The Meghalaya government is planning to explore pineapple for production of vegan leather, said Forest and Environment Minister James Sangma.
He was delivering a keynote address virtually at the ‘TiE Sustainability Summit 2021’, being organised by TiE Hyderabad.
Vegan leather is a material that mimics leather, created from artificial or plant produce instead of animal skins.
“Meghalaya is one of the major pineapple producing states in India. It contributes 8 per cent of the total pineapple produced in India. Pineapple is the most important fruit crop of the State. We are working on pineapple for vegan leather,” Sangma said.
Sangma said the State is in the process of building a consensus to introduce climate change as a subject in the school curriculum.
“We are also building a consensus to introduce climate change as a subject in the school curriculum to sensitise children,” he added.
Noting that as much as 76 per cent of the land is forested, Sangma said Meghalaya is one of the top five states for biodiversity and it has a unique forest economy.
He also said the State government is planning to set up a museum on climate change to sensitise people on this issue.
“A climate change museum is also around the corner. We hope to inspire action on the climate crisis through this museum. Climate change is a defining challenge of our times. We must rise to fight it together,’ he said.
Forests are the best carbon removal investments and reforestation strategies and improving forest management together have a large potential to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
“We want to be a silicon valley for green-based products,” Sangma added.
