The Department of Environmental Science, Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni celebrated World Environment Day-2021 through virtual mode. The theme of the event was ‘Ecosystem Restoration’ with the slogan ‘Recreation, Re-imagination and Restoration of Ecosystem’. This year, World Environment Day is special and will kick start the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration programme for 2021-2030 period.
Speaking at the event, Professor S K Bhardwaj, Head, Department of Environmental Science gave a brief background on World Environment Day. He said that by celebrating this day, we all can show our gratitude to mother nature for everything it has blessed us with. He added that nature gives us signals to mend our ways and work towards the protection and conservation of the environment. He pointed out that COVID pandemic has proved that the unbalanced use of natural resources by humans has caused irreversible changes in nature. He said that the time is right to take action at the individual level to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of the ecosystem so that the balance is restored and this planet can be saved for future generations.
More than 65 undergraduate and postgraduate students and faculty of the university attended the online event. Various competitions like slogan writing, painting, photography, short video and quiz were organized virtually. Kanchan, Neha Awasthi, Sakshi Verma secured first prizes in slogan writing, painting and nature photography competitions respectively. Amita Sharma, a first year PhD student stood first in the online quiz competition. The short video competition was won by Ashima Raina. Students along with faculty members took a pledge to conserve and restore natural ecosystems on an individual basis. Vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Pratima Vaidya.
