The state government adopted the Pakke Tiger Reserve 2047 Ministerial Declaration on Climate Change Resilient and Responsive Arunachal in September 2021.
The document serves as a roadmap for environment, forest and climate change, health and wellbeing for all, sustainable and adaptive living, livelihoods and opportunities, and evidence generation and collaborative action. It is an ambitious document and a critical one, as the climate crisis is real and is advancing at a pace faster than scientists anticipated.
Everyone is a stakeholder in this crisis; therefore, collective effort is the need of the hour.
As a step forward in working on the declaration, Chief Minister Pema Khandu recently released the Arunachal Pradesh State Biodiversity Strategy and Action: A People’s Plan. The action plan is directed towards fulfilling the Pakke Declaration and achieving the national biodiversity targets, which emphasise that citizens are aware of the value of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably, among other targets.
The state biodiversity action plan provides clear, localised action points that would empower communities, districts, and indigenous groups to take charge of their environment with the support of the government, the government said in a statement. As the goals are massive and the climate crisis is rapidly unfolding, it is therefore imperative that communities and governments come together to work on coping mechanisms and solutions.