Hornbill Chapter 5 The Ailing Planet : The Green Movement's Role

Lines in the text that support the title ‘The Ailing Planet’ are :

‘The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health’.

“...biologists reckon that about three to a hundred million other living species still languish unnamed in ignominious darkness”.

“Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment ?”

“... these systems are reaching an unsustainable level, a point where productivity is being impaired”.
“We see ... the survival not just of the people but of the planet.”

At Lusaka, there is a cage where the notice reads, “The world’s most dangerous animal”. There is no animal inside the cage except a mirror where you see yourself. The notice is very significant. It points an accusing finger at man. He is the real villain who has plundered the earth. Man is the most dangerous animal in the world who has degraded, depleted and polluted the natural resources and the environment.

Mr. Lester R. Brown has pointed out that there are four principal biological systems of the earth. They are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. They are the foundation of the global economic system. They supply our food and provide raw materials for industry except minerals. But man’s demands on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level. Overfishing is very common. Local forests are disappearing to provide firewood and wood. The world is losing 40 to 50 million acres of forests a year. Similarly, grasslands and woodlands are being converted into deserts and wastelands.

Nani Palkhivala avers that population explosion will pose a great danger to the future of human society. Growing population makes nonsense of all progress and development. There is no alternative to voluntary family planning. The population of India is more than 100 crores today. It is more than the entire population of Africa and South America put together. No progress is possible here unless population control is given topmost priority. We have to make a choice—either control population or perpetuate poverty.

Ram : Laws are never respected in India.

Mohan : Nor are they enforced.

Geeta : What are laws if they don’t have any teeth in them?

Meera : Just imagine how we have plundered our natural resources and wealth. Ram : It’s a sad commentary on the unsatiable greed of man.

Mohan : Fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands are the four principal biological systems of the earth.

Geeta : They are the foundation of the global economic system.

Meera : Overfishing is destroying fisheries.

Ram : Local forests are disappearing. Tropical forests, “the powerhouse of evolution” are disappearing.

Mohan : Grasslands are being converted into deserts.

Geeta : And croplands are in a bad shape.

Meera : We are losing an acre and a half every minute.

Ram : This happens inspite of Article 48 A of the constitution.

Mohan : Who cares for the laws? Open plundering of nature and natural resources continues unabated.

Ram : The earth, our beloved planet, is ailing.

Mohan : Certainly. It doesn’t seem to be in good health.

Geeta : It is now not only the question of survival of the people but of the survival of the earth itself.

Meera : We owe a responsibility towards the coming generations.

Ram : Should we have a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and an ailing environment ?

Mohan : We must check our greed.

Geeta : Forests, particularly the tropical forests, have to be preserved.

Meera : Let us not indulge in overfishing and destroy our fisheries.

Ram : Grassland must be preserved for our animals. They should not be allowed to be converted into deserts.

Mohan : And our croplands should not degenerate into wastelands.

Geeta : Let us preserve nature and natural wealth and resources.

Meera : Let us make this planet, a beautiful and pleasant place to live in.

Ram : Man thinks he is the master of this world.

Mohan : He thinks he can plunder nature and its resources at will.

Geeta : He has ruined fisheries. Cleared away forests and has converted grasslands and croplands into deserts and wastelands.

Meera : We should remember the words of Mr Lester Brown. “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers. We have borrowed it from our children”.

Ram : Let us remember that we have “not a freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy”.

Mohan : So let us save this world and the earth not for us only but for the coming generations.

Geeta : We are only the trustees of the earth.

Meera : Certainly. We have to hand it over to our children. Without degrading or deteriorating the ecology and the environment.

Ram : The problems of population have directly affected our lives.

Mohan : Definitely, Man has a clear choice.

Geeta : Man will have to choose either to control population or to perpetuate poverty.

Meera : Imagine India’s population is more than the population of Africa and South America put together.

Ram : Just imagine the world is adding a million in four days !

Mohan : Over population makes a mockery of all our progress and development.

Geeta : Crowds and crowds and more crowds everywhere.

Meera : In trains, buses and even in aeroplanes there is no room for people. Everything is already overcrowded.

Ram : In schools and colleges millions are deprived of admissions. Long queues can be seen at the ration shops. Prices are soaring.

All : Check the population or face more poverty, more hunger and more dust and dirt.

