However, a balance has to be drawn, they said, with the end-result being a sustainable conservation of natural resources without affecting the livelihood of people depending upon them.

Madhav Gadgil, director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said instead of alienating the local communities by declaring any area `protected' or `reserved' it made more sense to re-assert traditional systems and motivate conservation efforts.

Conservation, as is understood today, he pointed out, was the protection of a few isolated places where people are kept completely away. Instead, by involving the locals, who had anyway been looking after the area for generations, a greater success could be achieved. Forests, said Suman Sahai, Director of Gene Campaign, must be conserved so that it not only helps in conservation but also protects livelihood of people depending on it.

However, Shekhar Singh, chairman of the USAID-sponsored biodiversity conservation prioritisation project, felt economic issues must not be allowed to subsume the environment. ``If there is a price for biodiversity, won't it be equivalent to selling it to the highest bidder? And will the locals be the highest bidders?'' he asked.

The local people, Gadgil said, had an immense wealth of traditional knowledge which often gets scientifically proven much later. Quoting an example, he narrated how in Bandipur forests of Karnataka, he once overheard some elephant owners discussing the depleting Ficus species of trees.

As elephants had a special preference for this species, the trees were extensively lopped resulting in less fruit, on which birds, squirrels and monkeys thrive. The men talked about how they could reduce dependence on these trees to allow other animals to survive.

Years later, noted environmentalist John Talbot in a description of keystones of ecology, described the Ficus species as important trees that provided a range of environmental benefits. Traditionally these trees, which include Peepul and Banyan, are venerated and found all over the country, especially in villages. Sahai said when one talks of genetic erosion, one is usually talking from cities without taking into account the people in the fields.

``Conservation must make sense of relevance to the people and not be limited to formulating of stringent policies,'' she noted, adding, however, that the incremental contribution of science and technology must be taken into account.

In this context, she talked of natural gene banks being established in the Siachin glacier and the Antarctic, where Army personnel and scientists were stationed. The banks were maintained at sub-zero temperatures, incurring great expenditure. Conservators of forests do not realise, Sahai said, the huge reservoir of biodiversity they are sitting on, which was extremely important not just in the context of food security but also a gene bank.

Turning to institutional aspects, she said the most outstanding lacuna in our biodiversity conservation is that we do not have an adequate and strong legislation.

Additional Inspector General of Forests M.S. Pandey said some kind of legislative approach has to be enforced to conserve our natural wealth. Some accountancy is also required. As Shekhar singh said, the debate will continue. But one has to start building bonds between foresters, NGOs, conservationists and ``honest'' people if the earth is to be saved for posterity.