Daily Times

World Environment Day was celebrated in Azad Jammu & Kashmir with a renewal pledge to bring about all required individual and collective efforts for restoration of the Ecosystem to avert all related threats to the environment in this era of global climate change.

Rallies and seminars in all major cities of AJK, hosted by the AJK-Environmental Protection Agency (AJK-EPA), with the coordination of various segments of the civil society, NGOs and the AJK Environmental Journalist Forum were the hallmark of the day.

This year the World Environment Day was celebrated carrying the theme of ‘Ecosystem Restoration’, the Environmental Protection Agency said here.

In Mirpur, a walk was held to raise awareness among people to fight against the challenges faced by the environment on the planet.

The day was followed by a grand symposia on Ecosystem -Restoration held in Auditorium of the Mechanical Department, City Campus MUST Varsity in Mirpur in collaboration of MUST, Forest, WildLife & Fisheries Department & Green Society of MUST and PID AJK Govt. and AJK Environmental Journalist forum Mirpur division to raise importance of the individual and collective role against the environmental pollution.

“World Environment Day is an annual event that is aimed at being the biggest and most widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action”, said Sardar Idrees Mahmood, Mirpur Divisional Director EPA, while addressing the participants of the walk at central Shaheed managed by AJK-EPA in collaboration with AJK Journalist Forum, students and academic staff of Mirpur University of Science & Technology, Muslim Hands, Divisional office of Press Information Department and other stakeholders to mark the world environmental day. The walk started at 9:30am from Shaheed Chowk Mirpur and culminated at the Mechanical Hall of the city campus of the Mirpur University of Science and Technology.

Addressing a grand seminar held at the MUST city campus speakers including the Chief Guest Prof. Dr. Syed Dilnawaz Ahmad Gardezi, Divisional Director EPA AJk Sardar Idrees Mahmood, Prof. Dr. Raja Rizwan Ullah of Department of Zoology MUST, Raja Zahid Hussain Divisional Forest Officer, President Environmental Journalist Forum AJK Altaf Hamid Rao, Divisional Chief PID AJK Javed Malik, Divisional Director AJK Wildlife and Fisheries Department Amir Sayyed, Chief Executive Officer of the Global NGO Muslim Hands UK Suleman Ahmed, Sayeda Tehniat Kazmi President Green Environment Society at MUST Varsity and others said that since this year’s theme to observe the World Environment Day (WED) is ‘Ecosystem Restoration’ and focus on resetting our relation with nature, it was enjoined upon all the stake holders especial the concerned State-run agencies and nation-building institutions to contribute their due share to achieve the task for ensuring all the challenges-free environment primarily for ensuring the emergence of the healthy society free of all sorts of pollutions confronted by the environment at present in various parts of the planet, they added.

Since this year of 2021, the global environment day was marked with formal launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2020-2030, speakers underlined that this year Pakistan was hosting the World Environment Day 2021 and in this connection, the Pakistan has launched Ecosystem Restoration fund for supporting nature-based solution to climate change, facilitating transition towards environmentally resilient ecologically targeted initiatives covering forestation and biodiversity Conservation, they added.

Speakers said that through World Environment Day, the United Nations Environment Programme emerged as the strong source to personalize environmental issues and enable everyone to realize not only their responsibility, but also their power to become agents for change in support of sustainable and equitable development.

“World Environment Day is also a day for people from all walks of life to come together to ensure a cleaner, greener and brighter outlook for themselves and future generations, ‘’ they underlined.