Team Herald

BICHOLIM: To instill love for nature and wildlife in the next generation, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant urged the schools to organise picnics to wildlife sanctuaries.

“We have a rich flora and fauna in the State and the students should be made aware about it,” he said.

Dr Sawant was addressing a function organised by Forest Department to celebrate Wild Life Week 2019, at Ravindra Bhavan, Sanquelim, on Saturday.

The chief minister stated that picnics to sanctuaries would make students aware of different flora and fauna. “The attraction to students about forest and wildlife will definitely enlighten their vision in joining the Indian Forest Service (IFS) and one day it will be a proud moment that Goan students have joined IFS as direct entrants,” he said.

Highlighting the importance of protection of environment, Dr Sawant exhorted the students to avoid use of plastic to protect environment.

He said humans need to maintain a balance with the environment by protecting wildlife and forest.

A walk for wildlife was flagged off by Chief Minister from Ravindra Bhawan in Sanquelim in which more than 200 school students, NCC cadets, Vedanta Goa staff, NGO members and various media representatives took part.

The objective of the walk was to spread the message of wildlife conservation to various stakeholders. To spread awareness about the rich wildlife repository of Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary and Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, two brochures were released by the chief minister.

This year, the theme for wild life week is “Life Below Water: For People and Planet.”