WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

Transcription

1 Government of Gujarat Forests & Environment Department WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2014 Gujarat Ecology Commission Government of Gujarat

2 Foreword Since 1972, the United Nations has spearheaded the celebration of World Environment Day on 5 th June every year to spread awareness about environment conservation. It was in the same year that United Nations formed an agency United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environme ent. Many efforts have gone into making this day resonate with positive actions from people from all walks of life. The day is celebrated with a specific theme every year that defines the pressing need of the hour. With the same spirit, every year Gujarat Ecology Commission plans and implements various activities to commemorate this day. In accordance with the theme of this year; Raise Your Voice, Not the Sea level we have implemented activities for various targett groups. A special week long activities like innovative Paryavaran Katha, movie shows, treee plantation etc. were conductedd in the villages of Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project to emphasize on coastal environment conservation. Apart from this we have partnered with various stakeholders like the Collectorate, Gandhinagar; Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation and World Around You (an organizationn working on environment communi cation) to reach upto the young and the experienced all alike. In addition to this we have also ventured to widen our outreach in creating awareness through FM radio channels and news paper advertisements on the theme. Indeed, our efforts have reached community members, who we believee to be the torch bearers in the years to come, and who would relentlessly work toward a better environment and a safer future. I wish that our activities encourage you to the environment and serve the humanity. take more positive actions to save Dr. A. K. Verma, IFS Member Secretary, GEC Project Director, ICZMP Gujarat

3 ACTIVITIES ON WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2014 Every year on June 5, the world gets together to ponder upon and to initiate actions to conserve Mother Nature. The World Environment Day is commemorated on the same day to spread the message and encourage people to act. With the same spirit, Gujarat Ecology Commission has initiated several activities to make people aware as well as to make future generations participate in conservation initiatives. More aptly it is celebrated as a people s day. CLEAN GANDHINAGAR, GREEN GANDHINAGAR CAMPAIGN Gandhinagar is known as one of the greenest cities and therefore it is more important for every citizen of the city to keep it Clean and Green. The use of plastics and managing the solid waste has become prime issues in the recent times for Gandhinagar city. Development in peri-urban areas surrounding Gandhinagar is growing day by day and with this the waste generation has also increased. In view of above, a campaign Clean Gandhinagar, Green Gandhinagar has been designed by Gujarat Ecology Commission, Collector Office, Gandhinagar and Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation. The campaign has been officially launched on June 5, 2014 through various awareness activities. Drawing competition for the children and youth of Gandhinagar Over 500 children and youth of Gandhinagar participated in the drawing competition held on June 5, 2014 at Indroda Nature Park, Gandhinagar. The participants enjoyed the early morning serene atmosphere of the Indroda Park, while drawing their creations. The drawing competition Children engrossed in drawing during the campaign was an active part of the Clean Gandhinagar Green Gandhinagar campaign. The competition was also part of the several awareness activities planned by Gujarat Ecology Commission to celebrate World Environment Day 2014.

4 The event was inaugurated by several dignitaries, such as Dr. A. K. Verma, IFS, Member Secretary, Gujarat Ecology Commission; Mr. P. Swaroop, IAS, District Collector, Gandhinagar District; Mr. Bharat Pathak, IFS, Director, GEER Foundation and Mr. A. C. Sampat, Ecology Director, Commission. Gujarat Other senior officials from Collector office, Gujarat Ecology Commission and Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation were also present. The competition was held in association with the Indroda Nature Park (GEER Foundation), who provided alll support to conduct drawing competition in their premises. The drawing event was conducted in three categories, primary (Std 1 to 8), secondary (Std 9 and 10) and higher secondary & under-graduate (Std and under-graduate). The participants of the drawing competition were given a kit as well, which consisted of a packet of crayons, pencil, sharpener and eraser. The creations were judged by specialists of the field like Mr. Vrindavan Solanki, Mr. Deepak Erda (Financial Advisor to F&E Dept, GoG), Mr. Ronak Sopariwala and Ms. Roma Patel.

