Mumbai News, 10 March 2021 : It was recently reported that filmmaker Zunaid Memon is working on three feature films of the supernatural genre. While these projects are keeping him busy, the veteran has ensured that his work as an environmental activist isn’t compromised. Zunaid has come up with an interesting initiative to ensure that the environment is protected.
“Our environment has suffered hugely over the last few decades. The resources have been used up mercilessly and pollutants have been released faster than they can be absorbed. The Coronavirus pandemic is a red light to stop exploiting the planet and take significant action to make a change and ensure sustainability,” says Zunaid, who is the founder of the ARDEA Foundation (Agriculture Rural Development & Environmental Awareness Foundation).
The filmmaker-activist has urged governments across the world to work in this direction and call for a 11-day lockdown of sorts. “We’ve called it 11 Days of Earth’s Healing, a movement that can be undertaken by India and their global alliance to reorient our relationship with the environment and to transform how we live,” says Zunaid.
He adds, “I urge that every year, beginning May 1, 2021, we refine and re-adjust lifestyle choices to preserve mother nature by voluntarily ceasing all air, road and sea traffic, halting all commercial fishing activities, factories and production units, stopping all construction work and putting a pause on any undertaking that creates a negative impact on our environment, for 11 days. In a pre-Covid-19 scenario, this would have seemed impossible. But the lockdown last year has proven that this is doable. So why not do it for the betterment of our environment.”