At last the much awaited day arrived and the Eco Warrior Awards 2023 got off to a grand start with panel discussions on pertinent topics related to environment and conservation. Experts from these fields, including Indian Forest Service officers from the capital Delhi to remote Arunachal Pradesh, spoke freely on diverse topics like ‘Increasing the Forest Cover’, Technology and Environment’, ‘How to Promote Eco Tourism’ and ‘Use of Social Media in Conservation’.
INCREASING FOREST COVER
This was the first panel discussion and the guest speakers were from Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Suneesh Buxy, Addl PCCF Delhi, highlighted the fact that Delhi with its 10 city forests and one wildlife sanctuary is the greenest metro and is, in fact, marching towards becoming the greenest capital of the world.
“We have the right mix of forests, wildlife and bird species, water bodies, and, hence, the scope is great. There are more than 50 wetlands attracting birds. We are marching ahead in terms of achieving our target of increasing the green cover as per the Paris Agreement.”
DCF South Delhi Mr. Saurabh Sharma, while emphasising the same, said that Delhi has a sparrow village where a conducive environment has been created for sparrows to live and increase.
“We have employed tree officers to safeguard our trees. Special permission from the forest department is required to fell a tree and if one tree is felled, 10 trees have to be planted in its place,” he informed while highlighting the strict measures in place.
From the discussion, it emerged that 342 sq km is under green cover in the capital and the biggest challenge to it is population pressure. Hence, regular drives are conducted to remove encroachments, and plantation is being done on the Yamuna flood plains, in around 700 hectares. Hundred hectares of encroached land has been reclaimed so far. A right mix of grassland and indigenous trees are being planted in the floodplains. However, “it will take some more time to reclaim the floodplain totally,” the officers informed.
Hopeful about the future, the officers asserted that as the forest cover increases, the Air Quality Index will also improve.
USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN CONSERVATION
The speakers on this panel were IFS officers Mr. Mohan Rao and Mr. Biswajeet Mishra. Coming from an engineering background, Mr. Rao said that it helps him to understand technology better and to use it in a more effective way to have optimum results. “Innovations become little more easier,” he said, adding if they can identify the threats, it becomes easier to create the right information at the right time to counter these threats, all by leveraging technology.
Coming from Gir, Mr. Mishra spoke about its residents, the Asiatic lions, and how they are identified by their whiskers just as tigers are identified by their patterns. “We have developed a AI software to identify them, SIMBA. It’s like their Aadhar kind of thing. Their veterinary and every other details can be obtained from it.”
He also emphasised the importance of keeping in mind the ground staff and the people living near the forests while creating an application. “All apps must be developed to make lives easier for the ground staff and the people living nearby. Technology should facilitate the ground staff and empower them, providing them with solutions which they require. It’s all about having the right technology at the right time in the right amount.”
ECO TOURISM
Guest speaker Millo Tasser, CCF Wildlife, Arunachal Pradesh, said that eco tourism involves natural places where people go with some amount of responsibilities, like not littering; and at the same time, the local people should be benefited by it. “And, tourists should take back some lessons from their visit,” he added. He also informed that the state is promoting eco tourism only, as forests cover most part of it.
The other speaker, Mr. Manoj Kumar, MD, Jungle Lodge & Resorts, Bengaluru, said that eco tourism is not mass tourism, it is class tourism. “If u make it mass tourism, it will get spoiled,” he said, also adding that demonstration of responsible behaviour by staff is very important to educate tourists about the etiquette to be followed in such sensitive zones.
He also informed that the basis of eco tourism is water and forests, and the Karnataka government had started it way back in the Eighties with nature camps.
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN CONSERVATION
Taking part in this discussion, IFS officers Mr. S. K. Awasthi, Ms. Sudha Ramen and Mr. Parveen Kaswan pointed out how social media is an important tool for conservation.
Opening the discussion, Mr. Kaswan said that people should be informed what the forest officers and staff are doing in remote areas. “With that aim, I started using social media platforms – to create awareness and disseminate information.”
Senior IFS officer Mr. Awasthi said that when he joined, the concept of social media was not there, but, in the last decade, it has become a revolution. “We can steer our agenda on environment only if there is awareness. And here, social media helps.”
Echoing his view, Ms. Ramen said that social media is the right platform to “reach out to people and to sensitise them about the importance of working along with the forest department in conservation initiatives.”
