October 27, 2010
There is no denying the fact that during the past two decades, there has been increased damage to forests and other wildlife havens by man. The forests are in a state of crisis never seen by humankind. Much of the damage that has been done will not be easily undone. This exploitation has brought benefits to a select group of people, especially those living in the developed world. India today is the poorest in the world as per capita forest land is concerned. The per capita forest land in India is 0.10 hectares compared to the world average of one hectare. (Canada=14.2 ha, Australia 7.6ha, U.S.A 7.3 ha). Indian forests are prized for their varied forms in terms of wildlife, herbs, shrubs, medicinal trees etc. Yet India is losing about 1.5 million hectares of forest cover each year and in 20 years the value of our forests will be “ ZERO FOREST VALUE “. How then do we achieve that fine balance between industrial development and environmental protection?
Importance of forests as Natural Capital:
Forests play an important role in enhancing the ability of environment by influencing the life supporting systems. Forests play a role not only in the social and economic well being of the society but also in the maintenance of the ecological balance. Forests provide us with livestock and wild varieties of plants, some of which have been domesticated to support our staple food. It also provides us with rivers, ores, metals, medicines, including the very oxygen we breathe.
This article is so very different from the rest of our earlier articles. It is primarily written to stimulate the imagination of Policy makers, Bureaucrats, Ministers, the Public, students, teachers and Professors to think and rethink on the state of our forest wealth and put in place an indicator to measure environmental stress. We call this indicator as “Clean safe environment”.
Environmental degradation associated with economic development is the order of the day. The deterioration in the quality of air, land and water and the loss of precious wildlife and plant species are some of the costs of this development. As guardians of nature we do not question development. The central issue is the need to determine the costs of environment damage and work out a system for recovering the expenses for repairing the damage from the concerned Industry or households. The index will reflect the pollution and environmental harm and make the polluting party pay for the cleanup. Policy makers have to realize that conservation and sustainable utilization of forest wealth has to be central to all development planning in India.
Development at the cost of environment can take place only up to a point. Development of a National resource accounting system needs to be put in place so that any degradation or depletion of our national resource stocks can get adequately reflected in our National Accounts. It will tell us whether it is not being obtained today at the cost of discounting our future.
This article contains our thoughts, opinion and views to drive debate and discussion in schools, colleges, Parliament, Board rooms, and households on the need to have a healthy habitable planet. Any type of development should relate to a balanced development taking into account the well being of all living beings and not only human beings.
What is Green?
Green means many things to many people. The UN Brundtland Commission defines GREEN as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Forest wealth, contributes significantly to long term economic performance and therefore should be considered as an economic asset. Forests are not only a source of timber, fuel wood, but also markedly influences local and regional climate, preserves soil from erosion, mangroves prevent flooding and trees act as stores of carbon and biodiversity. In the developing world some 75 per cent of all medicinal drugs are from forest plants.
How do you value a tree?
• A single large tree can release up to 400 gallons of water into the atmosphere each day.
• One acre of trees produces enough oxygen for 18 people every day.
• One acre of trees absorbs enough carbon dioxide per year to match that emitted by driving a car 26,000 miles.
• Urban neighborhoods with mature trees can be up to 5 degrees cooler in summer heat than neighborhoods without trees.
• A one degree rise in temperature equals a 2 % increase in peak electricity consumption
• Large trees remove 60 to 70 times more pollution than small trees.
• The root system inside the floor of the forest can act as an aqua guard in purifying water from chemicals and impurities.
GREEN AUDIT
Green audits show you how to live a healthier life style. It monitors the basic necessasities of common people and periodically assesses the quality of air that we breathe and the quality of water that we drink. It shows how polluted our air and water systems are and the companies or individuals responsible for the mess. Any person, who swims in our rivers, should also be able to directly drink the water without external purification.
The imbalance between implementing economically beneficial industrial projects and preserving fragile environment will be set right with green accounting norms, only when we reflect the use of depletable natural resources in the process of generating per capita income.
Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA)
The Supreme Court and mind you not politicians or bureaucrats has put in place a concept known as CAMPA-OR NPV. CAMPA stands for compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority, according to which every party, whether government or private that wishes to divert forest area for non forestry purposes has to deposit a certain sum equivalent to the total value of ecological benefits lost per hectare diverted for such purpose. The value of benefits lost is arrived at by taking into account the net present value NPV of benefits lost the stipulated compensatory afforestation amount and the funds accrued under the catchment area treatment plans submitted. This approach has brought in 11,000 crore available to State Governments for reforestation and regeneration of natural forest cover. However, in our opinion the prescribed formula does not reflect the true and accurate cost of cutting forests for development.
CONCLUSION:
Humanity would be living clearly beyond its means without forests. The forests are important not only for this generation but also for future generations. One in every seven persons on this planet lives in India. Roughly 16 per cent of the world’s population is present in India and with only 2.4 % of its land area there is obviously a heavy pressure on the natural resources including forests. Historically, the protection of forest wealth formed an ardent article of faith reflected in the daily lives of people. Development must be environmentally sound and sustainable without any constraints to quality of life. As of now, we know of no country which tries to account for environmental resource changes in its national income accounting. May be India can take the lead and demonstrate to the rest of the world that National resource accounting is the bench mark in measuring the Gross domestic product of any Country. This system of green accounting will bring about accountability and transparency in public policies. It will tell us how much the Country borrows from Nature, how much this generation borrows from future generations and how a few people in the corridors of power make economically meaningful decisions.
Dr Anand & Geeta Pereira - Archives
Also see: