I have never been a good writer or never been good at articulating my thoughts to others. Over the last few years, I have become very concern over climate change and environmental issues in general. I do not pretend for one moment to be an expert on the subject, but my passion and my future plans about what I want to do has led me to dive
into the subject. I do this by following great speakers on TED talks, climate change videos on YouTube, reading articles about global warming, climate change and related issues on magazines and newspapers and in the church, listening to Sunday morning sermons on the topic and attending church seminars. I wish I’d study the subject in details during my university years. I wanted to do something. I wanted to be part of this ever so important movement. Also for better understanding, I read a few books on waste management, natural disasters caused by climate change and so on.
So here’s the thing. I ventured into this rather unknown world (For me anyway) hoping that I will get somewhere at the other side. I chose Manipur as my field. This is partly because I was born in Manipur and I spent the best part of my younger days here and I love Manipur. The environmental issues in Manipur are as important as environmental
issues elsewhere. We live in a world where everything is pretty much interconnected. We can make a difference within Manipur that will have positive impact directly on us and to the world beyond.
Why Manipur? Because like many places around the world, the lack of awareness programmes on environmental issues and the absence of sustainable solutions in Manipur is horrifying. On a global scale, unless environmental issues are not solved or not taken care of the coming generations may find earth worth not living and this includes us in Manipur.
Recent events are clear indications that there is an utmost urgency to take actions. Actions on every possible levels – government agencies should make it a priority to educated the public on environmental issues, schools should provide better lesson plans and incorporate
this in the curriculum, non-governmental agencies and non-profit agencies should start taking actions to raise the level of awareness. We must not forget that the need of our planet earth and the needs of its inhabitants have become one. All the above-mentioned institutions are doing what they can; I saw it while I was in Manipur. I am very encouraged by all the initiatives and I am not disputing their contributions at all. What I am saying here is, it is not enough. Yet!
I urge all my fellow citizens of Manipur to educate, encourage each other and work towards a sustainable environment for the future. What we required now is actions to sustain, conserve, and improve the condition of our fragile environment. There are so many issues
clouding our environment at the moment such as social issues, geographical issues, administrative issues, identity issues, political issues, financial issues etc. However, I feel that one very important issue is getting side lined here – Environmental issue. If we don’t
get our act together and take action to tackle this issue collectively, in the near future there won’t be a Manipur that will be worth fighting for.
Do we really want to say to our future generation – “Sorry we messed it all up”?
www.kangguipark.wordpress.com is my blog!
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Lien Gangte
Founder & UK Coordinator
Kanggui Hope
www.kangguihope.co.uk