The India Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology was launched at a two-day Conference organised on 19 - 20 March 2018 at the Amity Institute of Forestry and Wildlife, Amity University, NOIDA, with support from SCB-Asia Section and four leading non-profits in India – WWF-India, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and Corbett Foundation. Dr. Ghazala Shahabuddin, current SCB-Asia Board Member and Dr. Murali Krishna from Amity Institute co-chaired the event.

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The inaugural session of India Chapter drew an enthusiastic response from the conference attendees and non-profits from all over the country. The inaugural event included student poster sessions, plenary talks, student talks, workshops and an expert panel discussion. The whole event received good feedback from the participants. The inaugural session was also attended and supported by two additional members of the Asia Board of SCB- Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz and Alice Hughes.

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Currently 57 people, including professors, conservation practitioners, researchers and students from seven different Indian states, have joined the India Chapter in 2017-18. Amity Institute of Forestry and Wildlife, where the inaugural session was held, will serve as the hub for the India Chapter for the next two years. Twelve SCB members, based in seven different Indian provinces, volunteered to serve on the board of India Chapter for the next one year (2018-19). The board members are now communicating regularly with each other through an email group.

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As a start, the group unanimously decided to focus on the following activities:

• Creation of a membership list for the India Chapter, and a means of communication amongst them (email list)

• Outlining key roles for the India chapter, such as policy liaison, social science research and communication, through frequent discussions.

• Research and publicity on urgent policy issues related to environmental laws and regulations in India, that are likely to have ramifications for biodiversity conservation

• Capacity-building workshops in neglected areas such as social science research methods, research design and writing skills for students

• A national mentorship programme for students and researchers in conservation biology based on short summer internships.

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So far, in 2017-18, the group has submitted a Policy Brief to the Union Environment Ministry, providing detailed comments on a new draft of India’s Forest Policy. The Chapter intends to continue making such technocratic and time-bound contributions. The Chapter is partnering for a Social Science Workshop that will be organized at Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, Gujarat in October 2019 (Check the Flier below).