How to strike ecology-economy balance

Context: As a measure to revive economy and generate employment the environment ministry had cleared projects in 11 states at a time when protecting the environment is absolutely vital. There is a need to strike ecology-economy balance to achieve far easier and higher growth.

Problems with the recent approved projects

• Conflict of Interest: Environment Minister is also in charge of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

• Construction of a railway line in Telangana: will cut through the tiger corridor

• Clearance of hydel projects in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh: will slice off 768 hectares of forest land and effectively destroy the Dibang valley.

• Superhighway between Mumbai and Nagpur destroying fragile ecosystems.

Solutions to balance ecology and Economy

• Elevated Corridor: well-planned roads that saves cost of land acquisition also preserves forest
• Companies investing in hydel project (Jindal Power Limited) must also source for medicinal herbs and cures in nearby forests, invest in research

Money in the Forests: 

• There is an urgent need to include the contributions by forests in monetary terms. 
• Forests help in disaster management, prevent pathogens from leaving the wild, act as goal mine for medicinal herbs and other resources.

Conclusion: Balancing forest and development thus provides a solution to recovery and sustained economic growth without the fear of future disruption by the pandemic.

Need of Forest cover: Only 4.9% of the total land is earmarked as “protected”, which is far lower than 17% committed under Convention on Biodiversity