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French Minister visits Kaziranga National Park in Assam

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GUWAHATI: France’s Minister of Ecological Transition (Ministre de la Transition écologique) Barbara Pompili reached Kaziranga National Park in Assam on Saturday. The French minister is on a five-day visit to India.

Minister Barbara Pompili and an 11-member team visited different projects in Kaziranga undertaken by the French Development Agency.

The French Development Agency has been working in Assam since 2012, providing financial and technical assistance to Assam Project on Forest and Biodiversity Conservation (APFBC) to support the state’s biodiversity conservation efforts, sustainable and participatory management of forests and the creation of alternate livelihoods for forest-dependent communities, sources said.

On January 28, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and French Minister Barbara Pompili launched the Indo-French Year of the Environment, under which the two countries will engage in discussions on critical areas of collaboration relating to environment and allied areas.

Various programmes under the initiative will focus on five main themes — environmental protection, climate change, biodiversity conservation, sustainable urban development, and development of renewable energies and energy efficiency.

Welcoming Pompili on her maiden visit to India, Javadekar emphasised on the significance of India-France alliance in working towards climate change.

“We are the two main pillars of the International Solar Alliance launched by PM Narendra Modi. This revolutionary step has changed into a successful experiment. This partnership towards global environment protection will set an example for the rest of the world to work more effectively and efficiently towards sustainable development, Javadekar said.

Pompili reiterated the significance of the Indo-French partnership towards climate change and environment protection and said that through this partnership, France and India look forward to setting an example for the rest of the world.

India can motivate many many countries in the field of sustainable development, Pompili said.

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