Our Work
What We Do
We aim at observing, finding, learning and propagating the unity in diversity
Ecology &
Environment
ABC looks upon one ecosystem as a planet in itself. Humans as well as every other organism are dependent on their environment. The Ecosystem with it every living and non-living components from plants to microbes to man are linked together in a complex and interdependent web, resulting in their proliferation and ultimately effects even their survival. Any change in the environment, even in a remote part of the planet affects living things and their environment elsewhere. Thus Ecosystem along with its biotic and abiotic components is an integral part of this environment. An ever expanding population, alarming level of pollution, massive land degradation, large scale deforestation and a number of other anthropogenic causes lead to an overall degradation of environment. The ABC therefore aims to conserve the environment we survive in.
Aquatic Biodiversity Conservation
Aquatic biodiversity includes a variety of life form and ecosystems in the freshwater, brackish water and marine environment. Human societies have since long been depending on the aquatic biodiversity for food, medicine and other uses including commercial and industrial nature. The economic value of aquatic biodiversity is immense and extensive. But in the recent times factors like over-exploitation of natural resources, pollution boom, habitat alteration and destruction, introduction of alien species etc., have caused overwhelmingly impacts and threats to aquatic biodiversity. There is a necessity to put in place appropriate conservation strategies and actions to safeguard the aquatic biodiversity for the benefit of the present, as well as, future generations. The conservation oriented scientific pursuit and technology backed interventions would only address the pressing problems in protecting aquatic biodiversity and its sustainable use and conservation.
Terrestrial Biodiversity Conservation
Terrestrial biodiversity is the variety of life forms on the land surface of the Earth and High biodiversity is often used as an indicator of ecosystem health and has direct links to human health. Climate change affects terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystems through both gradual and sudden changes in response to the average climate such as increased temperatures, decreased rainfall, and extreme events like increased hot days, fire, frequency and severity of cyclones, heat waves and intensified wet seasons. All species have an ‘optimum climate’ in which they survive and thrive. At the extremes of a species’ climate tolerance, growth and reproduction may be reduced compared to populations growing at optimal conditions. The success of a species may also rely on the interacting species. Association for Biodiversity Conservation (ABC) aims to collate knowledge, co-ordinate expertise and synthesise these inputs into recommendations and frameworks to guide the way for India to adapt to global climate change.
Wildlife and Species Conservation
Wildlife is one of the most ignored and most vulnerable among all living resources in the world. Everyday 12 species are getting extinct worldwide and we are being left with increasingly fewer wild lives for the future generation to witness! India has a wide range of biodiversity due to its geographical distribution – with an overwhelming 2,50,000 species. The Deserts, the Alpines, Bhavar and Terrai Grasslands, the Alluvial Plains of Ganges, the Plateau regions, the Western Ghats and the long coastlines are rich in flora and fauna. However an ever expanding human population, rapid urbanization and industrialization, pollution and climate change leads to habitat loss, food shortage and a number of other consequences forcing the wildlife towards nonexistence. Species or habitat conservation is the immediate necessity to maintain environmental balance. ABC is this scenario is pitching in with its efforts, might and knowledge in a earnest effort to reach the people and stakeholders for a sustainable action plan and conservation effort to better the wildlife along with maintaining the existing and improve on the declining the ones.
Health, Awareness and Education for community
Creating awareness and educating the society about the hereditary genetic diseases is a vital step leading to healthy and pain-free human environment. Majority of the population remains ignorant about even the prevailing health issues in and around them. This is a challenge across society and generation. Every change and movement for a sustainable future demands capacitating people in a healthy, strong and happy society. ABC firmly believes in this fact and works towards that. We have taken up initiative to prepare team of professionals from planners, elected representative, functionaries of the central/state/local governments, private sector, NGOs, CBOs, educational institutions including universities, colleges and schools and all those engaged in the implementation of the Health, Awareness and Education programmes in Odisha. By augmenting their capacities through workshops, training programmes, and with our collective contribution in all kinds, the ABC visions to create a healthy, sustainable and happy world, which we live in.
Agro-Biodiversity Conservation & Socio-cultural Focus
Agricultural biodiversity includes all components of biological diversity of relevance to food and agriculture and all components of biological diversity that constitute the agricultural ecosystems, technically the agro-ecosystems: the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms, at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels which are necessary to sustain key functions of the agroecosystem, its structure and processes. Our conservation efforts can be broken down into two categories: in-situ and ex-situ conservation.
Community Engagement & Natural Resource Management
Sustainable and adaptive livelihood is an approach and effort to go beyond conventional practices. A number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are addressed through this inclusive and integrated approach of livelihood augmentation, like, human resource refinement and empowerment, ending poverty and hunger, ensuring food security and nutrition, promoting sustainable agriculture, ensuring healthy lives and combating climate change impacts. Natural and locally available resources need to be properly utilized to increase both availability and options of livelihood throughout the year while conserving these natural resources through enhancement of their quality and quantity.Land, water, air and biodiversity are the most vital natural resources bestowed on Earth. Unfortunately, we continued to exhaust these resources without any thought for their restoration! Today World has reached a time when mankind needs the reminder of “Only One Earth” which they need to care and share. Managing natural resources have become immediate necessary so that all our future generations have enough of them.No amount of effort can actually make natural resource management possible unless we engage in greater number at community level and sustainable livelihood
Pollution & Environmental Sanitation
Global environmental problems are of great concern not only because of nature’s intrinsic value or because of ethical concerns for future generations but they can harm human health and well-being, impose disruptive costs on national economies, as well. Ecosystems transfer pollutants geographically. Thus contaminants from emissions in one area may eventually appear elsewhere. Contaminants that accumulate in ecosystems may have nonlinear effects on environmental quality, so that even in small quantities they could have unanticipated and sometimes disastrous results. The ABC is also aimed at shouldering a much larger mandate of performing as an holistic movement of learning and educating on all issues relating to environmental sanitation and about pollution in and around High Biodiversity reach area. The aim is to treat environmental sanitation and pollution as a major field of education and disseminate knowledge and skills to all age groups at national, regional and global levels, predominantly through capacity building and training, knowledge management and technology transfer, consultancy services, research and development, project management, action sociology and gender mainstreaming.