Sunday, Apr 28, 2002
Sunday, Apr 28, 2002 |
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Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
The conference is being organised by a group of activists who have been resisting attempts by powerful groups to destroy the mangroves at Vallikkunnu. The group has also protested against the decision of the local panchayat to give some land rich in mangroves on lease. The mangrove lovers fear the leaseholders would destroy the mangroves which in turn would cause irreparable damage to the fragile ecology of the coastal village. Mr Prasad pointed out that though mangroves were to be protected under the Supreme Court order that barred destruction of any form of forest, the mangrove vegetation in the State was being destroyed with impunity for cultivating other crops and even for firewood. The once lush mangrove cover in the State had now shrunk to 17 sq km. Legal protection to mangrove could be strengthened if the State Assembly notified the ban implicit in the order of the Supreme Court pertaining to forest. But recent events had shown laws alone would not be enough to save mangroves. What was needed was a sustained campaign that would convince the masses that destruction of environment would be ruinous in the long run. In spite of the existing laws, encroachment of forests and felling of forest trees were going on unchecked. If the local people were properly educated and shown scientific evidence of the adverse impact of environmental degradation, the threats to environment could be minimised. Mr Prasad said there was no room for complacency for environmentalists since all over the world, alarming signs of environmental degradation had emerged. Because of global warming caused by emission of automobile emissions and other factors, there had been a perceptible increase in temperature in the Antartic. Algae had started growing in cold regions like Florida because of hotting up of the atmosphere. Major wheat growing areas in Punjab had also been experiencing a higher level of temperature which could in the long run lower the wheat output (wheat needs cold weather during some periods of its growth). He also claimed to have information to the effect that the State revenue from forest had increased even though it was not being shown in the State budget and the Forest Department had stopped select felling of trees. Stressing the need for well-planned environmental awareness programmes to resist further destruction of mangroves, Mr. Prasad said there should be a house-to-house campaign in Vallikkunnu to convince the local people that it would be in their interest to protect the vegetation. The coir workers of the village who feel the mangroves were a threat to their livelihood by hindering retting of husk should be convinced that it was not so and taught the technology that would make their job easier. The conference was inaugurated by Pokkudan from Pazhayangadi in Kannur whose efforts to conserve mangroves have won all round appreciation. The reception committee members, A Velayudhankutty, P Purshothaman and Aboobacker, spoke. The inaugural function was followed by talks by C N Unni of Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (`mangroves and coastal ecology'), A. Biju Kumar (STEC) (`biodiversity of coastal region') and Sivan Madathil (`environmental laws and human rights').
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