By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 8 Oct: Governor Lt General Gurmit Singh (Retd) attended the closing session of the ‘Wildlife Week 2024’ organised by the Forest Department, Uttarakhand, at the Raj Bhavan Auditorium on Tuesday, as the Chief Guest.
This year, Wildlife Week was celebrated on the theme of ‘Human Wildlife Co-existence’. On this occasion, the Governor also released a book, ‘Moths of India: A Field Guide’, written by Sanjay Sondhi. The book contains photographs of each species of moths and the distribution of moths across India. After the book release, the Governor said that this guide will help people identify moths and popularise moth watching as a hobby.
On this occasion, the Governor also visited the exhibition, “Wings of Wonder: Reptar Exhibition”, organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
On this occasion, the Governor said that the natural beauty of Devbhoomi Uttarakhand is unique and mesmerising. The lush green valleys, high snow-capped mountains, holy rivers like Ganga and Yamuna, and dense forests attract nature lovers. He said that the state is rich in forest and wildlife wealth. This Devbhoomi is famous all over the world for its unique natural beauty as well as unique biodiversity. Due to the unique geographical topography and climatic diversity here, many types of forests and wildlife are found here. Due to which lakhs of environment and wildlife lovers from the country and abroad keep coming here throughout the year.
The Governor said, “Today it is very important to understand that we are not the owners of the earth’s resources but trustees, so our priorities should be human-centric as well as nature-centric. We all have the responsibility to protect, promote and nurture forests and wildlife. We have to understand the utility of forests and wildlife and the importance of human-wildlife co-existence.” The Governor added that the damage to forest resources and wildlife homes has been very rapid in many parts of the country and the state as well as the world. He said that destruction of forests is a way of destroying humanity and with the help of science and technology ‘we can compensate for the damage at a fast pace’.
The Governor emphasised that it is a matter of happiness that, as a result of the efforts being made for wildlife conservation in the state, the number of tigers, elephants and snow leopards is continuously increasing. He said that it is the moral responsibility of all to contribute to the protection of natural wealth keeping in mind the interests of future generations.
Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal said that, under the leadership of the efficient officers of the Forest Department, appropriate steps are being taken for the co-existence of humans and wildlife in the state. Along with this, the work of establishing a special centre in Uttarkashi for the conservation and promotion of snow leopards is also in progress. On this occasion, the Forest Service officers who did excellent work in the field of human and wildlife conflict were also honoured.
Cabinet Minister Ganesh Joshi, Principal Secretary RK Sudhanshu, Chief Wildlife Conservator (HOF) Dr Dhananjay Mohan, Chief Wildlife Conservator (Forest Conservation) Ranjan Kumar Mishra along with Forest Department officials and school students were present at the programme.