Seminar on "International Biodiversity Day" at International Islamic University, Islamabad, 4th May, 2017

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President ECO Science Foundation Participated as Chief Guest

An "International Biodiversity Day" was celebrated at the International Islamic University (IIU), Islamabad, on 4th May, 2017. The event focused on various aspects and importance of conservation of biodiversity, whereas its main theme was “Threats to Biodiversity”. President ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF) Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro was invited as Chief Guest at the event. Prof. Soomro in his remarks, congratulated the faculty members and the students of IIU for highlighting and arranging seminar on such an important issue of biodiversity, which is extremely relevant to the climatic and environmental conditions of Pakistan. He encouraged and appreciated the active participation of students, especially the girls, as over 50% of the global population are women and same is the case in Pakistan. Thus they have a very important role to play in the society. “If women in the society will not play their active role, half of the talent would be wasted”, he added.

While highlighting the importance of Biodiversity, Prof. Soomro asserted that plants, animals and human beings all are interdependent. Therefore, we must recognize this very important concept that humans are interlinked with animals, plants and environment, we cannot survive without their survival. We have to address the challenges and threats posed to the biodiversity, as biodiversity is directly linked to the food security and environment. Prof. Soomro also highlighted the role of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) that is the Intergovernmental Body, which assesses the state of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services it provides to our society. It is important to mention here that ECOSF is the major stakeholder and partner of IPBES.

Prof. Soomro introduced to the participants, the flagship programs of ECO Science Foundation, including the AppIdear2R. He encouraged all the participants to register their ideas for this AppIdea2R program that aims to utilize the ICT platform and engage youth to address the challenges and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). AppIdea2Reality (AppIdea2R) is an app development contest that provides an opportunity to the university students in the ECO region, who can generate ideas or have app developing skills to use their ideas and technological knowledge, their ingenuity and their creativity to come up with an original System App that can be used every day. Earlier, Dean Faculty of Basic and Applied Sciences welcomed the audience. Dr. Ali Nawaz, Quaid-e-Azam University delivered his motivation talk during the event. Mr. Nasir Malik illustrated a video on threats to Biodiversity and discussed the importance of Biodiversity and its impact on the common man. The Rector International Islamic University concluded the event by appreciating the organizers of this Seminar.