Dear Friends, This proposal has been largely drafted by my Task Force colleague, Dr G S Rawat, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun , email: [email protected]. Please do get in touch with him to carry this discussion forward.
On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 12:38 PM, J.M. Garg <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear members, > The relevant aspects from the draft report, which require serious attention > of this group, along with my views are reproduced below. I seek your > independant opinions on the report as well as on my views so that these are > finalised before submitting to the Task Force: > > "Flora and Fauna of India > > > > The primary mandate of the BSI/ZSI is to document the plant/ animal > resources of the country. Hence an important focus of their activity would > be to complete the Flora/ Fauna of India. India has produced a large number > of fine taxonomists, many of whom work outside BSI/ZSI, e.g., universities, > research organizations and as emeritus scientists. Therefore, it is > important that BSI/ZSI now take on the role of coordinating and pooling the > expertise of all the taxonomists including those working outside this > organization to consolidate the Flora and Fauna of India volumes. This is > particularly important because the local field biologists and experts who > have spent a considerable amount of time in a particular geographical area > can add tremendous information on habitat, associations, biogeography and > population status. Floras/ Faunas written by the individuals having limited > field knowledge, merely based on the museum/ herbarium specimens lack in > such information. Coordinated work on Flora/ Fauna of India should also > include all the works on various taxonomic groups done through AICOPTAX > Project of MoEF. Such coordination would of course require a strong > editorial board and a few full time dedicated executive secretaries. This > should be achievable in 10 years and should figure out as Priority I in > BSI/ZSI’s Vision 2020 document. This could be achieved in the following > phases: > > i. Establish a panel of experienced and active taxonomists for each > state and take their consent on participation in Flora / Fauna Project, > > ii. Prepare an annotated checklist of vascular plants and other taxa > under consideration for each state / UTs based on all published documents > and herbaria, giving local names, if any, locality and habitat, > > iii. Circulate the electronic version of checklists among the panel of > botanists/ zoologists who would, in turn, check for omissions, ambiguities, > localities and habitat through active consultation with other local > botanists/ zoologists, > > iv. To begin with, state floras/ faunas should be published > electronically giving correct names, basionyms, localities, habitat, > sketches and photographs of important species preferably on an interactive > ‘Flora/ Fauna of India Blog’. On this page all naturalists, photographers > and biological artists should be encouraged to contribute information on > taxonomy, distribution, natural history, biology, ethnobiology, etc. This > will also act as an outreach programme for all the biologists. The > ethnobiological surveys should be done mainly by the local biologists, > college and university teachers, working with local Biodiversity Management > Committees under technical guidance by BSI/ZSI. > > v. An editorial board may be constituted at the national level to > decide the format of the flora/ fauna and also assign plant/ animal families > for compilation which should include nomenclature, description, ecology, > natural history, distribution, sketches and photographs." > > I am not clear what it means by ‘Flora/ Fauna of India Blog’ & seek Madhav > ji's guidance in the matter particularly w.r.t the word Blog. Also it is not > clear whether it will be accessible to all or not. I think any restriction > on its access as far as its contents are concerned, should go away in view > of the 'Approach' followed in the paper (as subsequently highlighted). > While it is encouraging to see " To begin with, state floras/ faunas should > be published electronically giving correct names, basionyms, localities, > habitat, sketches and photographs of important species preferably on an > interactive ‘Flora/ Fauna of India Blog’. " in the draft, there is hardly > anything which talks of creating e-flora of India on the lines of e-flora of > China & other neighbouring countries. I feel 'AICOPTAX Project' of MoEF > should be sufficiently strengthened with a mandate for simultaneously > creating of e-Flora/ e-Fauna of India on lines of e-Floras of different > countries of the world. How to go about creating e-floras is evident at > link: > http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/PDF/misc/eFloras_Taxon_55_188-192_2006.pdf > > This becomes all the more important as the report in its 'Approach' rightly > talks of "......Finally, the culmination of evolution of artifacts to the > present day Information and Communication Technology has brought us to the > threshold of a tenth major transition: x] Language based human societies > –to- Human societies with global access to the entire stock of human > knowledge, and engaged in an endeavour of collaborative knowledge > generation." This approach will remain an illusion until & unless we are > able to create e-Flora/ e-Fauna of India which is accessible to all human > community & appear in top 10 while searching as far as 'Indian species' are > concerned. The need of the hour is to move fast in this regard, if India is > to be visible on the world map. It is said that we have to refer to 'e-Flora > of China', 'e-Flora of Pakistan' etc. when we search on net for information > about any Indian plant species.We hardly find any inf. on search in > our "......national networks like DBT’s India Biodiversity Information > Network (IBIN) and NBA’s India Biodiversity Information System (IBIS)." as > talked about in the report. > > Further if the dreams of its 'Approach' "......Finally, the culmination of > evolution of artifacts to