‘Mission Conserve Eastern Ghats’ an initiative by the Visakhapatnam Forest Department

Mission Conserve Eastern Ghats, an initiative by the Visakhapatnam Forest Department, has been launched on the eve of International Day for Biological Diversity on Saturday, 21 May 2022. A special poster on the same was released by Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Energy, Forest, Environment, Science & Technology and Mines & Geology at Visakhapatnam in the presence of several district officials.

The minister instructed the officials to promote greenery in the city of Visakhapatnam and encourage the industries to take up large scale plantations. He also emphasized on optimum utilization of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Environment Responsibility (CER) funds for plantation purposes in Vizag. Further, he appreciated the efforts of the Visakhapatnam Forest Department in initiating this mission, calling it the need of the hour.

Anant Shankar IFS, Visakhapatnam District Forest Officer (DFO), informed that the plan focuses on the conservation of native species of this biodiversity-rich belt of Eastern Ghats. He mentioned that many of these species are found only in the Eastern Ghats and hence require interventions to save and propagate them for the future. Further, the DFO stated that conservation of natural resources, increasing green cover, and sustainable utilisation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are some of the key focus areas.

Also, tribal development and additional efforts to reduce increasing temperature and pollution levels in the urban areas will be the other objectives. This mission also primarily focuses on public participation and awareness. Anant Shankar has appealed to the people, NGOs, government institutions, public institutions, corporate sector, PSUs, educational institutes, the tourism sector, and others to come together and assist the forest department in this noble cause. To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the forest department will be taking up several activities in line with conservation and development.

Visakhapatnam Zoo curator Nandini Salaria IFS, District Collector A Mallikarjuna IAS, Prateep Kumar IFS, and other officials were present at the unveiling ceremony of the poster ‘Mission Conserve Eastern Ghats’.

Interested persons may contact Sub-DFO, Visakhapatnam at+91 94408 10192.