5 The winners have been selected by the judges; however the same has not been declared, as the Collector office, Gandhinagar is planning to organize a prize distribution and exhibition of the drawings in the coming weeks. Mr. Vrindavan Solanki (Artist), Mr. P. Swaroop, IAS (Collector, Gandhinagar), Mr. Bharat Pathak, IFS (Director GEER Foundation) & Dr. A. K. Verma, IFS (Member Secretary GEC & Project Director, ICZMP Gujarat encouraged the participants Rally to support Clean Gandhinagar, Green Gandhinagar campaign Tree guard distribution during the rally The campaign has been kicked off on June 5, 2014 with a rally to promote activities under the Clean Gandhinag gar, Green Gandhinagar campaign. The campaign has been inaugurated by distinguished guests and political leaders. More than 1000 people from Gandhinag gar gathered at Sector 21 market to witness the campaign launch as well as to vouch their continuous support to all the efforts, which would be taken

6 under the campaign on a project mode. They carried placards also to spread messages. The rally was flagged off in the presence of Dr. A. K. Verma, IFS, Member Secretary, Gujarat Ecology Commission; Mr. P. Swaroop, IAS, District Collector, Gandhinagar and Mr. Pradipsinh Rathod, Dy. Municipal Commissioner, Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation and other officials. With the active participation and support of Mr. Mahendrasinh Rana, Mayor, Gandhinagar city; MLAs; local political leaders and eminent citizens, the rally turned out to be well participated. People marching ahead in rally with placards to spread awareness on environment conservation Apart from the rally, community members were given free saplings and metal tree guards to encourage plantation and its maintenance in the city. The rally also witnessed unveiling of the campaign mascot, the Green Boy, which will be part of all the communication and awareness activities planned under the campaign. The mascot for Clean Gandhinagar, Green Gandhinagar campaign the Green Boy was unveiled during the rally on World Environment Day 2014

7 CELEBRATION OF WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY IN COASTAL VILLAGES In order to celebrate World Environment Day 2014, weeklong activities are planned by Gujarat Ecology Commission in the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project villages of Gujarat. The activities were initiated with a Paryavaran Katha in Pavadiyara village of Kachchh district. The celebrations included tree plantation, village cleaning, documentary movie shows etc. Officials of different government departments and members of NGOs were also part of the activities. The activities were implemented in 22 project villages of ICZMP. Coastal villagers participating in World Environment Day activities RADIO MESSAGES ON SEA LEVEL RISE Awareness messages were aired on six FM radio channels across Ahmedabad and Rajkot city. The spots were played for seven days from June 4 to 10, The messages highlighted the issue of sea level rise and its impact. Raise your voice and not the sea level, lets work towards bring in change [one of the radio messages]

8 WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY CELEBRATIONS IN GANDHI PROJECT World Environment Day was celebrated in Dandi village of Jalalpor block, which is an integral part of the GANDHI project. On this occasion an exposure visit on Solid Waste Management was organized by Gujarat Ecology Commission in association with Gujarat Vidyapeeth. It is noticeable that through continuous efforts and active involvement of community, Dandi village has won the title of "Most Clean Village" in Navsari from the district authorities. In addition, the village has received Rs. 15 lakhs grant for the development of the village from district development project. Villagers engaged in tree plantation on environment day INVOLVEMENT OF COMMUNITY IN ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION: A PANEL DISCUSSION ON WORLD ENVIRONEMNT DAY The World Environment Day celebrations included a Panel Discussion at the Ahmedabad World Environment Day festival 2014 organized by World Around You (WAY) an organization working in promoting environment communication and practices. The panel discussion was chaired by Dr. A.K. Verma, IFS, Member Secretary, Gujarat Ecology Commission. The discussion focussed on How community can contribute to environment conservation?. The discussion also included eminent panelists from other important social spheres such as film-making, law, corporate, education, and environment, such as Mr. Raj Zanane (film maker); Mr. Pankaj Patel (industrialist), Mr. Dhiresh Joshi, Anala Outdoors and Ms. Nashy Chauhan, Director, Anand Niketan Group of Schools.

9 Several important points and issues resulted from the discussion such as the government's efforts toward environmental conservation, the role of early childhood education in environmental conservation as well as the role of corporate bodies. It was refreshing to see many young faces attend the event as well as actively participate in it. Dr. A. K. Verma, IFS leading the panel discussion along with Mr. Raj Zanane (film maker); Mr. Pankaj Patel (industrialist) and Mr. Dhiresh Joshi, Anala Outdoors ADVERTISEMENT ON SEA LEVEL RISE IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA A one page advertisement on sea level rise with the photographs and message of Hon ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, Smt. Anandiben Patel; Hon ble Minister Cabinet Minister, Forests & Environment Department, Shri Ganpatsinh Vasava and Hon ble State Minister, Forests & Environment Department, Shri Govindbhai Patel was published in The Times of India (Gujarat edition) and in Ahmedabad Mirror.