1. prima facie : at the first glance based on facts.

2. ad hoc : only for a specific purpose, for the time being.

3. in camera : in a judge’s private room, without the press or public being present.

4. ad infinitum : endless.

5. mutatis mutan : with appropriate changes.

6 caveat : a warning that particular things should be considered before something can be done. :

7. tabula rasa : condition of something before it has been changed or influenced.

41 Pandara Road

New Delhi

20 March, 2008

The Editor

The Times of India

New Dlehi

Sub : Disappearing Green Belts and Felling of Trees

Sir

Once South Delhi used to be the greenest part of Delhi. However, the pace at which all construction activities took place in the past few years, has changed the very face of the place. The place where once flowers bloomed and trees overshadowed the landscape, is gradually turning into a jungle of concrete. The place has lost its glory and greenery. Hunger for more commercial sites has taken a heavy toll on the ancientpeepal and oak trees. Indiscriminate felling of trees has made this place barren and ugly. Not only that. The Central Park used to be an island of peace and greenery. More than half of the park has been swallowed by the commercial establishments. This open plunder of Nature continues unabated. The officials are silent spectators. Actually, huge bribes have gagged their mouth.

I am pained at this villainy of man. We forget that we are not the masters of this planet. We have only a life time tenancy. Let us not degrade, pollute or deteriorate the environment. Let us keep our city green. Let the government take the guilty to task by giving them exemplary punishment.

Yours faithfully

S. Rana

The Green Movement aims at creating a holistic and ecological view of the world. It makes people conscious of stopping further degradation and deterioration of nature and its resources. It started in 1972. The world’s first nationwide Green Party was founded in New Zealand. Since then the Green Movement has captured the imagination of millions. 

Man has been the main villain in degrading the environment. Due to his misdeeds the earth has become an ailing planet. Previously he had formed a ‘mechanistic’ view of the world. Fortunately, he has changed his outlook. The people of the world are gradually shifting to a holistic and ecological view of the world. The world is no longer considered a machine but a living organism.

This world can’t be studied in isolation. The mechanical view of the world gives a distorted picture. We need to develop a holistic view of the world. It is a comprehensive view of the world with all its natural resources and species. Human beings are just a part of it. Like a human body this earth is a living organism. It has its own metabolism. We should not destroy this natural growth and functioning of the world.

All is not well with our earth. Actually, it is not in good health. Fisheries have been ruined. Forests are disappearing. Grasslands and croplands are being converted into deserts and wastelands. The environment has been polluted and degraded. These are definite signs that the earth is like ‘a patient in declining health’.

“Development that meets the needs of the present” without harming the needs of the future generations, is called ‘sustainable development’. We have to keep the balance. The principal biological systems of the earth are to be used judiciously. Fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands are to be used judiciously. They must be preserved for the future generations.

Certainly, man has been the most dangerous animal that ever lived on this earth. He has swallowed fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. The notice at a cage in the Zoo at Lusaka reads, The world’s most dangerous animal’. Inside the cage there is no animal but only a mirror where you can see yourself. The mirror reflects the image of the real villain. He is none else than the man himself.

The Brandt Commission dealt with the questions of ecology and environment. The Commission had a distinguished Indian as one of its members—Mr. L.K. Jha. The Commission warned the world of Green House effect that was making the earth ‘a scorched planet’. It also warned the world that the environment was deteriorating at an alarming rate. ‘Advancing deserts’ and impoverished landscapes’ didn’t augur well for the planet.

There are four principal biological systems of the earth. They are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. They form the foundation of the global economic system. They supply us food. They all provide all the raw materials for industry except minerals. Human demands on these systems are increasing to a point where their productivity is impaired.

It is a protein conscious world. People are advised to consume more and more protein. Fish is an important source of protein. So in a protein hungry world, over-fishing is a common practice. Over-fishing has resulted in the collapse of fisheries.

Man is the greatest consumer of forest wealth. Local forests are being decimated in order to get firewood for cooking. The tropical forests are the power-house of evolution. We are losing forests at the rate of an acre and a half in a second. Need for fuel and wood and other building activities has destroyed much of the tropical forests.

Naturally, forests precede mankind. Forests were in existence much before the coming of man on this planet. It is also true that if forests disappear, deserts will follow. Felling of trees and clearing of forests is converting our grassland and croplands into wastelands and deserts.

