Climate change and shrinking wildlife habitats have affected a hundred lives in urban civilisations, especially Uttarakhand, says Bipin Joshi
A nine-year-old boy is playing in his courtyard. The rays of the rising sun are falling in front of the Himalayas, the boy is admiring the changing colours of the enormous mountains. He finds them thrilling and it is like meditation for him. Minutes ago, it was shining like silver, it has turned red now, and hey, it has started to turn yellow now. He is drowned in his imaginary world but the very next moment he wakes up to reality. He’s still relishing his dream when suddenly a man-eating leopard drags him away towards the farms. His shoes fall away, the clothes get torn, the head collides with a wall as he roars a painful scream. The people run behind the leopard, they start searching for the boy. Till they recover his body late in the night. The family mourns. The locals talk about how unsafe it has now become to even sit and chat in the courtyard. There is a voice that very softly says that it is probably not the fault of the man-eater; there must have been some reason for it to have turned into a man-eater.
Uttarakhand these days is living with the terror of man-eating leopards. In the past decade, hundreds of people, especially innocent children, have become victims. The public outrage is also spreading slowly. But the fact is the leopards are dealing with their own challenges of a shrinking prey base and denuded forests. From April to mid-June, forest fires can be seen ravaging the mountains. People set fire to grasslands and the flames roar and engulf the jungle. The fire destroys the dwelling habitats of many species. They turn to populated areas to avoid the fire and in search of food. Ultimately, nearly half of the population is troubled by the intervention of wild animals in agriculture. Every day, the voices of protest are rising. People are demanding arrangements to shift the animals away from the populated areas. However, this same population does not oppose the forest fires. A large chunk of this population has problems with leopards, wild pigs, monkeys, bears and so on. But there is no objection to the proposed “all-weather road” in the area, which encroaches on animal corridors and for which thousands of trees are being cut. What will happen if a large section of the public is not sensitive towards the environment?
Who was the one who started it all? Machines were brought in to make roads and mines, animals were exhibited through jungle safaris, the free-flowing rivers were diverted or stopped by building dams. In the name of development works, forest dwellers were oppressed. Not only resident human lives but innocent animals also had to face problems, including annihilation.
The solution will also have to be at many levels. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 states the following: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact. Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning. Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
There are community attempts at the second level when the government fails. People will move towards creative development like voluntary efforts in mutual cooperation, construction of roads in the village, provision of drinking water and so on. Creating a biosphere park just to enrich the forest will not work. For those whose life is dependent on forests and who are friends of the forest, there should be some relaxation in the rules. The forest grows naturally. But forests have to be re-enriched to completely re-consolidate the biodiversity that has been completely destroyed. If the wild animals get food in the forest itself, they will not have to go out of the forest in search of food, and there will be a kind of balance. To maintain this arrangement, policies need to be developed with better understanding. Jungle is not just a means of earning; it is also synonymous with life. The war of man versus animal has been centuries old. It is not that those who attacked animals have not been punished, but they also get relief almost immediately. How to include wildlife protection in government schemes? This is also a challenge, to sustain the diversity of forests and societies.
Can efforts be made to take this conversation forward in schools? For example, one day in a week, keep environment as the theme for discussion. By talking to the children, the whole village will get involved in their discussions. The village plantations, things related to them, the struggle related to the source of the water, the stories of the forest, the story of the leopard or the story of another animal, tales of farming, the songs related to farming, and many more things which are often left unsaid can be shared in open fora. When children and teachers become acquainted with this exercise, a plan can be made for the school and its surroundings. In the village, research on the work of various communities and their status can be done.
Discussions and work on improving the environment can be done. There may also be research about how the changes in the environment are taking place. Education is helpful in developing values. We should not forget that forests made us understand the depth of life. Burning these forests has led to change in climate today. Trees are an important component of this earth and the entire ecological cycle. In order to protect them, we must strive to protect them at many levels, not only for sustainable development. The goal can be fulfilled but the order of the life cycle on earth will remain natural.
—Charkha Features