August 8, 2019: WCS-India team including Country Director Ms. Prakriti Srivastava, IFS along with Dr. Vardhan Patankar (Head, Marine Conservation Program), Mr. Avik Banerjee (Project Associate), Ms. Zoya Tyabji (Project Associate), Mr. Karan Deshpande (Project Assistant) and Mr. Dhruv Gangadharan Arvind (Program Assistant) met with delegates of the Dakshin Foundation team - Dr. Naveen Namboothri (Director and Founder Trustee) and Dr. Kartik Shanker (Founder Trustee).
Dr. Namboothri introduced Dakshin Foundation and talked about the agenda and progress of the organisation over the years, following which 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. Namboothri and Dr. Shanker extended their support towards the Marine Conservation Program and shared their interest on future collaborations with WCS-India. The teams discussed their mutual concerns on the consequences of the developmental sectors shifting towards marine spaces and the importance of upcoming long-term ecological monitoring programs. Dakshin Foundation extended the Andaman Nicobar Environment Team’s (ANET) support towards the WCS-India Marine Conservation Program and highlighted the need for discussions and collaborations amongst concerned organizations and individuals in carrying forward marine conservation in India.
Both teams had a productive interaction on various other issues pertaining to marine conservation in India and look forward to potential collaborations.