NEW YORK: Living Planet Foundation of USA, in association with a growing number of international organizations has launched a worldwide campaign to have the Gulf of Mannar designated a UNESCO World Heritage mixed Natural and Cultural site.

Founders of the Campaign believe that the Gulf of Mannar which includes Ram Sethu (Adam’s Bridge) fulfills the criteria and requirements set forth in the World Heritage Convention for designation as a World Heritage Site. This designation would assist in the protection of this first marine Biosphere reserve in all of South and Southeast Asia located on the southeastern tip of India in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The Campaign is urging persons of all walks of life to urge the Government of India to petition the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to declare the Gulf of Mannar a World Heritage Site.

The campaign was officially launched in Houston, home of Living Planet Foundation on World Environment Day, June 5. A delegation from the Campaign met with S.M. Gavai, Consul General of India at the India Consulate General Houston, Texas and handed him the Campaign’s letter addressed to Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India. The meeting, which was held in a good atmosphere, covered a range of topics, including the importance of the Gulf of Mannar as an ecological and environmental hotspot, the cultural and religious aspects of Ram Sethu and the Thorium deposits of the region.

What the delegation found most encouraging from the meeting with Gavai was a clear declaration from him that the ecological and environmental aspects of the Gulf of Mannar must not be ignored. He promised to look into the matter and also expressed a keen interest about the Thorium deposits in the region of Mannar region and its potential as India’s nuclear energy resource. In other parts of the world, volunteers from the Campaign handed petitions to the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C. and Consulates in Chicago and Toronto.

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