the present day Information and Communication > Technology has brought us to the threshold of a tenth major transition: x] > Language based human societies –to- Human societies with global access to > the entire stock of human knowledge, and engaged in an endeavour of > collaborative knowledge generation." are to be fulfilled in this e-age, it > has to speak loudly about increasing participation & expertise in on-line > community activities like those of 'Indiantreepix' google e-group, regarding > which it is totally silent. Here information is shared on real time basis > for the benefit of all stakeholders, minimising delays & fastening > processes, following multi-disciplinary approach with membership from > diverse background. This should also help in the process of constant > learning in ones' career & creating passionate scientists/ > taxonomists aided/ guided by other willing scientists/ taxonomists. This > should also help in "Capacity building: scientists" & "Capacity building: > district level scientific community and barefoot taxonomists under "7)Human > Resources" > > > 2009/9/17 J.M. Garg <[email protected]> >> >> Thanks, Madhav ji, for your prompt reply. >> May I requests experts on this group to go through the attached draft >> report and >> providing your inputs by making suitable additions- deletions in the >> existing version. Any suggestions made at this stage will go a long way in >> helping any sincere worker who is associated with Indian Flora in any way. >> >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: Madhav Gadgil <[email protected]> >> Date: 2009/9/17 >> Subject: BSI/ZSI TF >> To: "J.M. Garg" <[email protected]> >> Cc: indiantreepix <[email protected]> >> >> >> Dear Dr Garg, I will certainly follow the literature you suggest. But >> since you and your colleagues have given this much more thought, I >> would appreciate your going through the attached draft report and >> providing your inputs by making suitable additions- deletions in the >> existing version. >> >> On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 1:54 PM, J.M. Garg <[email protected]> wrote: >> > Thanks, Madhav ji, for giving us an opportunity to express our opinions. >> > You & the task force may like to go through the following threads from >> > 'Indiantreepix' (a google e-group with more than 1025 members from all >> > over >> > India & 18500 messages to >> > date- http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix) on Quest for >> > 'e-flora' of India, discussed between experts & laymen alike, which is >> > of >> > prime importance not only to experts but to thousands of laymen also: >> > >> > http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix/browse_thread/thread/9cf05f448b3f2b4b/a9c949c11578b530?lnk=gst&q=Quest+for+%27e-flora%27+of+India+#a9c949c11578b530 >> > >> > >> > http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix/browse_thread/thread/7aba8eb1b7d99b56 >> > >> > >> > http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix/browse_thread/thread/616e12b1838a1854/007f0d08357d7a1f?lnk=gst&q=Offtopic+but+relevant+to+all+amateur+naturalists+#007f0d08357d7a1f >> > >> > If e-flora of India is created on lines of e-flora of China >> > >> > (http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/PDF/misc/eFloras_Taxon_55_188-192_2006.pdf), >> > Pakistan, Nepal etc. with in a suitable time frame of say five to seven >> > years, your team will certainly deserve numerous accolades not from the >> > current generation but also from the future one. >> > -- >> > With regards, >> > J.M.Garg ([email protected]) >> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 >> > 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' >> > Image Resource of thousands of my images of Birds, Butterflies, Flora >> > etc. >> > (arranged alphabetically & place-wise): >> > http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg >> > For learning about Indian Flora, visit/ join Google e-group- >> > Indiantreepix:http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix?hl=en >> > >> > >> >> >> >> -- >> With regards, Sincerely, >> कळावे, लोभ असावा, आपला स्नेहांकित, >> माधव Madhav >> Madhav Gadgil, >> Res: A-18, Springflowers, Panchavati, Pashan, Pune 411008, Tel >> 020-25893424 >> Office: Agharakar Research Institute, G G Agarkar Road, Pune 411004, >> Tel 020- 25652970, Fax 020-25651542 >> Mobile: 9881153413 >> माधव गाडगीळ, >> आघारकर संशोधन संस्था, आगरकर रस्ता, पुणे ४११००४ >> ए-१८, स्प्रिंगफ़्लॉवर्स, पंचवटी, पाषाण, पुणे ४११००८, >> निसर्गाने दिला आनंदकंद । केवळ सौंदर्य, केवळ आनंद। >> >> >> >> -- >> With regards, >> J.M.Garg ([email protected]) >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 >> 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' >> Image Resource of thousands of my images of Birds, Butterflies, Flora etc. >> (arranged alphabetically & place-wise): >> http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg >> For learning about Indian Flora, visit/ join Google e-group- >> Indiantreepix:http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix?hl=en >> > > > > -- > With regards, > J.M.Garg ([email protected]) > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 > 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' > Image Resource of thousands of my images of Birds, Butterflies, Flora etc. > (arranged alphabetically & place-wise): > http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg > For learning about Indian Flora, visit/ join Google e-group- > Indiantreepix:http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix?hl=en > > -- With regards, Sincerely, कळावे, लोभ असावा, आपला स्नेहांकित, माधव Madhav Madhav Gadgil, Res: A-18, Springflowers, Panchavati, Pashan, Pune 411008, Tel 020-25893424 Office: Agharakar Research Institute, G G Agarkar Road, Pune 411004, Tel 020- 25652970, Fax 020-25651542 Mobile: 9881153413 माधव गाडगीळ, आघारकर संशोधन संस्था, आगरकर रस्ता, पुणे ४११००४ ए-१८, स्प्रिंगफ़्लॉवर्स, पंचवटी, पाषाण, पुणे ४११००८, निसर्गाने दिला आनंदकंद । केवळ सौंदर्य, केवळ आनंद। --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "indiantreepix" group. 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