On 7th May 2024, WCS-India was invited to Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru to host a session titled "BlueMAP-India: Marine Museum, Awareness, Policy for Conservation Outreach". The speakers touched upon WCS-India's science communication efforts, and highlighted India's marine life, habitats, and conservation policies through interactive quizzes. Anukriti Shaw (Social Media Coordinator, Communications and Outreach) talked briefly about the creative and science communication initiatives at WCS-India. Phalguni Ranjan (Communications Coordinator, Communications and Outreach) talked about the interactive BlueMAP-India website while Shyama Kuriakose (Workstream lead, Area-based Management and Policy, Marine Programme) talked about the conservation policies and legal framework hosted on the website.
BlueMAP-India is WCS-India's interactive website that hosts information on India’s marine life, habitats, ecosystem services, threats, Marine Protected Areas, and a guide to the main conservation laws and policies. This resource seeks to contribute towards UN SDGs 14 (life below water) while seeking to fill in a large gap in marine conservation – the lack of a centralised information repository on India’s marine biodiversity and policies for the public.
Visit the BlueMAP-India website here: https://bluemapindia.org/