Date:14/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/14/stories/2009011450180100.htm

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NIO draws flak for ocean fertilization

Roy Mathew

THIRUVANTHAPURAM: The Indian Biodiversity Forum has protested against the involvement of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) in the expedition to fertilize sea near Antarctica with iron sulphate.

The NIO is conducting the operation in collaboration with the Alfred Wegener Institute of Germany as part of a project called LOHAFEX (Indo-German Iron Fertilisation Experiment). The expedition, which has set sail from Cape Town last week, plans to ‘fertilize’ 300 sq km of the Scotia Sea, close to Antarctica, with 20 tonnes of iron sulphate. (The dumping of iron in the ocean in order to generate an algal bloom is often called ocean fertilization).

In a letter to Prime Minister on behalf of the forum, ecologist S. Faizi, Vice-Chairman of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management Dhrubajyothi Ghosh, and the former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests D.P.S. Verma said the expedition constituted a breach of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The conference of parties of the convention in May last year had, by consensus, put a moratorium on ocean fertilization until ‘there is an adequate scientific basis on which to justify such activities, including assessing associated risks, and a global, transparent and effective control and regulatory mechanism is in place for these activities.’

The ecologists urged the Prime Minister to prevent breach of international laws by the NIO.

“India is a key player in CBD negotiations and it is in our self-interest that the authority of this international law is respected. For, as a victim of recurring bio-piracy we need to invoke this convention more often than many others.”

They said the project had already caused severe resentment among the global environmental community.