Pune: Dr. Vinita Apte, the founding president of TERRE Policy Centre, which is dedicated to environmental conservation, has been honored with the 'Global Leadership Award' by the Indo-Scandic Organization. The award was recently presented by the organization's president, Suresh Pandey, at the Baltic Water Conference in Helsinki.

The Indo-Scandic Organization recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to Indian culture and environmental conservation through various initiatives.

While presenting the award, Suresh Pandey, President of the Indo-Scandic Organization, said, "Dr. Vinita Apte has been consistently working towards environmental awareness and conservation for the past two decades. It gives us immense pleasure to honor her for guiding NGOs outside of India and collaborating with many organizations on various initiatives."

Out of her deep concern for environmental issues, Dr. Vinita Apte founded TERRE (Technology, Education, Research, Rehabilitation for the Environment). Despite having the opportunity to work with the United Nations Environment Programme in Paris, she returned to India to continue her work in the environmental sector. Over the past seven years, she has planted and nurtured over 500,000 trees in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and other states, providing employment to locals. Additionally, she has created 21 forests, with projects extending to cities outside Maharashtra, such as Lucknow, Moradabad, Sanand, Karnataka, and Chennai.

She has also led mangrove plantation efforts along the coasts of Mumbai, Chennai, and Andhra Pradesh, planting over 200,000 mangroves and providing employment to local women.

Dr. Apte has taken the initiative to organize a national-level online environmental quiz competition, which has raised awareness among 23 million students. The TERRE Olympiad has seen participation from over 1.2 million students, and the Dr. Abdul Kalam Fellowship has received over 6,000 applications in the past five years, with nearly 50 fellows being awarded. Additionally, the 'TERRE Envirothon,' a public awareness marathon, has been organized for the past three years, stated a press release.