Now that a massive green drive under the Year of Plantation has been launched by the Forest Department, Government of Nagaland, it will hopefully help in somewhat compensating for the loss of forest cover. According to the Minister for Forest, Ecology, Environment and Wildlife M.C. Konyak as per the latest report of the forest survey of India, the loss of forest cover in Nagaland was 201 sq. kms between 2005 and 2007. While this loss is quite huge, it will be interesting to find out from the Forest department the scale of afforestation activities during the same period. Nevertheless the decision to declare 2010 as the year of plantation should be welcomed. As the Minister rightly pointed out, the plantation drive has been undertaken to bring back the green cover of the state to its desired level. While launching of a massive plantation drive is being applauded, the State will also need to balance its development objective with the need to ensure the protection of our natural resources and biodiversity. It will be equally challenging for our farmers to cultivate and grow their food while preserving the environment at the same time. As is being officially reported, the major cause of environmental degradation has been attributed to the prevailing practice of Jhum cultivation in the State. While this is no doubt true, it will be detrimental if we do not take proper account of the other causes, which has not been talked about as much as it should have been.
It is a known fact the large scale development programmes of the State government—whether it is construction of roads, building new infrastructure or promoting agriculture and other horticulture activities—has led to cutting down of large forests or degrading other land resources. So besides Jhum practice, the ongoing development activity is also having a devastating effect on the biodiversity of the state. And this is proven by what we are seeing today in our State—the rising temperatures, unpredictable weather, record losses in biodiversity and species extinction, polluting of our rivers and the dwindling of water sources etc. Nevertheless we should also be realistic that we cannot stop development completely for that will be wishful thinking. What we can however do is to sensitize ourselves of the need to balance between economic development and environmental protection. In particular, we need to create awareness at the level of government so that policies are made keeping in mind the need for proper Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). The need to strictly follow EIA in our development programmes has been highlighted on several occasions in these columns. How far it is being followed is not known though it is doubtful. The point is that environmental safeguards need to be followed while commissioning projects especially if it is on a large scale likely to have an adverse impact. In the near future, our State government may also be required to bring about legislations related to safeguarding our environment. In the end the challenge posed by the Forest Minister during the launch of the Year of Plantation to make our state a paradigm for ‘sustainable development’ is really the key.
