Impact of Climate Change in Meghalaya : Micro-level Perception and Institutional Response
Third Assessment Report of IPCC concluded that forest exosystems would be seriously impacted by future climate change.Even with global warming of 1-2 degree C, most ecosystems and landscapes will be impacted through changes in species composition,productivity and biodiversty.These will impact millions of people's livelihood who depend on forest resources..
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A new mission to enhance forest cover and provide carbon sinks to mitigate the problems of greenhouse gas emissions gets under way. |
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The impact of mining spreads across all aspects of the environment – biophysical and psycho-cultural – and is largely by virtue of the geological and ecological conditions of mining. Therefore, accepting the nature of the impact, the industry needs to evolve mitigation measures to contain the damage, and the regulatory authorities are duty-bound to ensure that the sector and the specific industries comply with the highest standards. However, the expectations, both from the industry, of genuine efforts to mitigate the impact, and from the state, particularly the regulators, of enforcing the rule of law are misplaced in the current context.
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Paying farmers to save the Amazon forests |
A Report on the National workshop on "Climate Change and Sustainable Tribal Living"
A national workshop on "Climate Change and Sustainable Tribal Living" was organised by the Indian Network on Ethics and Climate Change (INECC) in collaboration with North-East Social Research Centre(NESRC) on September 4-6, 2000 at Guwahati, Assam. The following is a brief report of the proceedings of this three-day workshop. |
Recognising the rights of forest communities
Allowing land rights would work if these were low-density populations with minimal forest dependence. The Forest Rights Act offers instant gratification without considering the long-term implications on global climate change, on our environment, biodiversity, water security, and the future of the same forest-dwelling people that it claims to benefit. Estimates for CO2 emissions from total forest conversion, which will be triggered by the FRA, range from 4.8 billion tonnes to 6.25 billion tonnes. Deforestation is already responsible for an estimated 18% of greenhouse gas emissions globally (Stern Review), and over 26% in India. How will large tribal communities be able to protect forests and use them in a sustainable manner when even stringent laws, in the face of vested interests, have not been completely effective?
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Tribal Sustainable Living and Unrest in the North-East In a memorandum to the Prime Minister in January 2000, some Meghalaya leaders demanded that their State be exempted from the 1996 Supreme Court Judgement that banned tree felling in the north east. That sounds surprising at first sight because tribals are known for their sustainable use of forests. The Convention on Biodiversity recognises their contribution to its preservation. Others present their traditional system of natural resource management as an alternative to the destructive practices that have resulted in the situation leading to the Climate Change Protocol. But those who have studied the causes of the unrest in the northeast recognise that this demand is not surprising.Though many accuse agencies like the Pakistani ISI or others like the missionaries of fermenting unrest in the region, the struggle is primarily for the control of their natural resource based livelihood and their identity closely linked to it. Given this close link, their struggle also results in subnationalist demands. In its turn, the conflict may lead to greater destruction of their livelihood. |
Climate Change and the Tribal Region
Tribal areas are rich in natural re-sources. Resource depletion from thetribal areas such as extraction of miner-als, and overexploitation of forest, landand water resources is causing serious- imbalances at the micro level. Mining,industrialisation, transport development result in defor-estation, displacement, land alienation and migration. Indian Tribals in Jeopardy. In India alone 13 lakh hectares of forest land is lost in the long process of deforestation. In Orissa 150,000tribals have been displaced and 600,000 have been partially displaced in Koraput district alone. About 62 tribalcommunities in this area are affected by drought. The dense forest cover has been reduced to 7 per cent of thetotal geographical area from 43.36 per cent. This loss had not only affected the climate but also the life of theforest dwellers. The eco-degradation and climatic variation has affected the tribes like the Gadaba, Bonda andSavara. Both plant varieties and animals have been decreasing in number. Tribals' health has also been affected.They have lost their rights on the forest over the years. The increasing shift to high yielding varieties is affecting the environment considerably.
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Forests losing the ability to absorb man-made carbon |
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According to the International Programs Center,U.S. Census Bureau, the total population of the World, projected to 09/11/08 at 09:25 GMT (EST+5) is "6,722,810,478" which is read as six billion seven hundred twenty-two million eight hundred ten thousand four hundred seventy-eight and increasing at the rate of almost 2 surivals per second (2 births and 2 deaths)
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