Other than being an actor and producer, Dia Mirza feels passionately about the environment. And she believes that the younger generation is more passionate about environmental causes than most others, which she sees as a very good sign.
“I truly feel that the younger generation is far more environment conscious. We’ve seen unprecedented citizenship participation on many aspects, in the country and globally,” she explains.
On the occasion of International Day of Forests (March 21), Mirza hopes that it is a reminder for all of us to save our forest.
“Days like world forest day is to remind people, global communities, politician and the governments about the emergency and the importance of saving these biodiversity havens. Now human being have altered almost 70 percent of the earth surface and I hope that now more than ever we realise that there is an ecological balance that helps the planet health and along with our health. Everything we need for our survival comes from this ecosystem and that needs to thrive in order for us to survive,” says the United Nations Environment Goodwill Ambassador.
Mirza herself has been the face of many pivotal environmental campaigns across India and has worked towards the conservation of wildlife. Citing examples of the Aravalli forest movement, the Save Aarey movement, the 39-year-old says citizens’ movements are crucial in taking the cause forward.
“There is good work happening . What we can do is to question governments and ensure that policies on paper start reflecting on the ground. There’s much more done to ensure that we’re protecting our natural spaces, forest. We need to also question the fact that why is the budget being slashed for forest department at a time when we should be doing more to protect our forests,” she ends on a thought-provoking note.
Source: Hindustan Times