Indore: To commemorate World Wildlife Day, a cycle rally and a talk were organised in the city on Sunday. Local organisations conducted awareness programmes to mark the occasion. About 50 people from different walks of life joined cycle rally wearing green overcoats, symbolising green cover needed for the city.
World Wildlife Day was celebrated this year under the theme, ‘Life below water: For people and planet’, which aligns with goal 14 of UN Sustainable Development Goals.
This is the first World Wildlife Day to focus on life below water. The UN sees it as an opportunity to raise awareness about diversity of marine life, the importance of marine species and how we can make sure that they will continue to thrive.
“It is important that we stay fit and keep our environment fit in every form, whether it is wildlife on land, water or air,” said oncologist Dr Arun Agrawal who participated in the cycle rally. He felt it was important for people to connect and conserve environment and wildlife for living a fit and healthy life.
One of the participating cyclists Sandeep Kayal said, “We need to take a step towards conserving wildlife and fast. So, we cycled across the city with this theme.”
During the talk held at Pritamlal Dua auditorium on wildlife conservation, geologists and environmentalists spoke on endangered species of MP.
What They Say…
“Only way to save endangered species from extinction is preservation of their habitats. We have to stop encroaching wetlands, forests and grasslands. These places are essential for our ecological system and saving endangered species. Besides, we need to increase plantation.”—–Ravi Sharma, engineer
“We have lost 99 per cent vultures in state, according to my research. This was because of chemical named diclofenac, which humans take to subside pain. It is also given to cattle. While humans can digest it, cattle faeces contain its particles. Vultures survive on carcass. Consuming diclofenac resulted in their immediate death. We need to consider our actions.”——— KK Yadav, geologist
“Most of us don’t know much about national parks. It is important that everyone knows about different zones and importance of sanctuaries. In buffer zones at national parks, human activity exists due to which most animals leave those areas. A core zone is an area, which is surrounded by buffer zones and has high animal density. In most reserves in India, tourist activities are banned in core areas to avoid disturbing animals.” —————Amresh Mishra, software engineer
