There’s more to a forest than tigers!

A very commonly asked question after the Jungle Safari is whether one spotted the tiger or not, and if spotted, how many? how close? How long? In fact, many tourists knowingly or unknowingly visit Jungles only to spot the tigers and get disappointed if the tiger is not seen. It’s unfortunate that we generally believe that a jungle safari is about tiger spotting alone.

Though the tiger is an apex predator and keystone species of the forests and spotting tigers in the wild is one of its kind experience, but forests are much (so much) more than the tigers. In the quest to look out only for tigers, we miss out on so many other aspects of the forest. The jungle offers much more provided we have the farsighted vision and zeal to look for it. A growing body of literature has pointed out that exposure to pristine natural forests has a significant positive influence on boosting physical & mental health, reducing stress, promoting healing and overall wellbeing. The Japanese people practice ‘shinrin yoku’ or ‘forest bathing’ (a practise of being with nature) to rejuvenate and escape stress-filled daily life. It has known to have a positive effect on the heart rate, pulse, sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nerve activity of human beings.

Take the case of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), popularly known as the land of tigers. Though TATR is famous among tourists for tiger sightings, but there are equally thrilling and mesmerizing experiences and activities in the wild beyond the tiger sightings. In an attempt to promote ecotourism, TATR officials have promoted various activities such as Nature trail, nature camping, cycling trail, adventure activities, kayaking, sailing, birding machan, butterfly world garden, loghut Stay, Home Stay, and Souvenir Shops (https://mytadoba.org/other-adventures/).  The facilitation of such eco-tourism activities offers the surrounding villagers and tribal communities a source of alternative livelihood, boosts their income, reduce their dependence on forests and stop their migration to urban areas.

Machan Stay

Birding Machan

When visiting the forested areas, one should also visit the nearby villages adjoining forests. The economy of these people depends on forests and forests, in turn, depend upon the practices of these people. For instance, if the local men are engaged as administrative staff in the hotels & resorts and if the local women are engaged as cooks in the restaurants, they won't have to venture into the forest to cut the fuelwood. This would not only make them earn more but also reduce the chances of man-animal conflicts.

Reflecting on my recent visit to TATR, I felt the following could be some of the To-Do activities during the visit to wilderness areas.  

·   Observe the percentage of local staff employed at the resort where you are staying. If it is negligible, provoke the owner to boost local employment as it boosts the local economy and the local people won’t have to migrate to nearby cities in search of better occupation or jobs.

·   The villages adjoining the forest mostly belong to tribal communities. For instance, Basod community has an ancestral occupation of handcrafting bamboo products. With the advent of plastics, their products are dying a slow death. Try to purchase and promote their products. It costs nothing!

·        Prefer to stay at a local homestay. It not only gives villagers the opportunity to serve you but you also get an opportunity to get the feel of local culture.

·    Eat local. The traditional cuisines on Chulha are mouth-watering and provides an alternative source of livelihood to rural people. Remember, their economy depends on you.

·        Don’t blow horns or listen to loud music. Instead, hear the mesmerizing sounds of the jungle, the sound of a freshwater stream, the chirping of the birds, the rustling of the leaves, etc.

·     The souvenir shops at forest gates keep exclusive tribal and traditional products. Buying these products offers the local artisans a readymade market. It's a good practise to gift such products on birthdays and anniversaries.

·        Don't throw away waste or plastics in the pristine forested areas.

·        Visit the Tourist Interpretation Centre and understand the flora/fauna of the particular forest.

·        Spend a day in a rural setting to understand the local customs, traditions, and culture. Understand the challenges faced by these people and if we can take any corrective measures to solve their problems.

·        Educate other people about sustainable ways of being in the forest.

Thus, Next time when you visit a forest, be on the lookout for the aforementioned activities and take the holistic feel of the pristine forested areas.

Insights from Joe Biden’s 2021 Leaders’ Summit on Climate

The Leaders’ Summit on Climate ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) is a welcome move by the US President Joe Biden. It is heartening to witness the historic largest carbon-polluter coming back to the climate rescue. President Biden seem to have a clear intention and interest to take climate action. On the very first day of joining the office the president announced the move to make United States return to the Paris Agreement. Subsequently, 40 world leaders were invited to the Leaders’ Summit on Climate to galvanize the efforts by the world’s major economies to tackle the climate crisis. The invitation to the summit urged global leaders to use the summit as an opportunity to showcase their commitments towards stronger climate ambition and action.

The key themes of the summit were to channelize the efforts of the world’s major economies to limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius and assist the vulnerable countries to mitigate and adapt the climate impacts. At the summit, the US submitted its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the 2015 Paris Agreement which is to reduce 50-52 per cent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions below 2005 levels by 2030 and to reach to the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Similar ambitious commitments were made by Japan, Canada, European Union and United Kingdom among a host of other countries.

But despite of having such ambitious pledges and commitments, we are falling short of a 1.5˚C-compatible 2030 target as reported by the Climate Action Tracker (CAT). A two-day virtual meeting of world’s leaders was never going to channelize the kind of rapid response required for serious climate action. However, with the unionization of world’s top political figureheads, the climate change issue is certainly back on the agenda. The real need now is to transform the commitments to ground with real time monitoring and feedback mechanism.

The world’s topmost leaders should also be concerned about those impacted the hardest and with very little capacity to cope with the serious impacts of climate change. Several studies have identified South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa as two of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. Unfortunately these are the same regions with lower economic capacities, poor standards of living and higher dependence on natural resources. With just 3.5% of the global emissions share, south Asia faces the brunt of the climate impacts.

