31st July 2019: WCS-India team including Ms. Prakriti Srivastava, IFS (Country Director), Mr. Venu Parameshwar (Finance Director), Mr. Praneet Goteti (Chief Development Officer), along with Dr. Vardhan Patankar (Head, Marine Conservation Program), Mr. Avik Banerjee (Project Associate) and Ms. Zoya Tyabji (Project Associate) met with delegates of the Nature Conservation Foundations’ Oceans and Coasts programme team- Dr. Rohan Arthur (Founding Trustee and Senior Scientist) and Dr. Teresa Alcoverro (Adjunct Faculty).
Ms. Prakriti Srivastava introduced the Marine Conservation Program, its long-term objectives and immediate goals of notifying Angria Bank as a Marine Protected Area. Dr. Arthur and Dr. Alcoverro provided valuable insights on the potential stakeholders involved, road map and detailed activities to be carried out to notify Angria Bank as a Marine Protected Area.
The teams had a productive interaction on various issues pertaining to marine conservation in India. Dr. Rohan Arthur and Dr. Teresa Alcoverro gave valuable suggestions and discussed way forward for the marine program of WCS-India and potential collaborations.