Dimapur, January 13 (MExN): An orientation program on the National Environmental Awareness Campaign (NEAC) was conducted for the different NGOs/institutions at the Conference Hall, Nagaland Pollution Control Board on January 13, 2012. A total of 81 organizations participated in the program.
Rusovil John, Member Secretary, Nagaland Pollution Control Board, & Co-ordinator, NEAC, welcomed the participants and highlighted the past activities of the participating organizations. Akangmeren Imchen, Senior Scientific Assistant, Nagaland Pollution Control Board, gave a presentation on the theme for the year 2011-12, “Forests for Sustainable Livelihood”. He spoke on the importance of forests and how our survival is dependent on our forest resources. He stated that forests serves as an oxygen factory, acts as carbon sinks, create watersheds, prevents floods in ecologically sensitive areas, regulates climate, prevents soil erosion and landslides, provide recreation and opportunities for Eco-tourism and adds to the aesthetic value of a landscape, maintains life support systems like timber, fuel, wood, fodder, food, medicine etc and are home to a variety of living organisms; thus preserving forests means conserving biodiversity. He also suggested ways in which we can conserve our forest resources such as planting and nurturing trees wherever feasible, banning the flow of industrial effluents into rivers and other fragile ecosystems, promoting the use of sustainable technologies like smokeless chulhas, groundwater recharging units, wind and solar energy etc.
The National Environmental Awareness Campaign (NEAC) is a program under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which aims to highlight the various environmental issues and concerns and create awareness to protect the environment. This program is implemented through non-governmental organizations and other institutions which are selected by giving wide publicity through the Regional Resource Agency, which is the Nagaland Pollution Control Board for the state of Nagaland. Altogether, there are 170 NGOs/institutions spread over all the districts. The theme for NEAC 2011-12 is “Forests for Sustainable Livelihood.”
