary Scientific Advisor – WWF-India
- Mr.RaviSingh-Secretary General and CEO at WWF- India
- Mr. CSMurali– Chairman, EntrepreneurshipCell, Society of Innovation and Development,
IISc, Bangalore
