Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar on Saturday gave a clarion call to make the conservation of forests a people's movement and said it was everyone's duty to conserve the environment.
"The students of forestry can lend a big hand in this endeavour," Javadekar said while addressing the 5th Convocation of Forest Research Institute (FRI) here.
He said while forest officials were responsible for the protection of wildlife, it would not be possible without the help of the people living in the forests.
On the issue of man-elephant conflict, the Minister said that "we should ensure that the forests contain enough resources for the wildlife so that it is not induced to venture into the human settlements."
Earlier during the day, the Minister inaugurated the new buildings of Guest House and Women's Hostel at the Wildlife Institute of India at Dehradun.
Addressing the Annual General Meeting of the Institute, Javadekar outlined the importance of safeguarding the pristine natural environment for future generations.
"We have to chalk out a path to sustainable development which balances the demands of growth with the need to conserve our natural heritage," he said while appreciating the efforts by the scientific community at the Wildlife Institute of India in establishing the unique laboratory to study the genomics of wildlife.
He also congratulated the scientists for their efforts in conservation of critically endangered bird, the Great Indian Bustard.
( With inputs from ANI )