University, high commission plant trees to commemorate day

The University of Papua New Guinea and the Indian High Commission jointly celebrated the World Environment Day in the Mahatma Gandhi garden at the UPNG Waigani campus.
The highlight of the celebration on Wednesday was the planting of a block of commemorative trees in keeping with the spirit of the day.
The university was pleased to have NCD Governor Powes Parkop, who planted trees with Indian High Commissioner Vijai Kumar and UPNG Vice-Chancellor Prof Frank Griffin.
Griffin said PNG had much to lose if people continued to ignore the plight of Mother Nature.
He said PNG was home to eight per cent of the Earth’s biota, had vast forested areas and had a rich marine environment and it was everyone’s responsibility to “walk the talk”.
“Governments around the world will mark today with many activities that highlight the preservation and conservation of the environment in which we live,” he said.
“Unfortunately, our environment is facing unprecedented perils that are the result of human activities.”
The initial planting of 40 trees will be done in other areas of the campus during the 150th anniversary celebration of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi on Oct 2 which will be held at UPNG.