A wholesome, equitable future for homo sapiens depends on the well being and integrity of ecosystems and habitats. Healthy communities depend on well-functioning ecosystems. They present clear air, recent water, medicines, and meals safety. But we’re shedding biodiversity at unprecedented charges, impacting human wellbeing worldwide.

Forests cowl 31 per cent of the world’s land floor, or roughly 4.06 billion hectares, performing as an vital buffer towards local weather change. However, world forest cowl has declined by a million square-kilometres since 1960, whereas cropland and pasture have elevated to roughly the identical extent.

According to the India State of Forest Report 2021, the overall ‘recorded forest area’ within the nation is 7,38,373 sq km. The proportion of ‘very dense’ and ‘moderately dense’ forests inside the whole ‘recorded forest area’ is 44.33 per cent.

India over the last 5 years diverted over 88,903 hectares of forest land for non-forestry functions, with the best of over 19,424 hectares being for highway development tasks.

Human and wildlife well-being are inextricably linked. When people coexist with and keep away from persecuting wildlife in and round communities, the well being of the ecosystem, agricultural and meals safety, and ecotourism will all flourish. However, yearly, a whole bunch of people and hundreds of animals die on account of human-wildlife conflicts (HWC). India is most affected by HWC as a result of it has the world’s largest human inhabitants in addition to giant populations of tigers, Asian elephants, one-horned rhinos, Asiatic lions, and different species.

The improve within the variety of tigers in India is sweet information, however the rise in tiger inhabitants has additionally shrunk their habitat. As a consequence, HWC has elevated drastically in each Tiger Reserve within the nation. According to the fifth cycle of the All-India Tiger Estimation (2022), launched final week, the variety of tigers in India has risen by 200 within the final 4 years. In distinction, the information revealed that the Western Ghats recorded a big decline. The numbers right here fell from 981 tigers in 2018 to 824 in 2022. Experts are involved that this might sign a good greater variety of HWCs. Their causes are easy: tigers right this moment don’t have ample forest cowl, prey availability, and water and are venturing into human-populated areas for survival.

Nearly 30 per cent of Kerala’s geographical space is forested, and it has a wholesome wildlife inhabitants with 190 tigers and 5,706 elephants.

According to Kerala Forest Department knowledge (March 2022), the state has, since 2011, reported 34,875 circumstances of wildlife assaults, leaving 1,233 lifeless and 6,803 injured. 126 human lives have been misplaced in elephant assaults alone within the state previously six years (2014–20), whereas the variety of deaths on the nationwide stage is 3,310. The shrinking of their habitat and corridors forces these jumbos to stray into human settlements.

Increasing forest encroachment in a number of elements of the state is changing into a supply of concern for forest officers. Over 30 lakh persons are dwelling on the periphery of 23 protected forests unfold throughout 115 densely populated panchayats in Kerala.

In a landmark choice on June 3, 2022, the Supreme Court mandated a minimal of 1 km of Ecologically Sensitive Zone, or buffer zone, round all protected forests within the nation. However, on account of vote financial institution politics and powerful objections from Kerala, together with from church buildings and political events, the Supreme Court in January 2023 determined to refer the petitions looking for amendments to the buffer zone judgement to a three-judge bench. The last verdict continues to be awaited.

It will not be potential to Completely eradicate HWC. But well-planned, built-in approaches to managing it could possibly cut back conflicts and result in a type of coexistence between folks and animals.

The Union Minister for Environment, Forests, and Climate Change just lately launched 14 pointers to handle HWC. A buffer zone between the forest boundary and the human settlement, shifting of dense human settlements from close to forest land, regeneration of vegetation inside the forest space, efficient electrical or photo voltaic fencing, and so on. are a few of the sensible steps to undertake.

While we observe Earth Day diligently on April 22 yearly, we have to do extra to persuade the world of the necessity to make investments extra in our planet to enhance our surroundings, minimise human-animal battle, and provides our descendants a greater and safer future.

(The author is a member of the UN roster of consultants on atmosphere and improvement.)