THE YEAR OF THE TREE = WORLD ENVIROMENT DAY – 5TH, JUNE,2011 = A REQUEST TO SRI JAIRAM RAMESH

THE YEAR OF THE TREE

(WORLD ENVIROMENT DAY – 5^TH, JUNE,2011)

5^TH, OF June,2011 was celebrated as the WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY, 2011. India was the first time Global Host, and the theme for the WED,2011 was - “Forests: Nature at your Service”.

There were different types of pertinent celebrations. But, at the end of the day, the Challenge remains, as ever. The questions remain as ever.

1.  Who will plant trees in the Forests and ensure that our Forests become bigger and bigger?

2.   Who will ensure that people do not cut away forest trees for personal gain?

3.   How will the economy survive without cutting away –forest trees?

4.   Are we not going to use Forest produce at all – like, say honey, herbs etc?

5.   How then will be we ensure that there is always a net addition to the forest cover – on each day?

6.   There are no accurate statistics on our Industrial Production itself. How are we going to produce  reliable statistics on our Forests?

Such questions always dog our minds. It is clear that each passing day – the environment is suffering huge adverse consequences of HUMAN ACTION, which in turn results in huge adverse consequences for HUMAN BEINGS.

We are foolish. Collectively. 

This collective foolishness should first go. In its place, the collective wisdom that tree is our savior must clearly arise in our hearts.

We breathe oxygen and leave out carbon dioxide into the environment. The tree absorbs the carbon dioxide and leaves oxygen into the environment for us. We have two lungs to breathe oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. The Tree has “our” other 2 lungs with it, to produce the oxygen that we breathe.

The tree is our counterpart. If it doesn’t live, we also don’t live. 

But, if we don’t live, the tree lives better!

The Tree gives us food, clothing, medicines, fresh air, oxygen, and protection from the Sun. And, many other things.

We are dependent on the Tree. Not the Tree on us.

Let us stop being foolish – to stop our own oxygen supply, our own food supply, our own medicines supply and so on.

How to ensure that the Forests grow well? There is only one way. Human beings should stop meddling with them. They know how to Grow – if we keep off from them.

But, that is not enough. I am therefore giving below a few ideas for the  world environment Protection.

1.   Every house must have at least one, or more Big trees. This is where human action is required. The Government – at each level, specially at panchayat level, must reach out to each house, and if it does not already have a few trees, identify a place in the house, and make the resident plant an appropriate Tree. Not a flower Pot please. A good, useful tree. This is the type of action that Panchayats need to undertake. This initiative would work better, if it comes from the Union Ministry of Environment.

2.   We have huge funds being spent on schemes like NREGS etc. This year, the projects on which the amounts must be spent must be – (1) planting trees on either side of roads – and watering them till they grow (2) Planting trees on either side of tank bunds and other water sources – even as protection for the tank bunds and the water sources – and again, taking care of their growth. (3) planting trees near hills – and taking care of their Growth.

3.   Involving students on one Sunday in 3 months – which means – 4 Sundays in a year – in planting trees – and then allowing the NREGS workers to take care of those plants.

4. This year must also be dedicated to Trees in another way. For this one year of 2011, no one must be allowed to fell any Big Tree anywhere, for any purpose, without mandatory permission from the Panchayat. Subsequently, this awareness will stay in the public mind for ever.

5. No Big building plan must be approved without adequate space for Trees. These trees must be actually grown subsequently around the Building.

6. We must also have a clear Goal-Post, say,50 crore additional trees, to be planted and grown (by watering and manuring) in 2011, the year of the Tree.

These are all practical ideas, which can be implemented directly by the Government – as part of its projects and with normal budgetary allocations.

I request all Ministers at the central and state levels dealing with Forests and Environment –led by Hon’ble Minister at the Centre, Sri Jairam Ramesh, to declare FY 2011 as the YEAR OF THE TREE – so that budgetary allocations for current year can be appropriately used to achieve huge environmental gains even before this year end.

= Yours

Sd/-

VIJAYAMOHAN.  V