Symposium calls for steps to protect wetlands at Flamingo Festival

A symposium organised by Sri City and Krea University as part of the ongoing ‘Flamingo Festival 2026’ called for effective steps to conserve and safeguard wetlands across the country.

Dwelling on the theme ‘Wetlands conservation and sustainable tourism’, experts, conservationists, policymakers, ecologists, NGO representatives and community stakeholders spoke on the social economic and ecological importance of Pulicat lake.

Tirupati District Collector S. Venkateswar, Conservator of Forest (Tirupati Wildlife Management Circle) C. Selvam, Regional Director (Tourism) Ramana Prasad and Sri City managing director Ravindra Sannareddy spoke on ensuring balanced development of the region without leaving any unwanted human imprint on the eco sensitive zone.

Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) expert Satya Selvam, meanwhile, spoke on allied topics, which drew the attention of the host of guests from different organisations, faculty and students of Krea University and A.P. government officials.

The day‑long symposium also had discussions on avian diversity, wetland management, and global recognition.

Eminent speakers and panellists from leading institutions including Ajit Kumar Pattnaik (Chilka Development Authority), A.M. Aravind (State of Indian Birds), Sridhar A. (WISA), Vora Uday (Gujarat Forest Dept.), Sunil Gurratu (NIH), Riddhika Ramesh (SACON), Gayomini Panagoda (University of Colombo), Rajdip Mitra (WII), Hareesha A.S. (IISER Tirupati), Amitav Mohanty (ISRO), Bubesh Gupta (Universal Eco Foundation) and others took part.