Making a fervent pitch to collectively address the challenges of climate change, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday urged the people to join the government efforts in spreading forest cover and conserving nature for posterity.
Launching the Green Tamil Nadu Mission, a flagship scheme of the Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company - a new special purpose vehicle created by the state government - at Arignar Anna Zoological park in Vandalur here, he said the initiative is aimed at increasing the state's tree and forest cover to 33 per cent from 23.69 per cent in the next 10 years.
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About 2.80 crore saplings have been raised for the purpose and details of all planting locations are collected along with geo-tagged data to monitor sapling planting and survival rate, he said.
The focus of this special drive will be to plant indigenous plant species and nearly 1,000 saplings would be planted in the zoo's parking area.
"This is the need of the hour. We can't create nature but we can conserve it. People should come forward to conserve nature and join the government initiative," the Chief Minister said.
Though Tamil Nadu is a lush-green state, the biggest challenge being faced is climate change, he said. "The climate change crisis is producing severe heat waves and extreme weather conditions, making it difficult to predict rains."
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For its part, the government led by him introduced the Meendum Manjapai - a campaign to promote yellow cloth bags replacing plastic ones - to reduce environment pollution. But government alone can't accomplish the task unless people joined the initiative to conserve nature because it belongs to all living beings and for posterity, Stalin emphasised.
"Protecting nature is ingrained in our culture which can be seen in Tamil literature, the classification of land and even in temples promoting plant species," he said and called for efforts to protect soil health, forests, waterbodies, preventing air pollution and eliminating use of non biodegradable plastics.
"Creating sustainable livelihood, effective land management and ensuring food security are crucial in conserving nature," he pointed out.
State Forest Minister K Ramachandran, Environment Secretary Supriya Sahu and Green TN Mission Director Deepak Sreevastava were among those who spoke at the launch event.
The Chief Minister planted native plant species on the occasion, and felicitated farmers and individuals for their contribution to greening and afforestation work.
-With PTI Input
