Pilani Rajasthan Shridhar University Marks World Environment Day 2011

Online, June 10, 2011 (Newswire.com) - No one has any doubt that Environment is changing in many aspects. Starting from 1972, 5th June is celebrated globally every year as the World Environment Day. The United Nations, through this day, stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.

To raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests, year 2011 also has been declared by the UN as the International Year of Forests - IYF.

Forests play multiple roles in our lives providing a source of livelihood, refuge for many species and as lungs of the earth clean air for all. Deforestation and degradation of forests account for about 20% of global greenhouse emissions.

The multiple values of forests include biological, ecological, recreational, educational, environmental, scientific, socio - cultural as well as economic. Forests play a thankless role in catchment area management, soil and water conservation, climate change mitigation as well as biodiversity conservation.

Forests which cover 31% of total land area of earth support 80% of terrestrial biodiversity that live on them. In India forests occupy about 25% of the geographical area and the North Eastern States of the country alone account for 25% of the forests. About 200 million people of India depend on forests for livelihood. Forest Conservation Act 1980 and National Forest Policy 1988 broadly govern the Forest Management issues in India.

Prof BR Natarajan Pro Vice Chancellor of Way to Transform Shridhar University Pilani Rajasthan took a road yatra from Pilani to Goa and back during May 30 to June 7, 2011 crisscrossing the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Interacting with a wide cross section of public enroute, it emerged that in the heavily industrialized state of Gujarat, forests occupy roughly 9% of the land area.

Pooja a student of Class XII from Birla Balika Vidyapeeth - BBVP Pilani felt that Rajasthan the largest state in India with just about 9% forest area offered ample challenge to increase the forest coverage.

While Akash Srinivasan a student of class IX of Mushtifund High School, Panaji Goa took pride in stating that Goa had over 30% of the land area as forests, Raj Sankar a student of Class X of Lokpuram Public School Thane lamented that a big state like Maharashtra had only 20% of land area as forests.

Prof Srinivasan of Goa University Chemistry department said that Goan public was extremely environment conscious. Mr R Jaya Kumar Executive from Essar Shipping Mumbai said that the forests in Yeoor - Mama Bhanja hills and Kanheri around Thane would have degraded long ago but for the active involvement of the local public.

Even though vast amount of information is available about environment, no one has doubt that it is just bits of data while knowledge is putting them together and wisdom is transcending them. Transformation of the individual by education is precursor to social and economic transformation of society at large.

Education is the key component of any environmental initiative, as it provides for sustainability and prepares future generations of global citizens. Keeping this in mind Shridhar University Pilani is offering a 3 year BSc in Environmental Science at the undergraduate level and MTech in Environmental Engineering at the post graduate level.