Manado Hosting Int'l Biodiversity Conference

Manado, North Sulawesi, July 5 (Antara) - The North Sulawesi provincial city of Manado is hosting an international conference on Biodiversity and Integrated Pest Management from July 4-7, 2013. The conference is initiated by Sam Ratulangi University (Unsrat) in cooperation with Virginia Tech and Clemson University in the United States. Unsrat secretary for international affairs Wiske Rotinsulu said here on Friday that the conference was attended by more than 200 agricultural experts from various universities in 27 countries. According to her, the experts attending the conference comes from among others the United States, Australia, The Netherlands, Germany, Malaysia, The Philippines, Kambodia, Fiji, India, Pakistan, Slovenia, Poland, Srilangka, Papua New Guinea, Hungary, and Bangladesh. "Those agricultural experts from various universities around the world in the conference will discuss relation between biodiversity and integrated pest management," Wiske said. She pointed out that efforts to increase sustainable food production and food availability were inseparable from the survival of biodiversity in nature. Further, she added that excessive use of pesticide by the farmers would only damage the environment, pollute the water and soil, and even be harmful for the health of the farmers themselves. "Therefore it is necessary to develop organic agriculture for biodiversity to remain sustainable," she said, adding that the result of the conference would be followed up with research cooperation in the fields of agriculture and environment. North Sulawesi Governor Sinyo Sarudajang when opening the conference on Thursday said the event was expected to unite the perceptions of the experts for a sustainable program in agricultural and environmental development. Sarundajang also extended his appreciation to the agricultural experts who have a great concern about balancing biodiversity preservation with food production. He said food production was important but gradual destruction of forests, watersheds, and other natural habitats to produce that food could eventually lead to the destruction of natural resource wealth. North Sulawesi has long been appreciated for its great biodiversity after Alfred Russel Wallace, the famed 19th century British naturalist, spent considerable time to collect various kinds of insects and birds throughout the island of Sulawesi.