PESHAWAR
An awareness walk was held in City Girls College Gulbahar Peshawar wherein large number of students participated in connection with the World Environment Day (WED), which is being celebrated across the world including Pakistan annually on June 5 to encourages awareness and action for the protection of the environment.
Senior Vice Chairman Human Right 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, all BS students largely participated. On this occasion as Olive plant was also planted in the premises of the new BS block of the college.
Before holding a walk inside the premises of the College, a short session regarding the importance of planting trees was also held in which Principal Professor Rabia Sikander thanked Shahid Khan Shinwari, Senior Vice Chairman Human Right Council of Pakistan for his visit and urged the students to actively participate in the plantation drive started by the College in connection with the World Environment Day.
She also advised the students to clean your environment inside college and at their home. She said, first the day was celebrated way back 1973 and it has been a platform for raising awareness on environmental issues such as marine pollution, overpopulation, global warming, sustainable development and wildlife crime.
She said like other countries of the world Pakistan also faces challenges of climate change besides being badly hit by climate change for which we have to develop more forest to ensure a clean environment. She 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 are the main sources and they should be involved in that. She said our 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 disclosed that they have a student strength of 2000 and if every student plants her tree in the premises of college or at her home, she is directly benefiting the common people by ensuring their clean environment.
All the students promised to plant trees in the new BS block and would care for their respective plants during their study session for four-years.
Senior Vice Chairman Human Right Council of Pakistan Shahid Khan Shinwari while addressing the gathering said that WE’D is being celebrated all across the world including Pakistan. He said students are the real assets of Pakistan and they should be provided due awareness about the importance of planting trees to make Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan green.
“We have to educate our younger generation in this regard,” Shahid Khan said. Shahid Khan said that the theme of World Environment Day 2024 is “Land Restoration, Desertification and Drought Resilience”. The slogan of this event is “Our Land, Our Future.” We are Generation Restoration,” he added.
“We cannot turn back time, but we can grow forests, revive water sources, and bring back soils,” he said. “We are the generation that can make peace with land,” Senior Vice Chairman HRCP said.
He said the aim and objective of the Day celebration annually on June 5 is to put a spotlight on environmental challenges of our time. WED 2024 focuses on land restoration, stopping desertification and building drought resilience.
Asia and the Pacific is exceptionally rich in biodiversity. Land-use changes and land degradation caused by factors such as extensive agriculture, deforestation and unmanaged urbanization and sprawl, are 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, flood, rain, and snow cause’s numerous problems for the common people. Changes in water courses, pollution and unsustainable consumption of water resources are causing water-related stress and reduced aquatic biodiversity, he added.
The girls’ students on this occasion promised to plant more trees in their colleges and home as well by naming them as they are 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.
