Goa: This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) will be celebrated in Goa on May 22, with Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism’ being the theme.

The national level event will be presided over by Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Anil Dave, Governor of Goa Mridula Sinha, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and others.

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) with cooperation of Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) will be organizing the event.

IDB is celebrated to commemorate the adaptation of the convention on Biological Diversity at the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janerio in June 1992.

GSBB member secretary Pradip Sarmokadam said that this year Goa is been selected as host to celebrate the IDB by the Union Ministry. “Celebrating IDB every year reaffirms our resolve and reflects on our responsibility to safeguard the precious heritage of bio resources for future generation,” he said.

GSBB has organized skit, poster and elocution competition for the children on May 14, which will be held at Goa Science Centre, Miramar.

Also, GSBB along with the Photo Journalists’ Association Goa (PJAG) had organized a photography competition on the occasion of IDB at Kala Academy. The theme of the completion is ‘Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism’.

“The prime aim of the completion is to highlight and popularize the thought of sustainable tourism by way of giving an opportunity to raise awareness and action towards the important contribution of it both to economic growth and to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity,” PJAG president Ganesh Shetkar said.

The competition is open for all, with each participant can send maximum four entries and minimum one. The photographs should be based on the theme. The best three entries would be awarded with cash price of Rs 20,000, 15,000 and 10,000 respectively.

Team TNV