Western Ghats Calling: Reviving the movement for saving the Western Ghats

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Reviving the movement for saving the Western Ghats

Western Ghats Calling - 1

(Recounting the significant environmental events of the past three decades, India Today Dec 29, 2008, stumbles upon Save Western Ghats march/movement of the mid-80's as a memorable event towards consciousness about the incredible and irreplaceable value of the ghats along the wes coast of India. However, subsequent developments over the pat two decades have seen a gradual but consistent neglect and destruction in the ghats. Over the last two years, a series of meetings with concerned persons and organisations have been held to revive the Spirit of the 80's. There has been a collective decision by several organisations to rebuild the movement - culminating into a national congregation on the issue of Save Western Ghats on Feb 8-10, 2009 in Goa. Leading upto this event, a series of releases are being posted to rekindle the issues and concerns.)

by Keya Acharya

Bangalore: Environmentalists are reviving a plan to conserve the vast hilly, forested region running parallel to the west coast of peninsular India (western ghats), recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot.
"We have to get together again to stop the ecological degradation that is now taking place in the western ghats," says Pandurang Hegde, leader of the appiko (hug the trees) movement of the 1980s, which forced the government to ban tree-felling inside the protected area.

The 'Save Western Ghats' movement of the 1980s involved over 20 local and regional people's movements who got together to march the length of the sector between November 1987 and February 1988, in an awareness-building protest against the construction of dams and power stations that destroy one of the world's richest habitats.

Movements under this banner influenced government policy to stop the felling of trees in Karnataka and cancel plans for a dam in the Silent Valley which was declared a patch of undisturbed tropical forest and converted into a national park in 1984.

The Indian government also set up the Western Ghats Development Programme in 1981 to ensure policies maintained ecological balance, preserved genetic diversity and created awareness for eco-restoration for the damage already done. But those successful environmental movements of the 1980s had, in subsequent decades, died down.

The western ghats cover 159,000 sq km, traverse 1,600 km through six west coast states - Gujarat, Goa, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu - and house an incredible diversity of species and some of the finest examples of moist deciduous and tropical forests.

The ghats, also known as Sahyadri in Maharashtra, has 5,000 species of flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species and 179 amphibian species. At least 325 of these are globally threatened species.

It's a complex network of 22 rivers that provides nearly 40% of India's water-catchment systems.

New Delhi-based environmental writer Sudhirendar Sharma likens the western ghats to the Amazon forests in its environmental importance. "The stakes for saving the western ghats are much higher than previously envisaged and the scope much higher," says Sharma, "The entire region stands to gain as it is the gateway to life-saving monsoons that provide water-security in the subcontinent."

But, in recent years, a fresh spate of construction activity encouraged by the government has re-appeared in these hills.

Currently the best stretch of wilderness exists in the Nagarahole-Bandipur--Mudumalai national park belt of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states and the adjoining Wynad region of North Kerala, holding India's largest protected population of 1,500 elephants.

But the entire protected area faces great pressure from all sides.

In 2006, Prakruthi, a non-governmental organisation founded by Pandurang Hegde and dealing with sustainable harvesting of non timber forest produce, undertook a journey through the ghats to assess the situation and found 'mindless development' taking place.

In Maharashtra, private urban townships, steel and power plants are posing a fresh set of threats to this biodiversity. Mining, diversion of rivers, wildlife tourism and monoculture plantations in Goa have conservationists worried.

Dams, power plants, mining and violent leftwing guerillas threaten the ghats in Karnataka. Encroachments from agricultural plantations, urbanisation and pollution threaten the forests in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

"The very ethos of the Western Ghats Development Program appears to have been laid to rest by the government," complains Hegde.

Sharma, who accompanied the Prakruthi team on their assessment journey and wrote a travelogue report on the situation, believes that the concept of the ghat's forests providing oxygen needs to commodified in the new market economy that has taken hold in India.

"If we can sell carbon offsets, why can we not sell oxygen outright?" he declares. "We need to set up a system wherein those in the ghats who conserve their forests and thereby help maintain atmospheric oxygen for the entire country and subcontinent should be paid by their governments for doing so."

The group meanwhile has decided to set up a summit later in the year where all the stakeholders in the western ghats can meet and decide upon a course of action.

"This new movement cannot be on the lines of yesteryears because today's reality is market-driven," explains Hegde. "We need to involve even marketing people in this venture."

(this piece was written and published following the press conference in Bangalore in Feb 2008)

(Source:IPS News, released on Dec 30, 2008)

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Save Western Ghats Movement (SWGM)

SWGM has an unpleasant history. Hailed by India Today as one of the finest post-independence environmental movement, the mid-1980s march along the pristine 'ghats' had to wither away on account of internal squabbling between the organizers. Between 2006 till 2008, Sudhirendar Sharma got an opportunity to travel across the region to capture the latent energy among diverse actors to reignite the past. Together with Pandurang Hegde, who carried the painful memories of the past, the Save Western Ghats Movement of the 80's was revived at Peaceful Society in Goa in 2009. Peaceful Society (led by Kalanand Mani) had played stellar role in anchoring the SWGM in 1988.

SWGM Conferences

Three important congregations of activists, researchers, scientists, artists, politicians and thinkers have been organised since 2009 under the aegis of Save Western Ghats Movement - an informal platform of civil society actors. While the first, in 2009 in Ponda (Goa) revived the erstwhile movement of the mid-80's, the second in Kotagiri (Tamilnadu) in 2010 was major milestone as it led to the setting-up of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel by the Ministry of Environment & Forests. The third congregation at Moodbidri (Karnataka) in 2011 reiterated civil society commitment to conserve the ghats whatever be the outcome of the panel.

Sussegad

Sussegad, meaning `easygoing’, is often associated with the Goans but it does extend to other areas along the Western Ghats, notably hilly parts of Karnataka. Mellowed down by the warmth of the Sun, the coolness of the rains and the wisdom of the green hills, people in these parts of the Western Ghats are known for their simplicity and hospitality. Accommodating as they are, sussegad lends a distinct cultural identity to these people.

When the world elsewhere is racing against materialistic greed, sussegad provides the much desired calming effect. Gandhi used to say: `there is more to life than speed.’ People in the ghats seem to have imbibed that spirit from time immemorial. Being laid back and stealing siesta time during each afternoon may seem out of place for an average outsider but for people here it is an accepted practice that renders them inherent strength – of being in harmony with self, society and nature. It seems sussegad could be for the good of the entire society. Any takers!

Open House

By definition, activists are an interesting bunch of people with high octane levels. At the heart of activism lies the unflinching desire to bring the world on its feet. Unilaterally focussed, immensely committed and socially driven, activists have struggled to carve out a niche for themselves in the shrinking social space. Yet, they enjoy the patronage of the state and its cronies. Had there not been the state with its dubious designs, the breed called activists would not have existed? Wonder, who then is the real activist?

Do you agree with this notion?

All About Frogs

Pictorial Guide to Frogs and Toads of the Western Ghats has been published to help students, researchers, forest managers, photographers and general public in identifying a species in the field along with its status, ecology and distribution. Simultaneously it also aims at bringing awareness about amphibians among general public. This book covers 73 species of 156 frogs and toads recorded from the Western Ghats as of date. Written by Dr. KV Gururaja, the book is available through: http://shop.gubbilabs.in.