Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 27 Jun: The final day of ICCON 2025 at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, brought together India’s largest gathering of wildlife researchers, conservation scientists, forest officials, and policymakers under one roof. With over 500 participants from across the country and beyond, the 3-day event—preceded by a full day of pre-conference workshops—reflected the growing momentum for collaborative and data-driven conservation action in India.
The concluding day began with a plenary address by Dr Mahesh Sankaran (NCBS), who offered a compelling deep-dive into climate–biodiversity interactions in savanna ecosystems. His address encouraged participants to pursue cross-scale ecological research and draw links between local patterns and global environmental change.
The technical sessions that followed featured a rich mix of oral presentations spanning genetics, landscape ecology, conservation conflicts, and species monitoring. A poster presentation round in the afternoon, showcased research projects across the country, including urban biodiversity, disease ecology, and youth-led citizen science initiatives.
Dr Akanksha Rathore delivered a compelling spotlight talk on “Sensing the Wild: AI Tools for Tracking, Understanding and Conserving Nature”, showcasing how emerging technologies can revolutionise wildlife monitoring and ecological research. The Plenary address by Dr Manoj Nair, IFS, CCF (Wildlife) Odisha, provided valuable insights into India’s ongoing conservation priorities, including landscape-level planning, institutional frameworks, and integrating technology into governance.
The evening also featured the much-anticipated TechBridge session, at which conservation innovators presented solutions to field-based challenges. Key presenters included A&S Creations, Pardus Wild-tech LLP, and IIT Roorkee, who shared tools designed for wildlife tracking, community engagement, and data visualisation.
A&S Creations was also acknowledged as the generous sponsor of the ICCON 2025 Equipment Grant Awards, supporting 8 young researchers in their fieldwork and data collection needs. Each Equipment Grant winner was awarded Rs 25,000 rupees during the first day plenary session by Bhupender Yadav, Minister, MoEFCC.
“In India, most funding and attention go to charismatic species like tigers and larger mammals, while lesser-known taxa like frogs and butterflies often struggle for support,” said Sarika Baidya, one of the ICCON 2025 Equipment Grant awardees working on the conservation of the endangered Bhutan Glory butterfly in Arunachal Pradesh. “I’m deeply grateful to the Wildlife Institute of India and ICCON 2025 for recognising my work. This grant is a big help—I will use it to purchase a GPS device and butterfly net. For young researchers like me working on underrepresented species, support like this is both rare and incredibly encouraging.”
The day concluded with the Closing Ceremony, which included a summary of ICCON’s proceedings. In his Vote of Thanks, Dr Bilal Habib, Organising Secretary of ICCON 2025, said, “ICCON has grown into a vibrant ecosystem of exchange. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to making this event a celebration of ideas, science, and collective vision.”
Dr Ruchi Badola, Dean, WII said, “This platform has helped bridge the gap between research, policy, and practice—especially for our students and early-career professionals. The future of conservation will be shaped by gatherings like this.”
“With over 500 attendees, ICCON 2025 stands as the largest gathering of its kind in the country. It reaffirms WII’s commitment to nurturing conservation leadership and fostering scientific dialogue at scale. We are grateful to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and to our Minister Bhupender Yadav, for their continued support,” said Virendra Tiwari, Director, WII.
