Kathmandu, Nov 26: The People’s SAARC Conference on Asian Ecological Protection concluded here Wednesday, issuing a 21-point declaration.
The three-day conference on ‘Challenges of Climate Change and Question over Protection of South Asian Ecology’ was organised by Land and Ecology Protection Campaign, Nepal.
The declaration comprises the conclusions of working papers presented by experts on scientific and environmental laws achieved through broad discussions over them. The declaration stressed the need of adopting scientific policy based on agriculture, forest, water resources and land utilisation for sustainable ecological protection.
Similarly, the declaration gives an emphasis on the effective implementation of programmes and policies to ensure systematic human settlement, planned urbanisation, scientific land system and its distribution, controlled migration, basic quality education, employment and social security.
The declarations and other important conclusions of the conference will be presented to the 18th SAARC Summit, according to organizers.
The organizers have said 80 per cent of the world population is bearing the direct impact of the ecological and environmental problems.
As per the scientific research, the global temperature is rising by 0.80 degrees Celsius per year with the commencement of industrial era in the world.
Excessive erosion of land, unmanaged plotting, haphazard settlement development, random disposal of garbage, excessive use of old vehicles and the exhaust from such vehicles are the main causes of environmental degradation in the under developed and developing countries including Nepal.
Encroachment on ponds, lakes and water resources, haphazardly constructed roads and the waste generated from industrial corridors are the additional causes of degradation of the environment.
Experts opined for the protection of bio-diversity and natural resources so that it could develop the agriculture, tourism and water resources sectors in Nepal and further promote the environmental and economic development.
The conference emphasized on lessening such environmental degradation with the implementation of collective and effective measures. RSS
