World Environment Day Speech

by Hon'ble Minister for Environment and

Forests
His Excellency the Vice-President of India, Thiru. Bhairon Singh Shekhawati, Prof.
!ash Pal, the E"inent Scientist of the country, Thiru. V.#. $uggal, S%ecial Secretary,
&inistry of En'iron"ent ( )orests, !oung En'iron"entalists, *adies ( +entle"en,
It gi'es "e great %leasure to ,e a"ong you today on the occasion of the -orld
En'iron"ent $ay and the ./
th
)oundation $ay of the 0ational &useu" of 0atural History.
The -orld En'iron"ent $ay is a re"inder to show our gratefulness to &other 0ature, which
sustains all for"s of life. This is the day to focus our thoughts and our energies to "ake
collecti'e efforts towards %rotecting the en'iron"ent. It is on this historic day in 123., the
4nited 0ation5s 6onference on Hu"an En'iron"ent ,egan in Stockhol". This year 40EP
has gi'en a 'ery a%%ro%riate the"e for the En'iron"ent $ay which is, 7-ater 8 Two ,illion
%eo%le are dying for it9. This is an urgent a%%eal to each one of us to recogni:e the
significance of 7Elixir of *ife9 and the role each one of us can %lay to conser'e it.
-e should ,e %roud of our country5s natural ,ounty and uni;ue ,io-di'ersity. India is
a"ongst the rare countries where "aor ,io"es of the world are re%resented. India is one
a"ong the twel'e countries where <=-3=> of the world5s total ,iodi'ersity exists. India has
two out of the 1? ,iodi'ersity hot s%ots in the world.
India has rich traditional knowledge and wisdo" in the conser'ation of nature and natural
resources. @eligious ,eliefs, culture and folklore ha'e together treated nature and
en'iron"ent with sanctity. 6onser'ation and %rotection of en'iron"ent and lo'e for nature
ha'e always ,een %art and %arcel of Indian ethos and culture.
Inde%endent India has tra'eled a long way on the %ath of %rogress and industriali:ation in
order to achie'e ,etter ;uality of life. -e ha'e accelerated the %rocess of de'elo%"ent
without considering the ad'erse i"%act on nature and en'iron"ent. The de'elo%"ent without
care for en'iron"ent has %osed threats to the 'ery existence of life itself.
0ow the reali:ation that "ere %rogress and econo"ic de'elo%"ent cannot sol'e all our
%ro,le"s has increased. $e'elo%"ent and en'iron"ent should go hand in hand. Sustaina,le
de'elo%"ent is the new %aradig".
The &inistry of En'iron"ent and )orests has drawn "any %rogra""es and %olicies to
co",at these %ro,le"s. Ste%s are ,eing taken to %reser'e the %ristine eco-syste"s through
esta,lish"ent of -ildlife Sanctuaries, 0ational Parks and Bios%here @eser'es. &ore and
newer areas are ,eing ,rought into-the %rotected areas status. At the sa"e ti"e, ste%s ha'e
,een Btaken for welfare of the forest %eo%le, %articularly the tri,als, who ha'e li'ed in the
forests for centuries and who are also re%ository of traditional knowledge on conser'ation and
sustaina,le utili:ation.
The 0ational &useu" of 0atural History is an i"%ortant institutional tool for s%reading
awareness on the e'olution of our 4ni'erse and life on it. It has %layed a strong and acti'e
role in creating en'iron"ental awareness. I a" ha%%y to say that the &useu" has ,een acti'e
in creating such awareness through a nu",er of educational %rogra""es, exhi,itions, nature
ca"%s etc. for "ore than two-and-a-half decades. Today, the &useu" and its @egional
6entres are recogni:ed as the centres for non-for"al en'iron"ental education. It is indeed a
%leasure for all of us to ,e cele,rating the ./
th
!ear of the )oundation of the &useu".
I a" ha%%y to see that a nu",er of children ha'e %artici%ated in 'arious acti'ities of the
&useu". These acti'ities will hel% all of you in de'elo%ing a sense of en'iron"ental
res%onsi,ility, which is so essential in our e'ery day life. It is the a,sence of this
res%onsi,ility which is causing %ro,le"s on our streets, residential areas, "arket %laces and
other %u,lic %laces. This lea'es you all - res%onsi,le citi:ens of to"orrow, with a great
,urden to shoulder. But I a" confident that you ha'e the ca%acity not "erely of shouldering
this ,urden ,ut also influencing %eo%le "uch older to you in following en'iron"ental
disci%line.
I wish the officers and staff of 0ational &useu" of 0atural History the 'ery ,est in their
future endea'our.
I would like to thank and congratulate Prof. !ash Pal who has deli'ered his #ey-note on
the rele'ant the"e. -e need such scientists who could contri,ute to s%read scientific te"%er
a"ong "asses which will e'entually lead to ,etter"ent of their li'es and ,etter understanding
of the delicate we, of life that exists on this only %lanet known to sustain life.
I congratulate the winners of Awards for Pre'ention of Pollution, @ai' +andhi Award for
6lean Technology and Indira +andhi Parya'aran Puraskar. The awardees for the ,est original
writings in Hindi on en'iron"ental issues also deser'e "y s%ecial a%%reciation for their
efforts in %o%ulari:ation of en'iron"ental issues in the official languages. There is dearth of
such literature in the regional languages. The &inistry will encourage other regional
languages also which will hel% to take the en'iron"ental "essage to the grass root le'els,
across the country.
I a" %ersonally grateful to our Hon5,le Vice President, Thiru. Shekhawati to ha'e
acce%ted the in'itation to grace the occasion. I know that he is keenly interested in the issues
related to en'iron"ent. His own State of @aasthan is an exa"%le of all cli"ate ad'ersities,
yet you can see "axi"u" 'i,rancy of all for"s of life that exist there including those of
fellow citi:ens.
Before I conclude, I would like to a%%eal to e'eryone for co""itting to follow the %ath of
sustaina,le de'elo%"ent in right earnest.
VANAKKAM