Ladies and gentlemen we would like to introduce to you our first guest author, Mike Pandey. India’s environmental face & internationally acclaimed wildlife filmmaker, Mike’s hard-hitting films have always been instrumental in bringing about changes in conservation laws and legislations, not only in India but internationally as well. No wonder, he became the first Asian to win the Wildscreen Panda Award, also known as the Green Oscar and not once but three times! Adding to that he constantly contributes to similar causes through popular programs like India’s classic environmental series Earth Matters and Khullam Khulla.
Our humble thanks to Mike who is taking time out of his busy schedule to inaugurate the Neerg website and write the first article on our blog.
The article:
The Earth is in a crisis. It will need help if it is to survive.
Our activities over the last 60 years have fractured the earth’s delicate balance threatening all life on the Planet including the youngest species… humankind.
We need to wake up now if we want a future. We.. all of us have to change our lifestyles and mindsets if we are to make a change… The way we live what we eat and what we wear. This alone is the solution and for that the collective effort of all of us on this planet is crucial…this alone can give us all a future…
This is why the initiative and steps taken by Neerg are so crucial… so important for a difference
The Change…
Never has the Earth, in its four and a half billion year history gone through a crisis like the one it is facing today. a crisis driven by extreme greed and recklessness …a crisis which if not resolved quickly could wipe out all life on the planet.
Natural life-supporting systems, such as the atmosphere, forests and oceans, are being degraded and destroyed faster and faster as technology becomes more powerful. The disappearance of key species like the tiger are only symptoms of a much deeper damage to the few remaining natural eco-systems
The crisis is man made, caused by thoughtless greed and reckless exploitation. A solution has to be found and quickly. There is an urgent need for change.
The Earth cannot bear the burden of our ignorance and greed any more. The burning question today is “Will it survive”?
In India, as elsewhere, there are endless discussions, seminars and conferences almost every day .Instead of speculating, talking in air and conjuring up theories, it would be better to act, we need viable and practical solutions, executed with sincerity and commitment.
But above all there is need for political will.
Is anyone interested?
I am sure every single educated man knows that no amount of Gold, Money and Diamonds will be able to spin a simple spider’s web or create a leaf.
Everyday in India despite strict laws, we lose hundred’s of acres of prime forests making way for industrial activity, super shopping Malls and human habitation.
Hundreds of species of plants and other life forms are being lost everyday. River beds and flood plains are being ruptured and plundered with connivance of the custodians of our environment. Plastic waste continues to poison our water system and atmosphere with life threatening compounds. There are watch dogs and activists who cry hoarse for help but who cares.
As an example, closer to home is the BRT disaster. Everytime there is a traffic snarl, crores of rupees go up in smoke at the same time pumping thousands of tons of carbon in the atmosphere .Thousands of trees have been cut despite many requests to look for better thought out solutions. It takes courage to admit your mistakes. We don’t have a choice anymore. It is not the benefit of the few (politicians and contractors) but the larger good which has to propel us.
The global economic crisis is a blessing in disguise. We should celebrate it. It is a wake up call for each one of us to reassess our priorities, individually, collectively.
Mindless development and Industrialisation is using up the very resources that you must save!
Despite our education and intelligence we are unable to understand or act? Is this learning?
We revere the tiger and the elephant when it suits us…as the Devi’s vahan and venerate Ganesh jee.
It is a shame that a population of over a billion and half people have not been able to protect 1100 Tigers.
Over the last 30 years how many governments have come and gone -all shout out promises for change, a better future for the country …every 5 years the scenario is repeated,
Major issues still remain unresolved I have yet to see a practical and viable approach to conservation of our natural resources and wildlife. We need only one sincere man, who, like the Mahatma, has the country’s welfare at heart and humanity as his agenda.
We need not feel helpless. Each individual can do something to make the change, be part of the change…Let us all be true citizens to begin with. Not self consumed individuals…we should come out on to the streets and protest when a child is killed by a public transport or a leopard beaten to death brutally, or trees chopped. Only when we speak out, make ourselves heard will things change. Remember it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the oil…if we keep silent, obsessed with only our own little space and our selfish needs, then we all deserve what we get.
We need to weed out the cancer that threatens our future…
I have been crying hoarse for the protection of an endangered species for years… the horse shoe crab for years.
I appealed for its protection under the wildlife act 1972 in writing…supported by hard evidence. The ministry wanted research which was available with another ministry, but the concerned ministry wanted to work with its own group…they wanted to work in isolation and a dead lock ensued. Meanwhile the crab is being killed and now critically endangered.
I pleaded for protection under the precautionary principle. It fell on deaf ears.
The Horse shoe Crab… It is our national and natural wealth…part of the earth’s most ancient heritage and we are losing it forever.
But then how many of us or our policy makers or even leaders know about the oldest living fossil on the planet…which is over 562 million years old.
Scientist of the National institute of oceanography Goa have nine patents pending, this was 4 years ago…the patents some of them are magical cures- like science fiction come alive.
I have witnessed cancer cell activity slow down by 99% when enzymes from the crabs blood was injected into diseased tissue:
Father of all stem cells, the horse shoe promise of cures that could rewrite the pages of modern medical history. Reversal of diabetes cures for osteoporosis which would benefit all women of the planet…to replacing damaged cells and muscle tissue of damaged hearts and kidney’s.
This would make transplants of organs, history.
This enigmatic creature which has survived for millions of years is today struggling for survival in a small pocket on the orissa coast.
It is being wiped out by construction activities today.Lorry fulls are being plundering by poachers and smuggled abroad for experiments
and patenting purposes. our leaders and custodians as usual will wake up a little late to begin their battle for patents..just like basmati and haldi…The above is just one small example.
The story is the same with the tiger.
We work in isolation and limit ourselves, bound down by own shortcomings and brittle ego’s.
When will our people understand that we are undermining our own future and the future of the planet if we do not protect our environment and our heritage.
There hundred’s of areas where change is required…in our thinking our attitudes and our values.
Where have we missed out..is it the quality of education , values our parents brought us up with, our genes or just level of intelligence?
The greatest challenge facing humankind today is to find ways to safeguarding the natural systems which make all life on Earth possible while allowing the use of new technologies in order to improve the standard of living of citizens…this is the challenge of sustainable development
The cause of protecting our environment is bigger than all the petty issues we create ,boundaries that we draw, defend and revel in. More important than the vote banks that we chase..The issue is larger than all of us put together the whole human race.
Is there any one out there who cares or understands? Any leader who can act upon it, with sincerity. any politician or leader who is committed to our most pressing needs…. saving our own environment our country our future.
- Mike Pandey
