5^th June 2020 

TERI ENVIS Resource Partner celebrated World Environment Day on 4^th and 5^th June 2020 under the umbrella of Environment Information System (ENVIS) of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

The celebration included:

1. Webinar on 4^th June 2020 on “Conservation of Medicinal Plants, Enhancing Nutrition and Developing Immunity against diseases”
2. Quiz competition on 5^th June 2020 on 1) Environment 2) Biodiversity 3) Renewable Energy and 4) Climate Change
3. Release of a “Compendium of Case Studies on Biodiversity Conservation” in India

A.   Webinar on “Conservation of Medicinal Plants, Enhancing Nutrition and Developing Immunity against diseases”

A webinar on ‘Conservation of Medicinal Plants, Enhancing Nutrition and Developing Immunity against diseases’ was organized on 4th June 2020 at 11:30 hrs -13:00 hrs. The aim of the webinar was to identify the threat or the challenges faced by the resources due to over-extraction of medicinal plants and the lack of recognition of traditional knowledge. The speakers also discussed the successful ways of conservation of such resources by each individual and the measures taken by our government in this aspect.

The webinar was facilitated by the eminent speakers from various sectors like researchers, academicians and policymakers who are experts on Medicinal plants and its conservation.

The list of faculty includes:

• Dr. JLN Sastry, CEO, National Medicinal Plant Board, Government of India,
• Dr. J V Sharma, Director, Land Resources Division, TERI,
• Dr. P K Bhattaharya, Senior Fellow, Associate Director & ENVIS Coordinator, TERI,
• Dr. Anjali Parasnis, Senior Fellow & Associate Director, TERI,
• Dr. Yogesh Gokhale, Senior Fellow, TERI,
• Ms. Pallavi Shukla, Associate Fellow & Programme officer, TERI ENVIS, and other ENVIS staff members were present on this occasion.

B.   Quiz Competition on Environment, Biodiversity, Renewable Energy and Climate Change

Virtual quiz competition for students of class 6 to 10 was organized on 5th June 2020 using Zoom as a virtual interface. The program started with addresses by Ms. Pallavi Shukla, Program Officer, TERI ENVIS and followed by Quiz introduction by Dr. Shantanu Ganguly, Fellow and Programme Manager, TERI. The quiz was conducted by Ms. Pooja Sehbag on various single choice questions on environment, biodiversity, climate change, and renewable energy. This quiz aimed at bringing awareness amongst school students about the environment, biodiversity, climate change, and renewable energy. The students as a result are expected to have a better idea of how well they know the Mother Nature and its creatures, hopefully motivating them to study more and helping them allocate their study time effectively by focusing on the information that still needs more practice.

About 22 students participated in this competition in 5 different groups. Questions were asked from these groups in one by one manner. When a question was broadcasted to one group, all participants from that group were allowed to answer and accordingly the marks were allotted individually to each student. Although the number of students who could participate in the Quiz was limited, there was no limitation on the number of students to participate as the audience. In the end, some questions were also broadcasted for the audience.

Four winners were announced at the end of the Quiz competition. Certificates of merit and certificates of participation were then distributed to the winners and the participants respectively. The winners will also be given prizes after relaxation in the COVID-19 lockdown.