Environmental activist Jadav Payeng, popularly known as the “forest man of India”, has called for an education system where children are taught about tree plantation in schools around the world.
Payeng has said that children across the globe should be taught to plant trees by schools and to love mother earth.
He said, “The school curriculum across the world should teach the children to plant trees. Children should get practical knowledge of plantation as it will prove helpful to turn the earth green. While the new National Education Policy of India has included this aspect, it will take some time to trickle down before it is practised.”
Payeng further said that he and a team of 50 people have initiated a project to plant trees on 2,000 hectares at Majuli Island in Asam. This project has been initiated with the objective of providing food to elephants, rhinoceros and deer in the forest.
Earlier, in March, Payeng requested the global leaders to call for a week-long lockdown across the world to strike a balance in the eco-system.
While speaking on Bodoland International Knowledge Festival in Kokrajhar Payeng said, “I would like to request to the 800 crore people of the planet to think towards striking a balance of the ecosystem. I feel if we can give a lockdown for a week in a year globally, the balance of the ecosystem will be back gradually. I’m saying this from my personal experience.”
Payeng also mentioned how he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to preserve forests and green cover in India. He said, “I have personally written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that we can’t bring development by destroying forests. We must safeguard our forests and nature. The development at the cost of nature is a curse.”
He further advocated for 60 percent reservation for women. “Women play a vital role in building human resource. And eventually, that will help in striking the balance of the ecosystem,” said Payeng.
