Bringing the forests back at 9000 feet
Environment – Bringing the forests back at 9000 feet
Lakhs of pilgrims descend on the pilgrim spot of Gangotri every year. The just concluded ‘kanwar’ yatra not only causes traffic chaos in cities, but also harms the Himalayan glacier of Gangtori as ‘kaanwars’ are allowed to freely enter the Gangotri national park area. The government has done its bit to save the Gangotri glacier from disappearing by limiting the number of pilgrims who can be allowed to go to Gangotri, but are these localised efforts enough to save the age-old glacier from disappearing? Can the Ganga Action Plan conserve the river in time, before it is too late?
High up in the Himalayan reaches, a conservator is fighting all odds to regenerate forests in Gangotri and Gaumukh, from where the trees have all but disappeared due to increased human activity
Tags: bisht, ganga action plan, gangotri glacier, himalayan glacier, legendary pilgrimage, river ganga, seal level, temple and the river, traffic chaos, voice talksRemaining ?Pristine? Forest Under Threat
The latest news from Russia, Canada and other northern countries shows that the world’s only remaining ‘pristine’ forest – the boreal forest across large stretches of the northern hemisphere is facing increasing threat to its environment and is fast becoming one of world’s most serious global issues.
Researchers from Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, University of Adelaide in Australia and the National University of Singapore have called for continuing education of humans in green living and wildlife conservation to ensure urgent preservation of existing boreal forests. This will secure biodiversity and prevent the loss of this major global carbon sink. Our carbon footprint must be reduced and these crucial environmental issues must be addressed.
The boreal forest comprises about one-third of the world’s forested area and one-third of the world’s stored carbon, covering a large proportion of Russia, Canada, Alaska and Scandinavia.
To date, it has remained largely intact because of the usually sparse human populations in boreal regions.
That is now changing.
The findings, which have been published online in the Trends in Ecology and Evolution paper ‘Urgent preservation of boreal carbon stocks and biodiversity’, suggest that fire is the main cause of this deforestation and human activity is leading to more fires. There is also evidence that climate change is increasing the amount and possibly the extent of fires in the boreal zone which in turn is highly damaging to such precious environments.The findings, which have been published online in the Trends in Ecology and Evolution paper ‘Urgent preservation of boreal carbon stocks and biodiversity’, suggest that fire is the main cause of this deforestation and human activity is leading to more fires. There is also evidence that climate change is increasing the amount and possibly the extent of fires in the boreal zone which in turn is highly damaging to such precious environments.