Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma today pledged and called upon the people to add 500 square kilometres of forest cover in the State in the next few years.
On the occasion of World Environment Day which was celebrated virtually throughout the State through video conferencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chief Minister stressed on the importance of three As. He said, ‘Awareness’ at the grassroot level, ‘Alternative’ for society and government to work together and ‘Act’ to achieve the goals in a time bound manner to make a difference.
Sangma said that all need to accept that climate change is happening and it will affect everyone and that adaptation to climate change is going to be a very critical part for policy makers at the highest level.
“Different forms of adaptation to the environment and the ecosystem, figuring out policies, creating infrastructures and investing to ensure that people adapt to the changing ecosystem are very critical not only for the government but the people as well,” he said.
Thanking the different stakeholders in the conservation, restoration and preservation process he added that the biggest responsibility in making a difference lies with an individual and urged upon all to take small yet significant steps towards the environment.
Forest & Environment, James P K Sangma said that the theme of the World Environment Day this year is very apt to Meghalaya. “With forest and nature so embedded in our culture and our livelihood, agriculture and life so closely tied to climate change impacts and forest related sectors, we have to recast our lens on Meghalaya as a forest economy,” he said.
He added that economic opportunities out of the green and climate action and conservation besides climate finance, climate budgeting, conservation related livelihoods and incentivised green action like eco-tourism is what the State needs. “We at the forest and environment are already formulating many proposals to create a path breaking template of environment leadership,” he said.
The Minister also informed of the various afforestation projects in coal mining affected areas. He also said that the department is looking at restoration and cleaning of two entire stretches of rivers in East Jaiñtia Hills which are polluted due to unscientific coal mining.
Minister, Soil & Water Conservation, Hamlet Dohling said that Meghalaya has a huge biodiversity and called upon all the citizens to come together unitedly in conserving the natural resources and the ecosystem.
The programme also saw the experience sharing from communities across the State in preserving and restoring the ecosystem.
A presentation on Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Natural Resource Management and Livelihood to have a common platform to anchor all that is happening in Natural Resource Management was also given on the occasion.
