COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –President Maithripala Sirisena planted a sapling of Kiripalu (Bachuanania Axillaris) in the premises of the President’s House to mark the National Environment Week, today (03).
The National Environment Week has been declared from May 30 to June 05 to mark the World Environment Day which falls on June 05.
A series of programmes implemented across the country while declaring May 30 as the Day to clean the environment and to apprise the public regarding the environment whilst May 31 named as the Day which minimize the air pollution and its negative effects and June 01 was the Day to plant trees and June 02 as the Day of water and water resources conservation. Programmes have been organized declaring June 03 as the Day of biodiversity conservation and June 04 as the Day of Sustainable Land Management.
Today, air pollution has made a main threat to human health. In the meantime, nine out of ten people now lives in an unsuitable environment for human habitation. It is estimated that as many as 7 million people die per year due to unclean air. About four million people are reported from the Asian and Pacific region. Therefore, the United Nations Environment Program has named the environmental day 2019 theme ”Air Pollution”.
Reduce air pollution by growth of trees naturally and it helps to maintain optimum ecological conditions in the country. Therefore, this year’s Environment Day is celebrating under the theme of ”Reducing Air Pollution through Sustainable Forest Management”. For that, a number of tree planting programs are in progress.
Meanwhile, as the environment minister, the President has implemented Island wide programs targeting school children, public servant and general public to create an environmentally friendly community.