10 WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY ACTIVITIES COVERED BY MEDIA Snapshots of news articles on activities implemented by GEC

11 ALONG G THE CO OAST OF F GUJARA AT: A PHO OTOGRAP PHY COM MPETITIO ON Apart from the e above activities, a, we had d also announced a photog graphy compe etition Alo ong the Coast C of Gujarat G to o celebrate e the Worrld Enviro onment Day As a respon nse to the same, we had received r more tha an 120 photog graphs, under u variious them mes such as coasta al biodiverrsity of Gujarat, sea lev vel rise & its impac ct and live es of coas stal comm munities. T The comp petition was op pen only to t the pho otographe ers of Gujarat to prromote pa articipation from the coastal area as. The photograp p phs receiived hav ve been judged by senio or profes ssional photog graphers of Gujjarat, su uch as Mr. Sa anat Sho odhan (W Wildlife photog grapher), Mr. Shaillesh Rava al (photo journalist,, India To oday Grou up) and Mr. Viinod Gajjjar (Speciialist photographerr of coralls). The c competitio on was popula arized thrrough ourr social media sites s like Face ebook and d Twitter. It was also ad dvertised through leading l E English an nd Gujaratti daily. blicity pos sters deve eloped forr the comp petition is s as below w: Some of the pub World Envvironment Daay 2014

12 On July 1, 2014 the judges of photography competition got together and selected the winning photographs on the basis of the relevance of photographs to the subject, uniqueness of the subject and composition. The judges selected three photographs as winning entries and one photograph as a special mention. The winners are as follows: Lives at Bhardeshwar creek, Kachchh: Photo of the first prize winner, Mr. Mohan Matang, Anjar, Kachchh Study of marine life: Photo of the second prize winner, Mr. Kartik Bhavsar, Ahmedabad Sea & green: Photo of the third prize winner, Mr. Jeetu Jam, Khambaliya, Devbhoomi Dwarka High tide at Hajira: Photo by Mr. Mayank Prajapati, Ahmedabad, selected as a Special Mention Apart from the winning photographs, 46 different photographs were selected for the exhibition. The exhibition of these photographs was done at L&P Hutheesing Visual Art Centre, Ahmedabad from July 15 to 20, The winners were felicitated on the first day by Shri Govindbhai Patel, Hon ble Minister of State, Forests & Environment Department, Government of Gujarat with certificates and cash prizes. The first, second and third prize winners have been given cash prizes of Rs. 10,000/-, Rs. 7,500/- and Rs. 5,000/- respectively. The felicitation ceremony was attended by over 120 photography enthusiasts, who cheered and encouraged the winners and other participants of photography competition.

13 While addressing the attendees, Hon ble Minister of State shared that The photography competition has given an opportunity for all nature lovers to enjoy the beauty of coastline of Gujarat. He further reminisced the transformation happened in photography, from pin hole cameras to digital cameras and now the mobile Shri Govindbhai Patel, Hon ble Minister of State, Forests & Environment Department, GoG addressing the participants Dr. A. K. Verma, IFS, Member Secretary, GEC addressing the photography enthusiasts Hon ble Minister glancing through the photographs along with Dr. A. K. Verma, IFS, Member Secretary, GEC photography. He encouraged the participants to continue their endeavours in bringing out the beauty of coastal Gujarat. Dr. A. K. Verma, IFS, Member Secretary, GEC & Project Director, ICZMP Gujarat elaborated the objective behind the photography competition. He shared that these days art and craft are used as means to spread awareness about conservation. He reiterated that such competitions provide a platform for photography enthusiasts to represent slices of life seen along the coast of Gujarat. The felicitation ceremony was attended by officials of Forest Department, Government of Gujarat, team members from GEER Foundation, BISAG, CEPT University etc. The six day exhibition has gathered much attention from the photography connoisseurs. The exhibition has been visited by more than 800 people from all walks of life.

14 Snapshots of the exhibition Exhibition covered by the media

15 Gujarat Ecology Commission Block No. 18, 1st Floor, Udhyog Bhavan, Sector 11, Gandhinagar Phone: / Web: & Like us on Facebook: Follow us on Twitter: Visit our blog: