DERA GHAZI KHAN: Speakers at an international webinar by the Department of Soil and Environment Sciences of the Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, shared their ideas on how the earth can be restored using sustainable approaches on Thursday.

The webinar marked International Earth Day as April 22 is celebrated as Earth Day around the world to pledge support for environmental protection.

The year 2021 marks the 51st anniversary of the annual celebrations. This year’s theme for Earth Day is ‘Restore Our Earth’.

Dr Safdar Bashir, Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences chairman, invited both international and national scientists to the webinar. Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Tufail said we must respect the cause of Earth Day in our routine actions to restore the earth for our future generations.

Prof Dr Phoebe Koundouri, environmental economist and global leader in sustainable development from Athens University of Economics and Business, spoke on the importance of achieving the UN’s Global Goals aim to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for everyone by 2030. She also discussed what developing countries can learn from Europe for restoring the earth.

Prof Zhongbing Chen from the Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, stressed the importance of natural as well as constructed wetlands for restoring the earth’s sustainability.

He showed with examples fromthe developed world that how constructed as well as natural wetlands can contribute to restoring earth ecosystems as well as biodiversity.

Dr Zubair Aslam from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, and Dr Zeshan Sheikh from the National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, showed how the waste can be transferred to wealth by sustainable management of waste materials.

Organic waste can be transferred to fertilizers and the remaining wastewater can be converted into a source of energy. The webinar ended with commitments from participants and speakers to contribute to the restoration of the earth with their actions and practices.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2021