“Women have greater role to play in climate change mitigation. Women are better resource managers than men. They are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change,” Bahuguna said.

India is likely to be affected adversely by climate change and the food and water security of the country is also likely to suffer. Climate change mitigation can be easily attained by planting trees but adaptation is the key to the stability of natural resources.

Bahuguna urged all scientists to join hands to ensure climate change adaptation in various agro-climatic zones of the country. Forests in India contribute a lot towards climate change mitigation. About six billion tonnes of carbon is sequestered in our forests. The Government of India’s Green Indian Mission plans to reforest 10 million hectares of degraded land in the next 10 years, Bahuguna said.

Climate change is one of the few issues attracting tremendous global attention. It is a major challenge for developing countries. There is a large dependence of communities on forest resources and the forest needs to be adapted in such a way that the goods and services from forests continue to flow, Sandeep Tripathi DDG (research), ICFRE, and Dr. Renu Singh, course coordinator, said.

ICFRE Dehradun organised a five-day training course for women scientists and technologists working in the public sector on Climate Change and Carbon Mitigation which concluded on Friday. About 25 women scientists from several scientific organisations across the country participated in the programme. The training was sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, under the National Programme for Training of Scientists and Technologists working in government sector