Think globally, act locally

Rains in summers and droughts in monsoons! Climate change is happening right here and right now in front of our eyes and we do not need more scientific evidence (but a common sense) that we have made blunders in disturbing the ecological balance of the planet. With such as the gravity of the problem, it becomes our fundamental responsibility to act towards reviving the lost balance with the nature. Following are some of the steps which each one of us should and must take at personal level because localization is the key to internationalization.

·        Plant: Plants serve as an insurance against your carbon emissions by supplying oxygen and offsetting carbon. Plant native trees in your surroundings and take good care of existing ones.

·        Air: Wherever possible, prefer public transport or sustainable means of transport like bicycles.

·        Water: Make judicious use of water and channelize the rooftop rainwater to raise groundwater.

·        Waste: Adopt the strategy of reduce, reuse and recycle. Segregate the waste at household level. Make the compost out of wet waste and channelize the rest of waste to proper places.

·        Energy: Prefer energy efficient devices. Never leave electronic gadgets on standby mode. Saving energy not only benefits the planet but also your pocket.

·         Last but not least: Raise your voices and spread your work! Whenever you get a chance, speak for nature. Ask questions to authorities. Look how you can channelize the funds at the local level for maintaining the balance between environment & development and not just on infrastructure development.

This may seem like very simple steps but if taken by everyone its effects on the planet are profound and long lasting. Remember as every drop in the ocean count, likewise every action of yours for a sustainable planet counts. So, make your action count!

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Forestry, a single point solution to the multi-fold global problems

Forestry is undoubtedly the single point solution to address the most defining problems of the 21st century may it be that of global warming, groundwater depletion, air pollution, desertification and biodiversity loss. In fact it is by far the most effective and efficient solution to address most of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals benefiting both people and planet.

We may not recognize but forests are intrinsically attached to our daily lives in one way or the other. Remember the time when you are drinking a glass of water, writing on a notebook, taking a medicine for a disease or building a furniture for house, you are directly or indirectly making use of the forests.

It is well established fact that a single tree absorbs 22 kg of CO2 in a year for free of cost and all it is asking us in return is to simply let it live. Besides it provides us with essential products like timber, honey, rubber, gum and vital ecosystem services like carbon sequestration, groundwater recharge, soil conservation and flood prevention. Thus protecting and conserving forests not only make an ecological sense but a business sense too.

Despite of it being such a critical resource, we the world’s most intelligent species ‘Homo sapiens’ are ruthlessly running after it in the name of development and in the process destroying our own lungs of the planet. We need to understand a simple fact that nature doesn’t need people but people need nature. Understanding the gravity of the problem, let us act and simply act to revitalize and rejuvenate mother earth through afforestation and reforestation efforts because we simply cannot afford to wait! 

Extension Education

Extension is a means for dissemination of education and information. The word extension itself gives a clue about its meaning- ex means out and tension means stretching. In layman terms, it means spreading out information. Some of the important objectives of extension education are to help change the human behavior through use of knowledge, skills and attitude; to reach out to rural and marginalized population for promoting social development; to improve Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Skills (i.e. KAPS) and; to ensure involvement and participation of the target audience.

Following are some of the principles of extension which act as guidelines in making the process of extension education effective:

·         Principle of cultural difference: It should be taken care that people differ in terms of their thinking, living & culture and as such changes will have to be made in the extension programs according to the changing situations. The underlying statement behind this principle is that ‘one solution doesn’t fit all.’

·         Principle of cultural change: It should be noted that culture may undergo change due to extension education and as such extension workers should gain the confidence of people and if necessary focus on result demonstration.

·         Principle of grass root organization: It should cater to the needs and interests of people at grass root levels.

·         Principle of interests and needs: Extension program should pay desired attention to the needs and interests of the target audience. It should be duly noted by extension workers that imposed innovation will have no relevance as people accept innovation only when they find it helpful. 

·         Principle of participation: It should be noted that participatory approach develops local leadership and builds confidence.

·         Principle of adaptability in the use of teaching methods: A due care should be taken in using teaching methods as people differ in knowledge & understanding and as such the methods should also vary accordingly.

·         Principle of leadership: Involving the local leaders increases people’s participation and thus increase the speed of work.

·         Principle of trained specialists: Make use of the subject matter experts (SMEs) for execution.

·         Principle of satisfaction: It must be noted that people will participate only when that feel satisfied and thus the extension program should result in satisfaction of people.

·         Principle of whole family approach: Extension work should reach all the family members.

·         Principle of evaluation: Regular monitoring and evaluation helps in improving the quality of work. Thus review of progress at regular intervals is necessary and corrective measures must be taken if the direction is wrong.

·         Principle of applied science and democracy: It must be noted that people have freedom to accept or reject the particular technology.

·         Principle of learning by doing: It should be realistic, humanitarian & flexible and must include the feedback from participants and local authorities.

(Note: The learning and insights are compiled from a course on Communication and Extension Management (COEM) at Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal and I'm thankful to Prof. A. Upadhyay for the same.)