Dimapur, January 31: To encourage Eco Club students to learn about their environment, Nagaland Pollution Control Board, the State Nodal Agency has come up with a Biodiversity Register to be maintained by Eco Clubs at high school and higher secondary level.
The Biodiversity Register is expected to encourage students to understand nature better and form a baseline data for future management strategies required for the sustainable utilization of biodiversity in a decentralized manner. Further, it helps equitable sharing of benefits arising out of commercial utilization of biodiversity resources and knowledge on their uses. The Eco Club Biodiversity Register offers conservation and recording of traditional knowledge.
M.L. Rao, IFS, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Nagaland during his interaction with the District Implementation & Monitoring Committees of the National Green Corps Programme on January 30 at the Nagaland Pollution Control Board Office stressed the importance of environment conservation and that the school Eco Clubs should be made into vehicles for changing the mindset of the people. He also cited the successful protection given to the migratory birds, Amur Falcons that visited Nagaland during October-November 2013 and gave a positive image of the state internationally. Likewise, the Eco clubs can also create awareness to conserve our rich Biodiversity. He also appreciated the State Nodal Agency for bringing out the concept of Biodiversity Register for the school eco clubs, which will go a long way to bring about a positive change in our state.
There are 2585 school eco clubs spread over all the eleven districts of Nagaland with the Divisional Forest Officers as the Member Secretaries and Deputy Commissioners as Chairmen of the District Implementation & Monitoring Committee except in Longleng and Kiphire where the Deputy Commissioner and the Wildlife Warden are in charge of the programme.
The National Green Corps (NGC) programme is a national programme under the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India with the Nagaland Pollution Control Board as the State Nodal Agency. It intends to impart environmental knowledge to the school children through Eco Clubs and also to let them share the knowledge with the people around them. It is more of a voluntary participation and a platform for those who care for the environment.
