Conserving partnerships
- (un)common sense
There has been a phenomenal regeneration of forests across the mid-hills of Nepal, primarily due to community management practices. Many national parks and other protected areas have brought some wild animals back from the brink of extinction too — the one-horned rhino being an n example. We might add a few more facts to the success story of conservation. Barring them, however, the natural ecosystems around us are in a precipitous decline. These enclaves of success may not last long with the widespread decline of the ecosystems around them. After all, ecosystems are not isolated entities but deeply connected with each other through material flows — water traverses diverse landscapes, birds fly around and drop seeds in different places, animals walk across fields and fish swim long distances.
Real conservationists, therefore, should not limit themselves to officially designated conservation enclaves. In two of my previous pieces, I wrote about the widespread use of poison in farming in Chitwan. The use of poison may not be limited to Chitwan alone — I had heard recently that selling agricultural poison is the number one business in Jumla’s headquarters. These poisons flow out of the fields and into the rivers and streams, some of which flow into different protected areas. This would have a hand in the phenomenal decline of the population of fish in rivers and streams — both in terms of volume and variety. Further, we have not explored what other effects these poisons have on other entities of different ecosystems.
There are other disappearances, too. Varieties of seeds — of crops and vegetables are on the decline and soil microorganisms are dying. Soil is not just a mixture of chemicals. It is a vibrant living entity. In a gram of healthy soil, we can find hundreds of billions of micro-organisms that help regulate the nutrient flow within the soil. The use of poison, followed by increased pest attacks, has a consequent decline in the health of the soil and soil productivity.
Reversing these eco-systemic declines involves forging new partnerships across society — in the form of public education on the health of specific ecosystems. This is a mammoth exercise, but it can be done with the widespread mobilisation of people. Hundreds of thousands of students are learning environmental issues in thousands of schools across Nepal. Imagine combining their textbook knowledge with field work in identifying their local eco-systemic resources.
We also need to forge partnerships to address the source of the decline in soil productivity. The primary causes are the widespread use of poisons and chemicals in agriculture, badly managed urban landscapes and the widespread use of plastic. Good news, however, is that agriculture, without using chemicals and poisons, can be highly productive. There are a lot of farmers practicing ecologically based agriculture and their number is on the rise. Their focus has been on restoring and enhancing the health of the soil and some of them have been productive in agriculture through the use of compost, green manuring and crop rotation. A lot of them have also started conserving a variety of seeds. Chandra Prasad Adhikari of Fulbari village in Chitwan, for instance, has started planting over 50 varieties of rice in his field and aims to create a living seed bank of Nepal’s rice varieties. Building a functional network of farmers across Nepal’s different climatic regions, as Adhikari has, goes a long way in making sure that the tremendous diversity of rice does not disappear. Ecological practitioners such as Chandra Adhikari could be the new leaders for promoting ecologically sane practices among these farmers who have become increasingly aware of land degradation and the vicious cycle of poisons they have been trapped in. Such partnerships between conservationists and farmers will only promote an ecologically saner and biologically diverse agriculture. Besides, their farms could also work as learning centres for ecological education for local schools and other institutions.
The other things in the to-do list should include: paving bicycle paths, walking and cycling-friendly towns and cities (at least in the plains), ecologically saner ways of building homes, natural ways of cleaning water (it was a nice surprise to drink sand-filtered water at a Chitwan National Park check post a few weeks back) and promoting the consumption of local food, among others.
I am aware that doing these things are not easy and simple. It took several decades for our ecologically destructive practices to take root in society and it will take a long time to unlearn them. But we can build on these beginnings and the knowledge generated by people who have already ventured into the eco-friendly path. It is time for conservationists to venture out of their enclaves and join hands with diverse actors in society for an ecologically saner future.
Anil Bhattarai anilbhattarai@gmail.com
Posted on: 2011-08-16 09:28
Post Your Comment
Today's Paper
The Kantipur in Print
FROM THE PAST 7 DAYS
ENTER KEYWORD OR DATE
FROM THE PAST 7 DAYS
ENTER KEYWORD OR DATE
Abin
All of them discussed the issue. The result was the same...and we have committed to continue discussions on the issue till midnight.
ADVERTISEMENTS
OUR PUBLICATION :
