Shrinking Forests

Dr NC Induchoodan
Divisional Forest Officer, Munnar, Kerala
 

Shrinking Forests
NATURE STRIKES BACK

We have to attain oneness with the environment to reverse the destruction we have caused.

We observe World Environment Day, World Forestry Day, Ozone Day, Earth Day, among others, to underscore the importance of safeguarding the earth and life on it. They don’t seem to have been effective because had these days been effective, their relevance should have decreased. Quite to the contrary, the  changing environmental scenario reflects the truism: “Forests precede civilisation and deserts follow”. Deforestation, global warming, acid rain, climate change, fresh water shortage, receding water table et al  are some of the instances which clearly show that the very existence of the planet itself is in jeopardy. Do we have a solution?

Deforestation is damaging the quality of land and quality of life. We need natural resources for our welfare, but we need to conserve them for our survival. Forests are cleared for agriculture, urban expansion, industries, and hydroelectric projects. Creation of more roads gives access to remote forests and increased deforestation. Fresh water is becoming a rare commodity. Millions die every year, especially children, largely from preventable diseases caused by lack of access to clean water for proper sanitation. To supply the greater demand for fresh water ground water tapping has increased manifolds, doubling the rate of groundwater depletion since 1960. We are pumping water faster than the rate of recharging through precipitation, which has been further reduced due to deforestation. As the water table has receded, salinity has crept into the ground water supply. This has a tremendous detrimental effect on the agricultural produce.

Almost all development projects, as they are designed today, are causing damage to the living ecosystem. It is true that we cannot do away with development but a balance has to be struck. Forests account for more than 70 per cent of the flora and fauna. Rampant deforestation has led to the loss of habitat for millions of species and has made many of them extinct. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed 208 species as possibly extinct as they have not had any recorded sighting in the last few decades. A further 17,300 species are under threat. There may be difference of opinion in the number or rate of extinction of species, but we are all certain that species are getting extinct faster than they can evolve.

It is not merely that we are hampering nature but the rate at which we are doing it. What nature took billions of years to create, we are exhausting as fossil fule within decades, pumping carbon dioxide into the air. The natural carbon sequestration processes by trees are also lost thanks to deforestation.

In the past, man has lived in perfect harmony with nature, because his survival depended on his connection with nature. Today, he has estranged himself from the environment. If this condition persists, it is going to spell doom for humanity, warranting urgent remedial measures. To cope up with this, what can we do? The technology, knowledge and the information at our fingertips have not helped us. New legislation, complex administrative set-ups and international treaties could not help us. Pledge by the international leaders in different platforms could not achieve the desired objectives. They all have their impact, but the subtle relationship between man and nature has to be understood. We can no longer handle nature and natural resources as commodities. Our philosophy and attitude should change. We should realise that everything in this universe is inter- connected.

Sri Amma Bhagavan of the Oneness University in his Oneness Green Planting Program has said, “When one awakens to this truth (connectedness), one naturally becomes sensitive and begins to experience oneness with nature. When you support nature, nature supports you. What happens to the forests happens to us in our bodies, since our bodies like the trees are made of the same earth. Are not our bodies moving clay forms endowed with intelligence? A conscientious effort at healing the earth would manifest as the ultimate healing of our own bodies. With this understanding plant more seedlings and try to increase the tree cover on earth. As the sapling you planted grows, your satkarma will grow.”

Hence as our traditional society did, our the trees we plant do not only serve economic or ecological benefits, but serve  spiritual purposes too. It will solve our problems. Throughout the globe, the traditional societies had this relation or connectedness with nature. To them nature is life, nature is power and nature is divine. So we must always feel connected with nature. Even a gentle breeze in other part of the globe will affect us on this side of it. So love Mother Nature and preserve her as she is.