The subjects covered in this issue of TerraGreen give expression to some serious concerns and also highlight the importance of bringing about change by which solutions can be implemented. The damage being done to wetlands across India and even in other parts of the world is a subject which has been neglected for long but which raises an alarm for those who place importance on the ecosystem services provided by resources such as wetlands. The recent flood which occurred in Chennai perhaps could not have been prevented because of the heavy rainfall which took place in a short period of time.  But certainly, if the wetlands in that location had been protected, the extent of damage that occurred could have been reduced significantly. Sadly, the lack of effective regulation, controls and most critically public participation, which could have saved wetlands in several parts of India, has resulted in widespread damage to these gifts of nature which provided a range of services, particularly for poor people. As it happens, wetlands are now ignored as a crucial resource in the construction of buildings and even airports and other infrastructure.  Examples exist of wetlands where all the rubble from construction sites is dumped, often in the middle of the night as is the case with similar clandestine dumping of sewage in a number of wetland locations.  Some of these terrible atrocities on nature are obviously carried out in connivance with the authorities. In most cases, greed and private benefit override the value of social benefit and welfare.

The other story in this issue relates to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.  This is a facility that I have visited personally, and it represents a visionary effort on the part of the Government of Norway.  Essentially, seeds are being collected from all over the world and maintained in this location at a temperature of minus 18oC, so that they are preserved indefinitely for the benefit of human society and posterity.  The diversity of seeds all over the world is being depleted because of human actions.  With a narrower genetic base, the world could experience some serious problems of widespread disease in crops, which with a growing population in the world could endanger food security severely.  As it is, in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, I was informed that against a total of 2,000 species of rice which existed some time ago, there are now only 1,200 varieties available across the globe.  The stock available in Svalbard could be utilized as a counter to disease and lower yields.  

The threat to genetic biodiversity is perhaps most acute in the hilly regions of India, wherein, as the Special Report in this issue points out, selling land has become a far more lucrative activity than time-tested practices of food production for providing adequate nutrition to the people of that region. Overall, it is important for us to evaluate the effects of so called development activities and modern practices on our natural resources and ecosystems.  In the absence of any such evaluation, we would create serious problems for those who are yet to come. I hope the readers of TerraGreen would be important agents of change for creating awareness and triggering action on balanced growth and development towards sustainability.