WATER FOR LIFE—DECADE
FOR ACTION
In December 2003, in recognition of the scarcity
of fresh water around the globe, and the need to conserve and preserve
vital water sources, the United Nations proclaimed the years between
2005 and 2015 “The Decade for International Action”
with the theme “Water for Life,” recognizing the fact
that without water, there is no life. The 22nd of March 2005—World
Water Day—marks the beginning of this ‘Decade of Action,’
a decade dedicated to protecting and safeguarding our rapidly vanishing
watersheds, and defending them from desecration and destruction.
These watersheds are the forests of the world, especially equatorial
rainforests like those found in Coorg and the rest of the Western
Ghats.
In the previous year, the UN recognized the connection between water
and disasters around the world. At least 75% of all disasters are
weather and climate-related extreme events like tornadoes, thunderstorms,
cyclones, blizzards, floods and droughts. Climate-related disasters
have been steadily increasing over the past decade due to global
warming. The polar icecaps are melting at a much faster rate than
previously thought. This melting ice is changing water cycles, which
in turn are affecting ocean currents and subsequently global weather
patterns. Whether these changes will mean an overall warmer planet
or a new ice age (like that portrayed in the Hollywood movie The
Day After Tomorrow), only time will tell. But the first line of
defense against global climate change is the same as that of protecting
our vital water sources, and that is: protecting and preserving
our forests—the watersheds and moderators of climate for the
entire globe.
As mentioned in previous articles, the rainforests of the Western
Ghats are the very heart of the watershed for the entire south Indian
peninsula. These forests raise the underground water table in addition
to setting up conditions for rain-cloud formation through the process
known as ‘transpiration.’ The systematic destruction
of these forests has led to a severe drop in rainfall and subsequent
droughts in some areas, with catastrophic storms and massive flooding
hitting others. Further destruction of these forests—whether
as a result of the proposed dams on the Barapolay River or from
drawing electricity cables through them—will further destabilize
normal weather patterns, leading to more climate-related disasters
while critically endangering our vital water sources.
But apparently, this is exactly what the Karnataka State Minister
for Forests—Gurupadappa Nagmarapalli—is planning to
do. In a statement made in the Legislative Assembly this past week,
Mr. Nagmarapalli stated that, though there is a directive from the
Supreme Court not to allow any activity that disturbed wildlife
in forest areas, he will direct the officials of the Forest Department
to allow electricity and water pipelines through forest areas, regardless
of how this is going to affect the forests or the wildlife within
them. Clearly his statement shows his contempt of both the Supreme
Court and its directives. One can only wonder what his motivation
is. But his words must motivate us to protect our forests and their
wildlife all the more because doing so is critical to our very survival—both
environmentally and economically.
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Tree Supports/Eco-Tourism
Besides being the watershed for our water, our
forests and their wildlife represent our economic future—not
only in agriculture, but in Wildlife Eco-Tourism as well. The biodiversity
of our forests is our real wealth, and this wealth can be realized
with dollars and euros from wildlife tourists, and Japanese yen
from the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) through
its funding of Karnataka State Government’s Biodiversity Conservation
Project. The JBIC has just granted the Karnataka State Government
Rs. 745 crores for this project. The central plank of this program
is biodiversity conservation, and with the Coorg forests being one
of the eight ‘Hottest Hot Spots of Biodiversity’ on
the planet, funds from this project will surely find their way into
our district IF we protect our forests and wildlife from any and
all sources that are threatening to disturb, damage and destroy
them.
Another way that funds from this Biodiversity Project could come
into the hands of the residents of Coorg is through the concept
of ‘Tree Supports.’ Remember that the Indian Supreme
Court has proposed giving compensation to those states, districts,
panchayats, and even directly to individual landowners that forego
logging and protect their forest areas. Similar in idea to ‘carbon
credits,’ this compensation could be called “Tree Supports.”
By preserving native trees not only in our forests, but in our plantations
as well, individual planters will benefit economically from money
from eco-tourists, compensation from Tree Supports, and better agricultural
income from enhanced soil fertility. Coorg’s forest cover
will be preserved and our vital watersheds protected. At the same
time, Tree Supports can preserve the planter’s options for
growing different cash crops, such as vanilla, anthuriums, and other
crops requiring shade.
This concept of “Tree Supports” offers a long-term solution
to the dropping rainfall patterns as well as long-term economic
security and flexibility for planters versus the short-term gain
and long-term loss in all areas that logging from ‘tree rights’
presents. Hence, the first priority is preserving the existing forest
cover through active community participation, which is an essential
of the Rs. 745 crores Biodiversity Project. This can be coupled
with encouraging large-scale afforestation of private lands—another
plank of the Project—again through “Tree Supports”
to planters for planting and maintaining tree species indigenous
to Coorg that increase the forest canopy and induce rainfall.
So instead of concerning ourselves with tree rights, let’s
set our sights on securing “Tree Supports” with funding
through the state’s Biodiversity Project. But to be eligible
for these funds, to get an income from Eco-tourism, we must protect
our trees, our forests and our wildlife NOW. Tourists don’t
come to see the dead stumps of chopped trees; they don’t come
to silent barren lands devoid of the sights and sounds of Nature
and her wildlife. And no money will come from this Biodiversity
Project if there is no biodiversity to save because all the forests
are gone, all the trees have been chopped down, all the wildlife
has been killed and/or fled. No trees means no birds/wildlife, no
birds/wildlife means no tourists and no income from Tree Supports
either.
So let us fight to protect our forests and the wildlife they contain.
Let us start this Decade of Action by taking a vow to defend our
vital watersheds from all sources of destruction. For without trees
there are no forests, without forests there is no water, and without
water there is no life.
From the Trustees of SAI Sanctuary Trust
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