This issue of TerraGreen deals with some profound questions, which go to the heart of the relationship between human beings and every element which constitutes the ecosystems of Planet Earth. The example of the Western Ghats is compelling, because as brought out in the lead article, this unique natural treasure cannot be seen as a mere chain of mountains and hills. Nor can it be treated as a resource which is characterized simply as a hotspot of biodiversity. It is much much more than can be captured by these simple definitions and descriptions. If we comprehend the full mystery and magic as well as the uniqueness of the Western Ghats, then one comes close to James Lovelock's interpretation of the earth as conforming to the Gaia Hypothesis. According to this theory, there is an intimate and symbiotic relationship between organisms and their inorganic surroundings on this earth to form a self-regulating system, which ensures the continuation of life on this planet.
The essential feature of the Gaia Theory is that the earth should not be treated as an inanimate object even when we consider its inorganic components. The systems that ensure life, even when they involve living organisms and inorganic entities functioning together are together a part of a living system. Hence, a system like the Western Ghats, which is endowed with a wealth of diverse living organisms embedded in a unique set of inorganic components supporting life, together forms a totally integrated living system. This requires that we do not see its different components and parts as discrete elements, but as part of an integrated living system.
Much has been written on the Gaia Theory and allied subjects in recent times, motivated by concerns related to degradation and destruction of planetary ecosystems, many of which are leading to a decline in services provided by them to living species, including human society. A prominent report on this general subject has been brought out by the Rockefeller Foundation — Lancet Commission on Planetary Health. The term planetary health seems particularly appropriate, because it highlights a concern related to current trends which are mortgaging the health of future generations in order to realize economic and development gains in the present. The report asserts that the scale of human alteration of the natural world is difficult to overstate. Human beings have converted about a third of the ice-free and desert-free land surface of the planet to cropland or pasture and annually, roughly half of all accessible freshwater is appropriated for human use. Other impacts of human actions include massive deforestation, damming of 60 per cent of the world's rivers, rapid extinction of several species, and the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, leading to climate change. Among several solutions to the problem of growing planetary ill-health, the Commission wants depreciation of natural capital and nature's subsidy to be accounted for so that economy and nature are not falsely separated. Planetary health, therefore, offers an opportunity for advocacy of global and national reform of taxes and subsidies for many sectors of the economy. We also need far more enlightened forms of regulation of exploitation of key natural resources. But, all of this would happen only if we were to view the interdependence between human activities and nature in a totally different light, which avoids treating a rich natural treasure like the Western Ghats as a limitless resource to be exploited merely for short term gains for the short term benefit of a few human beings.
Dr R K Pachauri, Director-General, TERI
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