World Environment Day 2024 Program on Land Restoration, Desertification and Drought Resilience

On Wednesday, June 5, 2024, a World Environment Day-2024 event was held under the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem, Task Force on Agriculture-Network Project, and the Division of Environmental Sciences, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. This event, themed "Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience" with the slogan “Our Land, Our Future,” was organized in partnership with Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD India) and Milestone NGO.
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The program featured participation from 180 students from various schools, colleges, and institutes who took part in painting, quiz, and speech competitions. During the event, saplings of Bael Patra (Aegle marmelos), Shahtoot (Morus alba), Papdi (Holoptelea integrifolia), and Banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) were planted by the chief guest, Shri Franklin L. Khobung, Joint Secretary (NRM/RFS), and other distinguished guests including Dr. C. Viswanathan, Joint Director (Research), IARI; Dr. Suryanarayan Bhaskar, MoA&FW; Dr. S. D. Attri, Member, Commission for Quality Management; Dr. P. S. Bramhanand, Project Director, WTC, IARI; Dr. S. Naresh Kumar, Head, Division of Environmental Sciences, IARI & Principal Investigator, NMSHE Network Project; Dr. Ashish Khandelwal, Country Representative, YPARD India; Sh. Manish Sharma, Founder & President, Milestone NGO; as well as students, scientists, and staff of IARI.

Experts gave lectures on the importance of the environment, covering topics such as ecological footprint, ecological overshoot, LiFE-Lifestyle for Environment, sustainable consumption and production, sustainable food security and nutrition, source and sink balance, saving electricity and natural resources, the importance of trees, eco-friendly lifestyles, pollution management, land restoration, drought resilience, climate change adaptation, community activities, youth involvement in natural resource management, and the impact of environmental and nature-friendly activities on their lifestyles.

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