In Hyderabad for Conservation (Hyderabad Diary - Day 1)

Reached Hyderabad yesterday, to attend the Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 11-CBD), as an Observer. This is the 11th COP of the convention, which is held once in two years, last time it was held in Nagoya, Japan. The Convention was among the few conventions that received the highest global support. Although biodiversity related targets of the Millennium Development Goals were not accomplished during the last decade, the topic is a much discussed topics in environment. 

Hyderabad, the capital of Andra Pradesh, is the fifth largest city in India - the metropolitan area is about 650 square kilometres. That is about the size of the district of Colombo! The tour from airport to the conference venue and to the was a sightseeing visit, covering a large part of the city. The usual scenery included numerous multistory buildings rising all around the city, some rising on the rocky landscape bringing some urban beauty for the city. This development seems to be taken place during the recent past - with the advent of the development of the IT industry.

The climate of the city seems somewhat an arid climate (Wiki page mentions this as: "a combination of a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen Aw) that borders on a hot semi-arid climate").

Few words on the arrangements: 

Hyderabad International Confere nce Centre is the main venue of the COP 11 and is a spacious location. It is called the centre of the Cyberabad, that is the main hub of the IT industry of Hyderabad. The Conference arrangements eased us from some routine matters like registration etc. which were well coordinated using modern technology wherever appropriate.

The conference is arranged to promote some eco-friendly activities. Such a one is the reusable bottle provided - instead of providing disposable PET water bottles they have instructed to use it to reduce the use of disposable cups. Great!

(The diary will be updated daily, but may not be properly edited. I am grateful for the Green Movement of Sri Lanka for providing the opportunity to attend this event)