SKM/GOV/MESG/09/163
14th July, 2009

I am happy to learn that under the programme of Green Mission, the State Government has initiated a TEN MINUTES TO GREENERY PROGRAMME on 15th July, 2009 to involve the entire population of Sikkim in this significant venture.

As the clock ticks 1030 a.m. on 15th July, thousands of hands in Sikkim will lovingly lift the seedlings for plantation. This initiative will support the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) worldwide tree planting campaign Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign.

 
The idea is to plant trees in different parts of the State equivalent to the population of Sikkim in ten minutes; one tree for one person. This would be a record of a kind that within ten minutes Sikkim would have additional trees totalling the population of the State.

 
This ten minutes effort would be able to sequester about 1400 tons of carbon dioxide annually. This would be Sikkim’s own unique way of contributing to climate change mitigation.

It is heartening to know that the emphasis is on plantation of important native species like quercus (oak), rhododendron, magnolia and native wild fruits to have a well balanced forest ecosystem and preserve local biodiversity in an era of extinction of large number of species from the planet.

I call on the people of Sikkim of all communities including those working in industrial establishments, in farms, in government offices, in civil society organizations and in religious institutions to participate in this unique programme on a massive scale.

Let “Ten minutes to Greenery” programme send a message to the community at large that ‘we care for Nature’.

( B.P. Singh )