Saving Biodiversity; whose job is it? Children are the last hope for Biodiversity

Biodiversity is a hot topic much talked after in the academic and conservation circles. But its concepts are not even known to common man. Younger generations seldom ignore it. The schools and colleges address these issues but have a very superficial approach. Topics related to the subject are known to be selectively skipped are asked to be read by the students themselves.

In the days of rampant development we only see habitat loss and gross mismanagement of whatever protected habitats that are left. While the profusion of invasive species has proved to be an irreversible havoc, unscientific and unsustainable methods of harvesting forest produce have become cause for the erosion of biodiversity.

              Many global conventions have come out as tools to safeguard the world’s biodiversity but in practice they have also become means to exploitation the same. Without strong policies and the will to retain the powerfully built knowledge about the consumption and conservation of local biodiversity the world wide web of life goes shattered. The concept of having Bio-diversity monitoring committees at the panchayath level was proposed ten years ago. The local communities were to prepare a register and monitor the existence, harvest and propagation of species within its jurisdiction. These committees were to safe guard the biological riches and bring in dividends to the community through sustained harvest. Such a nice concept lay asleep without any body feeling guilty about it.

Serious efforts are to be taken up to educate youth about the fragile ecosystems that support bio-diversity and the incalculable dividends they provide. Unless we show how much we derive as ecological services from them, Biodiversity conservation would not be appreciated by common man either. In a society where the common man is absolved in the process of eking out a living and the youth in the rut for a lucrative job there is no body that we can turn to. Probably it is the children who are a hope for all the life on earth.

Hence we have taken up Environment literacy as a single point agenda of Hasiru Hejje.  Our long experience in the field has convinced us to focus upon children above any other group.  Adults have fewer choices to make about their own lifestyles and their mindsets are rigidly formed. At times we have felt that it is much easier to bend a metal bar than convince an adult.  Egos and baggage are an issue when it comes to our consumptions. As adults we are made up of ‘pear pressure’ and mostly make personal decisions out of compulsion to remain in the right peck order.   As a result we don’t have much control on what we buy and what we require. Where and how to travel? What to eat and how much space to build for oneself?

Where as children still have time to make decisions for their lives. While we adults are stuck between our whims and possibilities, children have the leisure to make up their aspirations based on their needs. So it is doubly worth in investing in the education of the future custodians of this planet. After all it is their world and they need to have the freedom to know about it and the way our generation is vandalizing it. Let’s wake up and help them to see their world better.