Making biodiversity a common concern…..bittu sehgal
We are the guests, not the masters, of nature and must develop a new paradigm for development and conflict resolution, based on the costs and benefits to all people and bound by the limits of nature herself rather than by the limits of technology and consumerism.
Mikhail S Gorbachev, chairman, Green Cross International
Nature feeds the birds in the sky, the fish in our waters and the deer and tigers in our forests. The fact seems so obvious as to need no mention. Now lets take the thought a step further. Water from the Himalayan glaciers slakes the thirst and irrigates the fields of 400 million people on the Indian subcontinent. Again, hardly needs mentioning; every child is taught so in school. So lets take the thought still further. The government does not feed the people of the Indian subcontinentnature does.
Aha! Now we have an argument on our hands.
I do not know many agronomists who would accept this last statement. I seriously doubt that many politicians, businessmen, economists, or social activists for that matter would easily accept that the food security of India is dependent on the health of wild nature. Frankly, even beneficiary communities that live near our coasts and forests and sup on natures larder daily take the natural bounty of the planet for grantedas they do the air they breathe. Which is why developers and some irresponsible corporates are so consistently able to destroy land that has effectively supported life for millions of years.
These issues concern Pavan Sukhdev, special adviser and head of UNEPs Green Economy Initiative. The study leader for the G8+5 commissioned report on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity or TEEB, which is shaking up the financial world, Pavan Sukhdev is a career banker on a sabbatical from Deutsche Bank. He came up with this pathbreaking study, which drew from the experience, knowledge and expertise of over 500 experts from science, economics, business, development and policy from across the world.
In Sukhdevs view: Indias forests deliver vast economic benefits, which we simply do not account for anywhere in our GDP. Which is why we need to set up a system to measure the unaccounted economic value of forests from conservation and natural forest growth, as well as losses due to deforestation. It really works both ways. For example, the first report put out by the Green Indian States Trust or GIST on the timber, carbon storage, fuelwood, and non-timber forest product value, provided by our forests has calculated that the GDP of Arunachal Pradesh is understated by 32% and Nagaland by 18%, on just these four components of forest value! He adds: In our next few reports, we shall evaluate water retention and regulation, which protects us from flood damages and drought losses. We shall also calculate recreation and eco-tourism values from our world-famous national parks, which also have immense biodiversity values.
Ranjit Barthakur, who works closely with planners in Indias north-east, seems to agree. He opines that: The implications of human and natural threats to the biodiversity of the north-east are far ranging in terms of the ecological equilibrium of the region. He has meticulously listed the consequences of faulty land use, including the strategy of opting for large dams rather than small and micro-hydel schemes in the north-east, on both food and water supplies. He believes that: The securitisation of land and water will add economic value addition of agricultural land. In Barthakurs view, if all the seven north-eastern states choose to develop nature capital rather than exhaust it, they will profit from improved agriculture, fisheries, forestry, water security and tourism. And while doing this, he feels, every household could benefit from access to clean water and affordable power. Evidently, India has much to gain from protecting its biodiversity and it’s time to start making a great U-turn towards ecological security.
The writer is editor, Sanctuary Asia.