TERI, MoEF celebrate World Forestry Day

New Delhi, Mar 21 (ANI/Business Wire India): The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in association with Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) celebrated World Forestry Day 2009.

Internationally, the day is celebrated to highlight the importance of forests and its benefits for the society.

Present on the occasion were Vijai Sharma, Secretary MoEF, Padmashri Dr Anil Joshi, M B Lal, ADGF (Wildlife), A K Johari, DIG (RT), and Ranjana Saikia, Fellow TERI. Speaking on the relevance of conserving our forests, Dr Anil Joshi said, "I appreciate the skit performed by the children that shows the reality of today's life where pollution is affecting our existence. It is important for us to know the relation of forests with our economy, sustainability and survival. In India, the majority of the population lives in the villages that are nearest to the forest areas. It the past, this community took care of forests as their economy was dependant on it and the forests were sustained. But we now witness that the forests are being wiped off as the village economy is dependant on urban industries. Thus, it is essential to build village economies through decentralisation of science and technology."

He further added, "Today, we do not take our fundamental resources-air, water, soil and forests into consideration while talking about economic growth as we are moving from 'need to greed'. This has affected the sustenance of our forests as resources generated from it are exploited. It is time for our younger generation to find new solutions to save the forests and take a new approach where economic growth compliments the environment. "

On this occasion, more than 100 students from non-formal education background from Delhi and NCR participated in the programme.

The aim of the event was to spread environmental awareness among the children of the country focusing on action oriented programme such as skits, competitions etc. It aspires to encourage the youth to use forest resources in a sustainable manner.

The programme provided information on sustainable forest management; protection, production and recreation.

Giving the presidential address, Vijai Sharma, Secretary MoEF said, "I appreciate the step taken by TERI to promulgate the importance of this day. Forests are our major resource centre and we have been misusing them without thinking about its repercussions. Our wildlife is also in danger as forests are shrinking due to our growing needs for more roads, concrete homes, etc. I am happy that children have participated in such large numbers and am confident that they will steer the process of conservation and creating new forest areas."

The students avidly participated in the skit competition and took a pledge to "Save forests to save life", discouraging deforestation, which threats human existence. The winners of the skit competition were Prayas-Social Welfare Society followed by Amitasha.

To spread the message further, students have placed sunboards in different communities across Delhi and NCR with the message "Save Forest to Save Life".

The sunboard has a painting by Kinshuk Jaiswal, Student, St.John's School, DLW Varanasi. (ANI)