Pledge to save ‘Mother Earth’

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 22

Spreading the message of “Protect our species”, students of St Bede’s College and Himachal Pradesh University participated in the Earth Day celebrations at Western Himalayan Temperate Arboretum, near Summer Hill. The event was organized by the Himalayan Forest Research Institute (HFRI), Shimla.

Addressing the gathering, Dr VP Tewari, HFRI director, said Earth Day is celebrated to demonstrate support for environmental protection in more than 193 countries. The institute is also involved in sensitizing the stakeholders and general public about forestry from time-to-time. “Protect Our Species” is the theme this year, he added.

“Nature’s gifts to our planet are the millions of species that we know and love, and many more that remain to be discovered. The world is facing the greatest rate of extinction of important plant and wildlife species due to increased human activity”, Dr Vaneet Jishtu, scientist, HFRI said.

Raja Bhasin, author and historian, and state co-convener of the Indian National for Art and Culture Heritage, in his keynote, address urged the students to respect and maintain everything they get from the Mother Earth.

“We should save the earth so that our future generations can live in a safe environment and should strictly follow all measures to control the environmental pollution”, he added.

Bhasin said everyone should plant more trees to reduce the ill-effects of global warming.