Ashrafuddin Pirzada
PESHAWAR: An awareness walk was held in City Girls College Gulbahar Peshawar, which was participated by a large number of students to highlight the importance of World Environment Day (WED).
World Environment Day is being celebrated on June 5 to encourage youth and raise awareness and action for protecting the environment.
Senior Vice Chairman Human Rights Council of Pakistan Shahid Khan Shinwari was the chief guest on this occasion.
Principal Professor Rabia Sikander, Director Sports Miss Najma Qazi, members of the various faculties, and students participated.
Olive plants were also planted on the premises of the college.
The students along with the chief guest Shahid Khan and teachers arranged a walk and held a short session regarding the importance of planting trees was also held in which Principal Professor Rabia Sikander thanked Shahid Khan Shinwari for his participation and urged the students to actively participate in the plantation drive.
She also advised the students to keep the environment inside the college and at their home.
“First, the day was celebrated way back in 1973, and it has been a platform for raising awareness on environmental issues such as marine pollution,” she said. She added that overpopulation, global warming, sustainable development, and wildlife crime were the reasons that affect the environment.
She said that, like other countries, Pakistan also faces challenges of climate change besides being badly hit by climate change, for which they had to develop more forests to ensure a clean environment. She said.
The principal said every year the program has provided a theme and forum for businesses, non-government organizations, communities, politicians, and stars to advocate environmental causes.
Prof, Rabia Sikander said the students were the main sources and they should be involved in that. She said their college management has decided to promote the actual cause of making the environment clean and green, as was the vision of the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
She urged each 2000 students to plant a tree at the premises of the college or at her home, which could be a big contribution to protecting the environment.
All the students promised to plant trees and would care for them during their study sessions for four years.
Senior Vice Chairman Human Rights Council of Pakistan Shahid Khan Shinwari while addressing the gathering said students were the real assets of Pakistan and they should be provided with due awareness about the importance of planting trees to make Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan green.
“We have to educate our young generation in this regard,” Shahid Khan said. Adding that the theme of World Environment Day 2024 is “Land Restoration, Desertification and Drought Resilience”.
The slogan of this event was “Our Land, Our Future. We are Generation Restoration. “
“We cannot turn back time, but we can grow forests, revive water sources, and bring back soils. “We are the generation that can make peace with the land,” Senior Vice Chairman HRCP said.
He said the aim and objective of the Day celebration annually on June 5 was to put a spotlight on the environmental challenges of the time.
He said Asia and the Pacific were exceptionally rich in biodiversity. He said Land-use changes and land degradation caused by factors such as extensive agriculture, deforestation, and unmanaged urbanization and sprawl were reducing the biodiversity of many land ecosystems, he said Healthy soils store massive amounts of carbon, which, if released, would cause a huge spike in planetary warming.
He said Pakistan has lost billions of dollars due to climatic changes, floods, rain, and snow causing numerous problems for the common people.
He said changes in water courses, pollution, and unsustainable consumption of water resources were causing water-related stress and reduced aquatic biodiversity.
The girls’ students on this occasion promised to plant more trees in their colleges and homes as well by naming them as they have been in the colleges for four years and would care for the plants to make their college greener and pollution free environment would be assured to other students.
