Environmental Conservation

The World at large perhaps looked for the first time at the very basic question- "Development at what cost?" in June 1972, at the UN Conference on Human Environment and Development. That the level of global concerns changed dramatically within 20 years was witnessed at UN Conference or Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1992. More than 180 countries participated in the meet and Agenda for 21st Century was decided. The "Millennium Development Goals" 2000 and UN Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 made the urgency of the tasks more clear. But now at the nearing end of first decade of 21st Century, problems will persist specially and developing countries while tangible solutions appear elusive. In the present publication, I have tried to select 20 topics of environmental concerns and have made attempts to analyze the current situations. While actions taken can be apparently praiseworthy new thoughts have emerged regarding impacts of such action (example growing plants for Biofuel in degraded land while land remains a finite resource at the cost of rising food price). New challenges have emerged seeking new thoughts for action. The question is how much sensitized the civil society has become in India? While public participation in decision making is a proclaimed policy in the country, the reality speaks otherwise. A series of national policies (e.g. Agriculture, Water, Population, Forest and Environment etc.) have been changed during the post globalization period but in the process some of the real issues have been sent to the back seat. The country still lacks a uniform land policy as a result of which several incidents of conflicts find place in the media. So is the case of implementing the policy of promoting renewable and new energy initiative. The forest policy still remains silent on the issue of determining net present value (NPV), while an alarming increase of conversion of forests for non-forestry purposes can be noted. In all such issues, the civil society can play a positive role. The present publication is expected to empower the society at large: however limited may be its scope, with information's of the happenings of the current times and demand environmental security while moving onwards to the path of development.
About Author :
Born on February 15, 1938, Dr. Asish Ghosh had his education at the University of Calcutta and University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. A Fulbright scholar and recipient of several international visitorships, Dr. Ghosh has 45 years of professional experience in India and abroad. He has written extensively on the subject of Natural Resource Management and on all dimensions of Environment and Development. He has published more than 325 papers including 25 monographs and books. Some of his recent contributions include 'Interlinking of Indian Rivers' (eds. Ghosh, Sikdar and Dutta) (ACB 2003), 'Sustainable Environments' (eds. Ghosh, Ghosh, Mukhopadhyay) (OUP, 2003), 'Sustainable Environments: Ecological, Economic, Socio-cultural and Statistical Aspects' (eds. Ghosh, Mukhopadhyay) (ISI, 2004), 'Biodiversity Conservation in India' (ACB, 2006). Currently he is acting as the Director, Centre for Environment and Development besides being associated as a Guest Faculty in the University of Calcutta, Jadavpur University, Indian Institute of Port Management etc. Dr. Ghosh is a Member of the National Biodiversity Authority, Government of India.
Contents :
Contents Preface 1. Human Society: Perspectives and Development 2. Poverty and Development 3. Environmental and Human Rights 4. Right to Information: Environment and Quality of Life 5. Land Resources: Need for a Policy 6. Land Resource: Poverty, Inequality and Rights 7. Water Crisis 8. Biodiversity and Climate Change 9. Future Biodiversity Scenarios in India & South-East Asia 10. Sacred Groves 11. Wildlife Crisis 12. Invasive Species 13. Global Warming 14. Energy, Environment and Development 15. Nuclear Power: Policy and Global Politics 16. Bio-Fuel 17. Looking for Alternatives: Biopesticides 18. Greening of Indian Cities 19. Sustainability and Corporate Governance 20. Protecting the Environment: Three Decades of Indian Progress Subject Index