Vote for India's 'Environment Ambassador', says President

New Delhi, Jun 5 (UNI) 'Kaun Banega Bharat ka Paryavaran Ambassasdor' (Who will be India's Environment Ambassador)--the nationwide campaign to create environmental awareness was launched here today by President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on the occasion of World Environment Day today.

Every person who belongs to this country can participate in the campaign and vote for whoever he or she thinks is contributing to the protection and conservation of Environment.

The President opened the campaign by releasing a poster on the theme and calling upon the nation to make the protection and conservation of nature a ' People's Movement'.

''The ambassador one choses can be a very known person, or quite unknown,''said Secretary of Environment and Forests Meena Gupta while explaining the nature of the Campaign.

The idea behind the Environment Ambassador campaign is that the nationwide vote would automatically lead to people thinking of environmental issues facing the country and the world.

During the campign, one lakh schools will be sent special environmental education material and efforts would be made to involve children in particular, she said.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests commemorated the day to create awareness about the effects of global warming and encourage action from masses.

The United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) has given the slogan 'Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy' for the Day, recognising climate change as the defining issue of the era. It has appealed to countries, companies and communities to focus on greenhouse gas emission and how to reduce them.

UNI NAZ AM RK1656