From the Editor’s desk- November

Editor(EN), The Seed

Novanita Sharma

At a time when the world is at the threshold of losing the last vestiges of the remaining tropical rainforest cover of the planet, the long-forgotten rainforests of Assam have emerged as a much talked about topic in media. The tropical rainforests of Assam are some of the rarest primitive forests with significant importance but the world remained unaware of its presence till the turn of 20th century. A handful of green souls are caught up in their sincere effort to rescue these primitive forests from getting bulldozed by the burgeoning needs of modern humanity. The surviving tropical rainforests lives to tell similar tales of trials and struggle all over the world. It is a pandemic of its own kind, in this pandemic we the Homo Sapiens are the invincible fatal antigens. The last surviving tropical rainforests of the planet are facing a bleak future given to the growing demands of frenzied human needs around the globe. The protection of these rainforests is a matter of choice; the people, the politicians and decision makers of every nation which harbors the relic remains of the surviving tropical rainforests ought to vow their commitment to protect these rare natural heritages of our planet. This choice needs sincere conviction which must grow from deep understanding and love for nature. The importance of protection and future conservation of the existing tropical rainforests of our world is far more significant than been gauged by our quantitative parameters. The tropical rainforests wherever situated are treasure troves, highly undermined by the human world. The modern human being actually lacks the acumen and sensitivity to judge such natural wonders. There is an urgent necessity of human beings to rise above their inability to accept the immensity of these primitive forests and save it from irreplaceable damage, we must learn to honor these rainforests though we fail to understand its richness. Let us allow mankind its due time and space to understand these rainforests. Nature took its own time in creating these pulsating wild spaces; we human beings are worth nothing but a speck in the timeline of this universe, hence, we must learn to be patient to allow time and perseverance unravel the mysteries of our world to us. But, most important and most crucial need of our time is to protect these timeless wonders. The Northeastern states of India including Assam are blessed with Nature’s gracious bounty, Nature reigns in its naïve gaiety in this part of the country. The true wealth of Northeastern India lies in the well-being of its forests and wildernesses. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh along with other Northeastern states of India is home to some of the last remaining richest stretches of tropical rainforests of the country. The rainforests of Assam and other Northeastern states are unique with their characteristic bio-geographic attributes. Ironically, these lesser known tropical rainforest patches of India are some of the most threatened forests of the world. This remote corner of India remained disconnected both physically as well as psychologically with the rest of the country, the consecutive governments failed to uphold the underlying need to protect and conserve the rich forests of Northeastern India, on the contrary these forests are thoughtlessly plundered to fuel the mounting needs of country’s modernization. India’s Northeastern states has sacrificed its pristine forest lands from the colonial era for the benefit of the Nation, but now the time have come to answer the long-avoided question of prioritizing the fate of the Northeastern states of India first. The environmental health of the Nation depends largely on the survival of the lush forests of Northeastern India, is our Nation ready to sacrifice environmental security for the sake of short-sighted developmental goals. The unique demography, geography and cultural make up of these Northeastern states definitely requires a unique approach, we definitely need a forest-friendly, nature-savvy and culturally adaptive approach. The lush forests and rich natural resources of Assam and Northeastern states of India happens to constitute the most treasured possessions for these states. The future of Northeastern states depends on the judicious utilization of these natural resources, the forests of Northeastern states of India must get protected. These forests constitute the biggest share of India’s green cover, let this beautiful part of India gain its due honor and incentives for its green footprints. Let the country awake to the realization of the forest wealth of Northeastern India. Most important of all, let the decision makers come together to protect this forest wealth of Northeastern states, let the decisions be directed towards its protection and future conservation. The biodiversity conservation movement in Assam spear headed in the early 1980s by organizations like Nature’s Beckon played a decisive role in driving people centric nature conservation initiatives in Assam. These movements brought a greater awareness amongst the masses regarding the so called ‘elite’ wildlife conservation ethos. Assam saw the birth of several protected areas from Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary to Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary because of these green movements. These green movements have rooted effective biodiversity conservation in Assam and will continue to do so. Over and again, consecutive governments have been held answerable about their accountability towards the protection of the rich forests of Assam and Northeastern India by these movements. But today the question looms large over the lack of political will towards protection of our forests, which is clearly evident in the continuous strives of the green movements till date in Assam. What about the elected people’s representatives? Why they fail to raise their voices in the correct platforms to expediate these noble initiatives to ensure the protection of rarest forests of our region. This is not just a failure of democracy; this is failure of humanity. As human beings, the wisest of all living beings, the one bestowed with the prowess of thoughts and imagination; we are to be held responsible for the well-being of all other living beings co-residing the planet with us in our time. I wish we do find our ways to overcome this ignorance and act to the best of our capacities, for its just a matter of time. The fate of our vanishing forests could very well become the fate of our species too.                       

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