Mumbai to host Seamposium for promoting marine conservation

Representative image. Pic/iStock

Marine enthusiasts from across the city will gather on June 12 for the first edition of SEAmposium - a dedicated festival for ocean lovers.

Paresh Pimpale, Founder of Ecofolks, said that the idea is to celebrate the innate connection that Mumbai has with the sea through a series of talks, film festival and committed action on the ground.

"This is an attempt to re-connect the people of Mumbai to the ocean in a new way and a new vision that the Ocean is not a huge resource to consume but the last resource to conserve," he said.

SEAmposium 2022 is being held at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) Udyan and Zoo at Byculla and will be inaugurated by Dr. Bivash Pandav, Director of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Virendra Tiwari, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Mangrove Cell) & Dr Sanjay Tripathi, Director VJB Udyan and Zoo, said Pimpale.

The event will start at 10 am at the VJB Zoo auditorium. It will have speakers including marine enthusiast and co-founder of Marine Life of Mumbai (MLOM) Pradeep Patade, Author Sejal Mehta, Wildlife Veterinarian & founder of Ri Wild Sanctuary Dr Rina Dev, Zsuzsanna & Lisbon Ferarro who initiated beach clean ups in Vasai area, Dr Madhumita Kale, head veterinarian for the penguin enclosure.

The talks will be followed by the Ocean Film Festival where three documentaries on ocean conservation including Invisible Ocean - Plankton & Plastic by Emily Driscoll, Imperishable by Akansha Tiwari and Coral Woman by Priya Thuvassery will be screened.

"Through the talks, we want to initiate a discussion on marine conservation, eco-tourism and building a community of ocean lovers at the same time through the Ocean film festival we want to also documentary film-making and documentation of the coast all across Maharashtra by people of Maharashtra," said Pimpale.

SEAmposium will also see the launch of Sea Action Leadership Team (SALT), which will be a group of students studying Oceanography at various colleges across Mumbai. "SALT is a college collective for ocean conservation & education and will aim to engage, entertain, educate & empower the urban coastal communities in understanding the ocean better," he said, adding that this team will be about the youth taking leadership in the conservation SEAmposium is supported by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), Cochin Shipyard Limited, VJB Zoo, BNHS.