Minister John calls for collective responsibility to protect environment

DIMAPUR — On the eve of World Environment Day (WED) 2024, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, CL John has called for collective responsibility to protect and preserve the environment.

“God has blessed our Nagaland with bountiful nature. We have best of climatic conditions, quite conducive for our living. The air we breathe and the water in our rivers is one of the cleanest on the planet.

“At this juncture, when entire north India is experiencing unprecedented heat waves, many of us don’t even require a fan. However, let this not make us complacent and lower our commitments towards environment as we also face environmental challenges,” read a message from the minister.

On the theme of WED 2024, ‘Land restoration, desertification and drought resilience,” John said that while desertification may not be a direct challenge in the state, land degradation is a major concern as in many areas, soils are losing their fertility through run-off of the nutrients.

He said the erratic nature of rainfall and shift in various seasons, which are direct consequences of climate change, are being felt by the state.

The minister informed that the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (DEFCC) has been actively engaging in various activities involving all stake-holders with needful actions like awareness programmes, run for nature, sapling distribution, alternate livelihood programmes, use of renewal energy, vertical gardens, urban parks, radio talks and articles in local news dailies.

The department is also actively collaborating with churches, schools, village councils, police and CSOs to make the campaign an inclusive and sustainable one.

“We are pioneer in the establishing community reserves (CRs) for protection of wildlife and environment. The protection accorded to Amur Falcon has received international recognition and appreciation,” he added.

Also read: Waste pile-up at Doyang dam raises concerns