IISc plans to establish a biodiversity information base and museum/conservation facility centred around Indian and South Asian biodiversity, modeled after the US-based Smithsonian Institution.
This digital platform will integrate knowledge of India’s biodiversity into one database along multiple axes. Other than basic information, such as identification and distribution of species of plants and animals from different regions of India, this platform would include a number of novel components, such as genetic, behavioural, physiological and environmental data. The Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES) at IISc has made pioneering contributions to the study of ecology and conservation, and is ideally poised to act as a nerve centre for such an initiative. The Centre has already launched the first digital flora portal (the Flora of Karnataka) in India (currently hosted at http://florakarnataka.ces.iisc.ac.in/hjcb2/), based on an extensive herbarium collection in CES.
Cumulative Target: Rs. 2 crores. A small percentage (~5%) of each contribution may be used for administrative/overhead expenses.
Timeline: 3 years
Ways to Give:
Alumni
Corporates & Philanthropists