SHILLONG, June 30 - Meghalaya Governor Banwarilal Purohit today said that rural communities in Meghalaya have put in more efforts in conservation than the State.
In his valedictory address at the three-day workshop for media on Climate Change Reporting here, the Governor expressed concern over the environmental degradation in Meghalaya over the past few decades.
The workshop was organised by Meghalaya Government in collaboration with Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Indian Himalayan Climate Adaptation Programme.
�One aspect that everyone should recognise is that in Meghalaya most preservation has been taken up by the rural communities and not necessarily by the State,� the Governor said. He cited the example of the sacred groves in which the rural communities have preserved large tract of forest area over the millennia.
He, however, pointed out that population pressure, deforestation, urbanisation, mining and industrialisation are turning out to be problematic for the State.
The Governor said that climate-dependant sectors such as agriculture, livestock and water resources would be impacted due to climate change.
Touching on the Government formulated Climate Change Action Plan, Purohit said that the communities should have sufficient participatory role in the action plan.
On the role of the media, he said that a sensitised media about the detrimental effects of climate change would help in percolating the sensitivities about climate change to the people at large, especially those in the remote areas.
