J&K Biodiversity Council holds consultation for Srinagar’s Biodiversity Action Plan

17 November 2022

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Srinagar, Nov 17: Jammu and Kashmir Biodiversity Council today conducted Stakeholders Consultation Meeting for developing Local Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan (LBSAP) for Smart City, Srinagar at Conference Hall of Forest Complex, Sheikh Bagh, Lal Chowk, Srinagar.

The LBSAP enables the city to build resilience and mainstream biodiversity conservation into urban planning solutions. The LBSAP of Srinagar is being developed by ICLEI South Asia through the BMU supported Interact Bio project. ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability, South Asia, a renowned agency engaged by UNDP. The J&K Biodiversity Council has already released the City Biodiversity Index (CBI) for Jammu and Srinagar Smart Cities. The City Biodiversity Index is an assessment tool for cities to evaluate and monitor the progress of their biodiversity conservation efforts against their own baseline developed by the experts. The information on native biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by the biodiversity and its management by the city administration as given in City Biodiversity Index will be utilized in developing LBSAP which is an important document on Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for city administration (Srinagar Municipal Corporation) to implement biodiversity conservation and action.

Speaking on the inaugural of the occasion, Asaf Mehmood Sagar, Additional PCCF & Member Secretary, Jammu & Kashmir Biodiversity Council apprised the participants about constitution of J&K Biodiversity Council, its mandate, achievements and the background of the stakeholders consultation meeting.

Dr. Mohit Gera, PCCF &HoFF, J&K/ Chairman, Biodiversity Council, J&K who later chaired the consultation spoke about the initiative taken by the J&K Biodiversity Council to develop the Local Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan (LBSAP) for Jammu and Srinagar cities. He apprised the participants on different aspects of biodiversity of J&K and achievements made by the Council towards constitution of BMCs, developing and updation of PBRs as well as conduct of meetings of BMCs in UT of J&K during the recently concluded “Jan Abhiyan: Back to Village Four” program. He further apprised that the preparation of LBSAP is mandatory as per Biodiversity Act and LBSAP is a document similar to National level and State/UT level documents on Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan. He also informed on the onward process for finalization of LBSAP in Consultation in Srinagar Municipal Corporation.

The team of ICLEI headed by Dr. Monalisa Sen, Programme Coordinator (Biodiversity), ICLEI South Asia conducted the Stakeholders Consultation Meeting at Srinagar and facilitated the proceedings. The main objective of this meeting was to identify focus areas and prioritize drivers impacting the health of various ecosystems in Srinagar and to define goals and key actions for Srinagar’s LBSAP; and Developing the Vision Statement for Srinagar’s LBSAP.

The consultation meeting involved the stakeholders like District Administration, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Srinagar Smart City Project, NGO Nazir Benazir, Chairman, National Society for protection of water resources, wetlands and forests, officials and representatives of line departments, Wildlife, Agriculture, Horticulture, Floriculture, Fisheries, Panchayati Raj & Rural Development, Animal & Sheep Husbandry, Jammu & Kashmir Forest Research Institute, University of Kashmir etc.