GUWAHATI, June 17 - A two-day workshop �Let�s Talk Turtles� was organised recently under the joint aegis of Assam Don Bosco University (ADBU), Assam State Biodiversity Board, Turtle Survival Alliance and Help Earth, according to a delayed press release issued here.
The curriculum of the workshop included turtle taxonomy, turtle biology, legal aspects, molecular taxonomy, turtle survey methodology, etc.
The workshop was organised in the zoology department of ADBU at Tapesia. The participants were researchers and research students from Cotton University, Gauhati University, ICAR, ADBU and NGOs.
The resource persons of the workshop comprised experts in the field of turtle biology including Dr Shailendra Singh from Turtle Survival Alliance, Dr Saibal Sengupta of ADBU, Dr Rajeev Basumatary from DR College, Dr Madhurima Das from IBT Hub, Arya Vidyapeeth College and Dr Jayaditya Purkayastha from Help Earth.
A special session was undertaken regarding threatened species of Assam notified U/S 38 of Biodiversity Act of 2002 by Dr Oinam Sunanda Devi, Scientific Officer in the Assam State Biodiversity Board.
The programme was inaugurated by Fr Francis Fernandez and Prasanta Kumar Choudhury of ADBU.
The aim of the workshop was to build capacity of the youths so that the State could have more turtle biologists.
Assam is home to 20 species of turtles making it the most species-rich state in India in terms of turtle diversity, but unfortunately 70 per cent are threatened with extinction.
