LAHORE, Feb 2: Government College University acting vice-chancellor Prof Dr Ikramul Haq has said maintenance of biological diversity is being recognised as the single highest conservation priority the world over but in Pakistan a tiny fraction of resources, both human and financial, is available to environmentalists and biotechnologists to get their job done.

Prof Haq was speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day third international conference on "Role of Botanic Gardens in Conserving Natural Vegetation", organised under the auspices of the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), the Higher Education Commission, the Pakistan Horticulture Authority, World Wide Fund for Nature and the Pakistan Botanic Gardens Network Secretariat (PBGNS) at the GCU on Thursday.

The VC said all natural areas were bound to face fragmentation and deterioration with increasing frequency, and to tackle them, research in the areas of restoration and climate change was bound to become more and more critical.

Punjab Forestry Department Secretary Shahnawaz Badar said botanic gardens all over the world had preserved documented specimen of 80,000 to 100,000 living plant species, providing material for display, research, education, ex-situ conservation and ecological restoration.

He hoped that this gathering of experts would provide valuable recommendations to the government agencies for devising strategies. He stressed the need for research on reproductive biology and plant-animal interaction to support conservation measures.

He pledged to provide more land and conservation projects to the GCU-Pakistan Botanic Gardens Network secretariat. He said the department had most recently given two acres to the Lahore College for Women University.

Sustainable Development Study Centre (SDSC) Director Prof Dr Amin Khan said there was a dire need for changing behaviour of local government officials and local community for conservation of local natural habitats. He said the land degradation was an emerging and serious environmental threat in Pakistan.

He said the native species including Salvadora oleoides, Tamarix aphylla, Capparis decidua and Prosopis cineraria, Olea cuspidate, Acacia modesta and Butea monosperma were rapidly vanishing from Harappa, Shakargarh and Soan Valley.

He called for taking conservation measures at the earliest. He said the GCU-PBGNC was working in close collaboration with the WWF-Pakistan, forest department and the Punjab government to execute the project of the BGCI, UK.

He said the GCU experts and students were also involving local communities for enhancing population of these species.

As many as 51 research papers are scheduled to be presented at nine technical sessions of the conference on topics related to 'Gene Banks', 'Ecotourism', 'Habitat Restoration' and 'Ethno-botany'.

Later, the forestry secretary inaugurated research poster exhibition which was part of the three-day conference. He lauded varsity's postgraduate researches on 'Diversity of Plants at Allama Iqbal International Airport', 'Using Google Earth to monitor tree loss', 'Use of Earthworms for composting of paper and sugar industry waste', 'Transplanted Phoenix trees in Main Boulevard, Gulberg' and 'A case study on biological environment of Lahore Fort'. - Staff Reporter