Sri Vijaya Puram, Nov. 27: The Zoological Survey of India, Andaman & Nicobar Regional Centre and EIACP Centre on Island Biodiversity conducting Three-Day Training Workshop on Coastal and Marine Biodiversity of Island Ecosystem for the Personnel of Other Services under the “Forestry Training & Capacity Building” sponsored by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India during 27th to 29th November, 2025. The workshop inaugurated by Dr. Kailash Chandra, Former Director, Zoological Survey of India, MoEF&CC, Government of India as a Chief Guest on 27th November 2025. A total of 20 participants attend the workshop from various departments, including the Andaman & Nicobar Police, Andaman Lakshadweep Harbour Works, Anti-Corruption Unit, Directorate of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services, Health Services, Agriculture, Education, Indian Coast Guard, Police Training School, Indian Army, and INS Utkrosh.
In his inaugural address, Dr. Kailash Chandra extended warm greetings to all participants, officers, scientist & staff. During his seven years of service, he described the Andaman & Nicobar Islands as the “Golden Phase” of his career, sharing his strong personal connection to the Islands. In his reflections, Dr. Chandra described the archipelago as a biological paradise of worldwide importance. During the three-day training program for the Group-A officers, he highlighted the importance of participation and knowledge exchange & sharing. According to him, the islands make up a remarkable 11% of India’s overall fauna despite making up only 0.25% of the country’s land area. Reminiscent of his fieldwork in the 1990s, he described the difficulties of conducting biodiversity surveys in isolated islands and the wealth of information.
Stressing the vast potential for finding new species, he called on officers to acknowledge the islands’ biodiversity’s worldwide significance and make significant contributions to their preservation. In closing, he expressed gratitude to ZSI/ANRC for being one of the best regional centres among ZSI’s regional centres and wished the training program continued success.
Earlier, Dr. C. Sivaperuman, Scientist-F & Course Director, Zoological Survey of India, A&N Regional Centre, A&N Islands welcomed the gathering and extended his sincere gratitude to the chief guest for accepting the invitation. He acknowledged the significant contributions of Dr. Kailash Chandra in strengthening institutional development, enhancing museum and repository facilities, and upgrading research infrastructure during his tenure as a Director. He outlined the objectives of the three-day workshop, featuring two days of class room-based technical sessions followed by a field visit to intertidal fauna at Burmanallah, & Chidiyatapu Biological Park. The programme includes eight expert lectures by eminent speakers. He thanked all Heads of Departments for nominating participants and encouraged the trainees to actively gain knowledge and share it with their colleagues, students and colleagues. Emphasising that the responsibility of conserving natural resources is shared by all, he concluded by extending best wishes for the successful conduct of the programme.
Followed by the inaugural session the technical session commenced with a series of expert lectures i.e., Dr. C. Sivaperuman, delivered an overview of Island Biodiversity and Conservation; Marine Biodiversity of A & N Islands; Dr. Jai Sunder, Director, ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute delivered talk on “Coastal Agro-biodiversity, Importance and Challenges”; Shri. Joju P. Alappatt, IFS, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Department of Environment and Forests, A & N Islands presented lecture on “Mangrove Ecosystem of A & N Islands: Features, Distribution, Significance & Threats”.