The poorer south nations are far less materially and economically developed than the North nations. The developed nations have attained economic levels by extensive use of fossil fuels and materialistic advancement. It is unfortunate that the historically low carbon emitters are hit hardest by the impacts of climate change. This also raises the question of Climate Justice and Common but Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capacities (CBDR & RC) which was not given an adequate attention during the leaders’ summit. Though the south nations must play their active role in reducing the emissions, but the north nations must take responsibility to help and support the vulnerable countries.

The scientists have warned the urgency to limit the global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in order to limit the adverse impacts of climate change. We have already crossed the rise in global temperature by 1.2°C mark. At the current global GHG emission growth rate, the world will likely warm by 2°C in a matter of few decades, the aftereffects of which are most likely to be irreversible and unlivable. IPCC has also warned that we have just a short decade till 2030 to reduce the global emissions by 50% if we are to avert the disastrous effects of climate change.

There is a dire need to invest in nature and take some serious legally binding actions like phasing out coal, promoting renewables, afforestation targets, sustainable investments etc. The global financial institutions should be mandated to invest at least 50% in promoting climate action. A strict global tax system should be made in place to penalize the carbon, energy and water intensive projects with unsustainable products and practices. The projects like mining and overexploitation in ecologically sensitive areas should be totally banned. A proactive landscape scale planning is a must while decision making. The funds like Green Climate Fund and Climate Adaptation Fund should be made sizable to the extent of the problem. The developed countries should take ownership to help their developing counterparts in financing and technological transfer.

Advancing on climate with strong policy and commitments should not be looked upon as a liability or bourdon. There is a hidden long term incentive by aligning the policies and practices for creating a better, equitable and just world. The enhanced climate action will help create green jobs, advance innovative technologies, promote sustainable livelihoods and achieve inclusive development.

Climate Change is certainly real and almost visible. It is already staring hard at our doorsteps. The point in time is the most crucial and decisive moments in the lifetime of only inhabitable planet. It’s a make or break time for the world. At such a crucial juncture, let us hope that the Leaders’ Summit on Climate is a stepping stone to decisive climate action.

References: 

 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/26/president-biden-invites-40-world-leaders-to-leaders-summit-on-climate/ 

 https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/climate-change/biden-s-climate-summit-major-polluters-ramp-up-climate-ambition-76680 

 https://www.firstpost.com/tech/science/earth-day-2021-joe-biden-to-host-earth-day-climate-summit-how-to-watch-it-online-who-is-attending-9551811.html 

 https://yubanet.com/world/civil-society-reactions-to-leaders-climate-summit/ 

 https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/climate-change/biden-s-climate-leadership-summit-what-should-3-pms-from-south-asia-do-76619

Unseasonal Rains!

One must have heard about the Monsoon Rains, but Summer Rains is an evolving and abnormal category of a changing weather pattern. 

The cool breeze by rains in summers pleases us. The weather, though temporary looks and feels fantastic. It makes us feel relieved from the scorching heat of summers. It also make us upload pictures of a rainbow and drizzles on social media. It may also make some of us feel romantic as well. Not to mention, I also enjoy and feel such events. But are these events normal? Is it like any other rains? What are its root causes & consequences? Is it because of the bigger picture of climate change? 

Over the years, not only the frequency but also the intensity of such erratic weather events (like floods, droughts, heatwaves, erratic rainfalls) has increased manifolds. Now the question arises whom to blame for it? In my view, humanity and nature are the only two major contenders. But humans won't ever accept his deeds till the time situation becomes out of control. 

Imagine the situation of a farmer who is doing the business of farming 'under the sky'. The farmer who is already in trouble, is forced to face more troubles with such out of the box extreme weather events. The situation of not so fortunate people living on streets. Such extreme and erratic weather events does not give time to adjust and adapt. One just have to face the consequences.

These events may seem normal to the common public but it also has a direct economic impact on the balance sheet of government.  They need to pay heavy compensation amounts to thousands of such affected farmers. It also has an impact on public health cost due to the increasing number of patients reporting in the name of change of weather. Wildlife also gets severely affected. We have a permanent shelter to live, but wildlife have habitats. They stay in a particular habitat depending upon the seasons. But such mix and match of seasons ( like rains in summers) also puts them in trouble. 

Through such events, nature is alarming and giving us a testimony about the heinous crimes done by humanity to the nature. Anyways, let us not become too serious and critical about such abnormal weather events. Instead enjoy them, but at the same time be mindful of such events and put our right efforts to mitigate such erratic weather events in future. 

Summary and multi-language translation of the “Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region (2020)”

 In June, 2020 the Ministry of Earth Science published a detailed report named “Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region” on human induced climate change and its effect over India. The present work is collaboration between multidisciplinary people to summarize and translate the report in several Indian languages in order to disseminate the results among the common mass.

Access the full report at : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349773842_Summary_and_multi-language_translation_of_the_Assessment_of_Climate_Change_over_the_Indian_Region_2020

Bamboo Biomass

It is a well established fact that bamboo grows very fast in a span of just 3-4 years. But how much of a biomass is  acquired by each specie over the years is a grey area.

Following is an outcome of a short study by Maharashtra Bamboo Development Board for the estimation of bamboo biomass from various species in 5th year. 

It may be noted that the yield and weight has been calculated on Green Metric Ton. As per the agro-climatic zone for the particular species, the yield may vary if the standard operating procedure of drip irrigation, fertigation and other practices aren't followed. The dry weight would be 60% of the wet bamboo.