Community marine biodiversity online register launched

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Transport Minister C.P. John on Monday underscored the importance of documenting the traditional knowledge of fishers. Mr. John was speaking after launching a Community Marine Biodiversity Online Register (CMBOR) on the marine ecosystems off the Thiruvananthapuram coast as part of the World Oceans Day celebrations on Monday (June 8).

Mr. John suggested that the traditional knowledge be documented and preserved in the form of audio files. The CMBOR has been developed by Friends of Marine Life (FML), a Thiruvananthapuram-based organisation. The Minister said that the State government was open to suggestions from scientists regarding changes needed in the State’s policies in matters concerning the coast and the sea.

A. Biju Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) presided. He said that the CMBOR developed by FML is a big step for the people’s science movement and the concept of ocean literacy. “Perhaps, this is the first-of-its-kind register in India that has been developed with the active participation of fishers,” Dr. Biju Kumar said. Whether or not the scientific name of an organism is available, the important factor in such documentations should be that the presence of an organism is noted, he said. On people’s biodiversity registers at the local body level, he opined that the bureaucratic character of committees that usually head such projects tend to hinder the desired public involvement.

The CMBOR (cmbor.org) provides information on a wealth of marine species, including many that have yet to be scientifically identified, said FML coordinator Robert Panipilla. Apart from photographs, the register has 55 habitat-related underwater videos and over 200 species-related videos.

The CMBOR project was supported by the Kerala University’s Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, South Indian Federation of Fishermen’s Societies, Aazhi Archives and Scuba Cochin. John Kurien, former professor, Centre or Development Studies; social worker N