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India’s first Marine Conservation Reserve is soon going to come up around Lakshadweep Islands. The projected was initiated in 2005 and has now emerged as the most thriving conservation initiative in the country. Mumbai based Scientist Deepak Apte along with a team of experts from across the country conducted a prolonged research in the local community. The local Panchayat has now formally forwarded a proposal to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to declare the area a marine reserve.
UK based Darwin Institute has been funding the project which is reportedly impressed with the detailed plan and community involvement in conservation of the biodiversity in the region. The protected area will be located in the Agatti atoll, about 500 km from the mainland of India. Scientist Deepak Apte remarked that the local Panchayat is today the biggest proponent of the project after their team explained to the local fisherfolk, the importance of conservation from the point of view of their livelihood.
