An open letter on Biodiversity issue

Rituraj Phukan

Biodiversity

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Greetings of the day! In the days leading up to the International Day for Biological Diversity, the recommendation given by the National Board of Wildlife for permission to North Eastern Coalfields, an unit of Coal India, for mining within the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve has been widely debated. The conversation has mostly revolved around the prevalence of illegal mining and the sanctity of the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary, which is a smaller core area within the landscape and comprises of the largest lowland rainforests in India. You can watch a debate on Prag News Xobishesh on the 18th of May, where I was a panelist.

The Sanctuary Nature Foundation published a press note from our NGO Green guard Nation Organization. The press note and other reliable information about Dehing Patkai are here- NGO opposes coal mining in Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve

While the debate rages on, the primary issue of forest destruction has taken a backseat, so has the fact that fragmentation of the elephant habitat will aggravate the problem of human-elephant conflicts in the area; Assam is the worst affected in India, and perhaps in all the elephant range countries of Asia.

Another order permitting the drilling and exploration by OIL at 7 locations within the Dibru Saikhowa National Park & Biosphere Reserve has also created discontent among civil society. The envisaged destruction of another unique landscape with India’s only feral horse population has been countered by development goals and aspirations. I sent in my comments in response to requests from media and friends and I quote myself-

“India is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the draft agreement, published in January and likely to be adopted in October, calls for protection of at least 30% of land and sea areas to stop catastrophic loss of biodiversity by 2030. This commitment will require creation and regeneration of new protected areas, prioritising areas of abundant biodiversity. Yet, we want to destroy the richest biodiversity abundant areas like Dibru Saikhowa, Dehing Patkai and Dibang valley! Giving precedence to extractive industries over natural forests is regressive, increase GHG emissions and add to the climate crisis. We can do better than this for the sake of the future generations struggling to cope with an uncertain future due to the unprecedented health and climate crisis,” said Rituraj Phukan, Secretary General of Green Guard Nature Organization. “The sanctity of our protected areas should not be compromised for short-term economic growth,” he added.

On Biodiversity Day 2020, ecoNE, the new media initiative from Aaranyak published my photo-story Living on the Edge: Biodiversity of the Polar Regions

A video ‘Understanding Biodiversity and Climate with Raj Phukan’ was also published by Sanctuary Nature Foundation and is available on YouTube

The Convention on Biological Diversity published a comment from me on their website on the occasion of International Day For Biological Diversity

Lastly, do have a look at my blogpost for the day Our Solutions are in Nature

My apologies for the long email. We are all in a lockdown and it’s a weekend, so I thought it is a good time to reconnect with all of you wonderful people.

Regards,

Rituraj Phukan

Member, IUCN Wilderness Specialist Group; Commission Member – IUCN WCPA Climate Change, IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation, IUCN WCPA Indigenous People and Protected Areas Specialist Groups, IUCN WCPA South Asia Region and IUCN WCPA-SSC Invasive Alien Species Task Force

Mentor & District Manager, The Climate Reality Project

National Coordinator, CCL India

COO, Walk For Water
Secretary General, Green Guard Nature Organization
Assam Coordinator, Kids For Tigers, the Sanctuary Tiger Programme

Associate Editor, Igniting Minds

Member, International Antarctic Expedition 2013; Climate Force Arctic 2019

Ambassador, Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary

“The Greatest Threat To Our Planet Is The Belief That Someone Else Will Save It” – Robert Swan