Events of EIACP
Patna, March 21. The World Forest Day was celebrated by the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) today with its Director, Professor Dr. Ajit Sinha, planting a sapling on the institute’s premises.
Ms. Pooja Kumari of the Environmental Information, Awareness, Capacity Building and Livelihood Program (EIACP) at Centre for Studies on Environment and Climate (CSEC) at ADRI talked about the indispensability of forests as they serve as a Carbon sink by absorbing harmful greenhouse gases, thereby putting a check on the adverse effects of climate change. Moreover, they generate the life-giving Oxygen gas and more than 30 percent of newly-emerged diseases afflicting humans globally since the 1960s can be attributed to the calamitous deforestation taking place every day on our planet. She added that forests are home to eighty percent of amphibian species.
Shree Anjani Kumar Verma of ADRI elaborated on how forest coverage badly needs to be expanded in our state of Bihar as the current figures show a coverage much below the ideal of one-third of the total land area of the state. He pointed out the need for humans to co-exist with Nature, including forests. He also mentioned that we in Bihar also have a tradition of planting a tree on the occasion of the birth of a girl child. This practice should be adopted widely.
Member-Secretary of ADRI, Dr. Ashmita Gupta, stated that creation of an awareness of the significance of forests is imperative. Shree Indrajit Goswami, also of ADRI recited a song composed by him and written by Sunil Kumar in the Khortha language. The song was in honor of Mother Nature.