Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma on Thursday stressed maintaining a balance between livelihood and environment in the State.
“Every one of us has to do our bit in minimising the effects of climate change by reversing it where possible or by adapting to it and most importantly by maintaining a balance between livelihood and environment,” he said.
The Chief Minister was addressing a day-long workshop on ‘Universalising Community-led Natural Resource Management in Meghalaya’.
Noting that there is always a conflict between economic growth and maintaining the ecological balance, Sangma said, “We as a government and different stakeholders of the society have come here today to address this issue of maintaining this delicate balance, which, with the help of technology we can actually achieve.”
The Chief Minister also emphasised that it was equally important to create parallel livelihood opportunities for the people and pointed out that that the objective of mitigating the effects of climate change can be achieved only when the different stakeholders work in coordination.
“The District Councils are very important institutions in our society and therefore we need to ensure that our efforts are coordinated and I hope this workshop will bring in better coordination and synchronisation between the State Government and the District Councils,” he voiced optimism.
He also urged for active community participation, especially the involvement of the youth in the climate mitigation programmes.
The workshop was also attended by District Council Affairs Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui, Chief Secretary, Rebecca Vanessa Suchiang and Chief Executive Members of the Khasi, Garo and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Councils.
The workshop was aimed at enhancing eco-system services and resilience to climate change by mainstreaming community-led natural resources management reviewing the policies, legal and institutional framework involving autonomous district councils, forest department and other departments for strengthening capacity and convergence.
