The Garden of HOPE Trust (GoHT), along with various other non-governmental organisations that are working towards the conservation of the Nilgiris and its ecology, observed Earth Day 2024 at the Government Botanical Garden in Udhagamandalam on Monday.
The event was held in collaboration with the JCI Kotagiri, Rotary, Lions, Rotaract Club of JSS and a coalition of voluntary organisations, including Muddy Boots Nilgiris, Nilgiri District Social Leaders Federation, Nilgiris Primitive Tribal Council, BERU Foundation, MOB (Make Ooty Beautiful) Project, United Nations Ecosystem Restoration Project, NEST, Heritage Foundation, Longwood Shola Watchdog Committee, Kotagiri Wildlife Association, and INTACH Nilgiri Chapter (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage).
“The collective efforts of these organisations reflect a shared commitment to address pressing environmental challenges, including the urgent call to action set this year’s theme for Earth Day 2024, “Planet vs Plastics.” Through collaborative action and community engagement, we endeavour to raise awareness, mobilise collective action, and foster sustainable development in the Nilgiris region and beyond,” said Arun Bellie, Management Support Officer from the Garden of Hope Trust in a statement.
The Earth Day celebration featured a variety of activities aimed at raising awareness and fostering sustainable development models for the Nilgiris, including interactive sessions on plastic pollution, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
The consortium has appealed to the Nilgiris district administration to immediately regulate the entry of vehicles to preserve and conserve the ecology of the Nilgiris by reducing the impacts of tourism, and also ensure a better quality of life to the district’s residents by enabling smoother traffic flow that will result from fewer vehicles.
They also said that the “expansion of roads without conducting Environment Impact Assessments has contributed to environmental degradation… [and] landslips during the last monsoon season,” adding that they emphasised the need for conducting thorough assessments before undertaking any infrastructure development projects in the region.
