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Pema Khandu[/caption]
Itanagar, July 25 (PTI): Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday launched a campaign to plant one lakh saplings in a day.
Launching the 'Clean-Green Arunachal Campaign 2019' here, Khandu said the drive is being carried out across the state as the target is to plant one lakh saplings in a single day.
He said the campaign is part of Van Mahotsav celebration which has set a target of planting one crore saplings within the next five years.
Referring to the biodiversity richness of the state, the chief minister said, "Arunachal is known globally for its huge forest cover and is considered one of the eighteen 'biodiversity hotspots' in the world".
He claimed the forest carbon stock in Arunachal comes to 148.52 tonne per hectare, which is highest in the country and whose value in terms of carbon credit at 6 Euros per tonne works out to Rs 48,000 crore annually.
Highlighting on the relevance of forest in tribal societies, Khandu said both are interconnected and culturally bonded where dependence on forest is vital for tribal people for their everyday needs.
He called upon the Forest department to come up with a vision to preserve this intricate link and to enable the tribal people to reap economic benefit from the forest in a sustainable way.
During the occasion, the chief minister also called for giving forethought to such agendas, which in the name of protecting mother earth only aims to block the development vital for the well being of the state.
He said such misplaced agendas are not in the interest of the state.
