Prof Vishwanath of MU in elite IUCN research group
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, November 22 2012:
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has named Manipur University's Prof Waikhom Vishwanath along with a senior researcher Dr Rajeev Raghavan of Kerala among 19 member Freshwater Fish Specialist Group to study 18 region(freshwater) of the world.
"I am writing on behalf of Dr Simon N Stuart, Chair of the IUCN species survival commission and Dr Jane Madgwick, Chief Executive officer of Wetlands International to invite you to serve as the IUCN/WI Freshwater fish specialist group Regional co-chair for the South Asia region", says Prof Gordon McGregor Reid, chair of IUCN/WI Freshwater Fish Specialist Group (FFSG) in a letter to Prof Vishwanath, who had co-authored a chapter on fresh water fishes in IUCN's red list of eastern Himalaya.
"This appointment lasts through the next IUCN Quadrennium ending in September 2016 to coincide with the next World Conservation Congress" .
Thus Prof Vishwanath and Dr Rajeev became the first Indians to serve as the Co-chairs for the South Asia region to assess the new fish species as per IUCN's red list, identify research, management and conservation priorities for fresh water fishes and their habitats, related advocacy activities by promoting and carrying out conservation and research actions and communication by providing two annual updates of regional activities for FFSG website etc to create awareness about fresh water fish species for four years till 2016 .
Prof Vishwanath and Dr Rajeev of Conversation Research Group, St.
Albert's College, Kochi become the first Indians to serve as the Regional chair or Co-chairs for the South Asia region unlike other regions which have only one Regional chair each.
All the appointed Regional chairs and co-chairs will be involved with freshwater conservation and management over the coming four years and participate in IUCN's annual and beinnial meeting.
Fifty eight year old Prof Vishwanath who obtained Ph.D.degree from Manipur University in 1984, has been actively engaged in the taxonomy and systematics of the freshwater fishes of the Eastern Himalaya with financial assistance from different funding agencies of India.
He has discovered 56 new species of fishes so far; produced 23 Ph.D's published more than 120 research papers and 4 books on fish taxonomy.
He participated in the assessment and evaluation of fresh water fishes of the Eastern Himalaya for IUCN red listing in 2009-10 and co-authored the chapter on the fresh water fishes in the IUCN red list of Eastern Himalaya, 2010.He is now a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (an institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research), Barrackpore, India.
Prof.Vishwanath was conferred 'Prof.M.C.Dash Medal' by the Zoological Society of India in 2008 and 'AEB Honour 'by the Academy of Environmental Biology, India in 2010 in recognition of his contribution to Environmental Biology.
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