Date:15/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/15/stories/2008091554640600.htm

Tamil Nadu

“Turn to nature to avert global warming”

Staff Reporter

MADURAI: Investments in existing natural capital such as forests should be enhanced to combat global warming, Chief Conservator of Forests S. Balaji said here on Sunday.

While 33 per cent of land should ideally be under forest cover, it was not possible in urban areas.

Hence green cover should be increased by planting trees as environmental benefits accrued will be similar, he said.

He was addressing a prelude to a conference on ‘Global warming: its impact on India’ organised by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), Madurai Institute of Social Sciences (MISS) and Lions Club of Madurai Aditya.

Highlighting the hazards of global warming, he said that the rise in sea level would displace more than 60 million in Kolkata and Bangladesh. Even Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu would be in danger as it was below sea level, said Dr. Balaji.

Unseasonal cyclones, floods and rains were already occurring, he said pointing to the examples of Mumbai floods in 2005. On the health front, some 30 new diseases had emerged in the past three decades as new micro organisms had evolved.

India, he said, was among 12 mega diversity centres in the world. The country was home to 45,146 plant species and 81,292 animal species (including 372 mammals and 1,228 animals). To protect such a diverse flora and fauna, loss of forest cover had to be checked.

India had a total of 64.07 million hectares of forests with 37.85 m.ha. being dense ones. The ‘Joint Forest Management’ policy had succeeded in increasing forest cover, albeit by marginal levels.

Locals’ involvement

Involving local people was vital for such policies to succeed. Dr. Balaji said that forests could minimise the impact of global warming by acting as a ‘carbon sink.’

The annual costs of stabilising carbon-di-oxide emissions for a country would work out to around 1 per cent of its gross domestic production. Switching to a low carbon energy economy was also required. “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” should be the mantra.

D.V.P. Raja, Chairman, IIPA, Madurai Branch, G. Venkidusamy, Secretary, IIPA, B. Jeyakumar, President, Lions Club of Madurai Aditya, P.N. Narayana Raja, Principal, MISS, spoke.