President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom on Monday inaugurated the "Green School Award' and the "Environmental Champions Award'. The "Green School Award' is given to the school with the most active environment club. The "Environmental Champions Award' is given to Scouts or Girl Guides who provides a constructive service in collaboration with a committee or society or the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Water in a project related to environmental preservation. President Gayoom presented the "Environmental Champions Award' to 23 scouts who participated in the "Return of the Flowers' programme. Speaking at the ceremony, President Gayoom said that the introduction of these two awards would greatly encourage schools, students, scouts and girl guides to work harder to safeguard the environment. He further said that protection and preservation of the environment and raising awareness of the impending threats would pave the way for rapid progress. He also urged the people to plant a new tree in replacement for each tree cut down. He said that this would be a positive step towards combating climate change and said that such a program should be run on a permanent basis. During the ceremony the Minister of Environment, Energy and Water, Ahmed Abdulla presented the book, "The Pace of Development