Meghalaya govt explores use of pineapple to make vegan leather

Hyderabad: The Meghalaya government is planning to set up a museum on climate change to sensitize people, besides exploring pineapple for vegan leather, said James Sangma, Cabinet Minister for Forest & Environment and Power, Meghalaya.

Delivering a keynote address virtually on Tuesday at the ‘TiE Sustainability Summit 2021’, being organized by TiE Hyderabad, Sangma said the state is in the process of building a consensus to introduce climate change as a subject in the school curriculum.

Vegan leather is a material that mimics leather, created from artificial or plant produce instead of animal skins.

“Meghalaya is one of the major pineapple producing states in India. It contributes 8 percent of the total pineapple produced in India. Pineapple is the most important fruit crop of the state. We are working on Pineapple for Vegan leather.

We are also building a consensus to introduce climate change as a subject in the school curriculum to sensitize children,” a press release quoted Sangma as saying.

Noting that as much as 76 percent of the land is forested, Sangma said Meghalaya is one of the top five states for BioDiversity and it has a unique forest economy.

“A climate change museum is also around the corner. We hope to inspire action on the climate crisis through this museum. Climate change is a defining challenge of our times. We must rise to fight it together,’ he said.

Forests are the best carbon removal investments and reforestation strategies and improving forest management together have a large potential to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

“We want to be a silicon valley for green-based products,” Sangma added.