The pressure on land is increasing. Our grasslands are being converted into barren wastelands. Over-grazing of animals has caused havoc to our grasslands. Similarly, the pressure of population on croplands has been affecting their productivity. Degradation of environment has led to such disasters.

The growth of world population is one of the strongest factors ‘distorting’ the future of human society. Around 1800 the world population was just a billion. By 1900, another billion was added. The twentieth century has added another 3.7 billions. The present world population is about six billions. This pressure on land has affected the productivity. The choice is quite clear. Either control population or perpetuate poverty.

Due to overpopulation and the greed of the world the principal biological systems of the world are being destroyed. Over-fishing has caused the collapse of fisheries. Forests are being cleared. Grasslands are being converted into barren wastelands. Croplands deteriorate. This has degraded the environment. The survival of this planet is at stake. More mouths mean more food. The productivity is badly affected causing the survival of the earth in danger.

Man suffers from many misconceptions. He thinks that he is the lord of this world. This world is his fiefdom. Perhaps he doesn’t know that his actions are leading to the degradation and destruction of this earth. Man should remember that he has to hand over this planet to the coming generations. He is only the trustee and not the master. At the most he can enjoy a life tenancy on the earth.

There has come a change in human perceptions. Man’s view is no longer a mechanistic one. He doesn’t consider this world to be a machine. He has evolved a holistic view. It is a comprehensive ecological view of this world. It is a revolutionary shift in the thinking of man. There is growing a worldwide consciousness that the earth itself is a living organism. It is an enormous being of which we are only parts. The world has its own metabolic needs. It has some vital processes. They need to be preserved and respected. It is becoming quite clear that the earth is an ailing planet. It is in declining health. It is our duty to save this planet for future generations.

The Green Movement is basically a movement to save this planet and its environment from degradation and deterioration. The movement has gripped the imagination of the entire human race. It started nearly 35 years ago. The world’s first Green Party was founded in 1972 in New Zealand. Since then, the movement has not looked back.

The earth’s vital signs tell a different story. They give dangerous signals. They reveal that this planet on which we live is no more a pleasant place. It is like a patient in declining health. Lester R. Brown points out that there are four principal biological systems in the world. They are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. They form the foundation of the global economic system. But in most parts of the world human demands on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level. The earth and its environment shows all round degradation and deterioration. We are living on a sick planet.

Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without harming the interests of the future generations. It means that natural wealth and resources will be safeguarded to meet the needs of the future generations. Fisheries and forests shouldn’t be plundered. Human development may be such as may not convert grasslands and croplands into wastelands and deserts.

The concept of sustainable development is being threatened. The principal biological systems of the earth are under pressure. Fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands are being destroyed. In a protein conscious and protein hungry world, over-fishing is common everyday. Forests are disappearing fast. The tropical forests, ‘the powerhouse of evolution’ face extinction. The world is losing about an acre and a half every second. Grasslands are being converted into wastelands and deserts. Croplands deteriorate. The most dangerous animal of the world that has caused this destruction is the man himself. His greed and claims have made this earth a scorched planet of advancing deserts and ailing environment.

Man’s villainy continues unabated. Over-population is making a mockery of all human progress. More mouths need more grains. More men mean more fuelwood. It means deforestation at a large scale. The choice is quite clear. Either we control population or face perpetual poverty. Man’s plundering of natural wealth and resources must bo stopped.

Man has entertained many false illusions. He considers himself to be the lord of this world. His arrogance and misdeeds have caused untold havoc and destruction. He considers that he has a freehold on this earth. He can indulge himself in plundering of natural wealth and resources at will. The protein-conscious and hungry world has ruined fishing. Forests are disappearing at the rate of an acre and a half every second. Grasslands and croplands are being converted into wastelands and deserts. Man is the most dangerous animal of the world who has made this earth an ailing planet.

We should remember that we are not the masters but only the trustees of this planet. We owe a duty to leave this earth in good health and good shape to the coming generations. As Margaret Thatcher says we have only a life tenancy and not the ownership. Nor have we inherited this world from our forefathers. We have borrowed it from our children. At all costs we have to maintain a sustainable development. We must meet our present needs without harming the interests and needs of the coming generations.