HYDERABAD: Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has warned that the country’s economic future will be in danger unless its green cover is increased from 23 per cent to 33 per cent.
He was presiding over the inaugural function of the four-day meeting of an expert group on Traditional Knowledge of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) here on Tuesday.
He said environment and economic growth were not mutually exclusive and underlined the need for greater sensitivity to ecological issues.
Expressing concern at the threat economic growth posed to the country’s biodiversity, Mr. Ramesh cited an instance in which 600 acres of a mangrove forest was sought to be destroyed for building an international airport. Such an attempt was a “crime on the people” of the country.
He said the GDP should henceforth be termed Green Domestic Product and wanted it to record an annual growth of nine per cent.
Pointing to the erratic monsoon pattern, the receding Himalayan glaciers and the decimation of forests, he said there was an intimate link between climate change and bio-diversity conservation. Referring to the criticism of civil societies that India was focussing on facilitating access to bio-resources rather than bio-conservation, he admitted that not enough attention was paid to conservation. Conservation and sustainable growth would get the pride of place.
The European Patent Office was given full access to the digital library since India was losing 2,000 patents every year in the United States and Europe. This impinged on the Indian system of medicine and traditional knowledge. Similar access would soon be given to the U.S. Patent Office.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who inaugurated the meeting, released India’s Fourth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
