JAY JOSHI
The importance of environmental conservation was underscored once again earlier this month when a forest fire ravaged the protected forests near the village of Bori in Ponda Taluka. The fire burnt for three straight days, and damaged forests on approximately 300 hectares of land. Villagers along with volunteers of the loca NGO Environmental Conservation and Research Organisation (ECRO) worked to stop the fire from spreading into nearby orchards and fields, and also began efforts at aforestation of the damaged land. In the light of these events, TG Life spoke to Dattaram Phadte, founder and president of ECRO about the situation regarding environmental conservation in Goa.
“Such forest fires occur in Goa, mainly because people still practice slash-and-burn agriculture. Sometimes, fires started for clearing fields go out of control and enter forests. At other times, even a small cigarette stub which is carelessly thrown away can ignite a forest fire,” said Phadte while outlining possible reasons for forest fire in a state such as Goa which is relatively cool and green.
ECRO is currently working to re-plant the lost forest cover in the village and carrying out plantation drives in phases, explains Phadte. “We have planted a mix of various plants such as cashew, mangoes, jackfruits, along with a number of medicinal plants, and plants foreign to Goa such as Acacia as well as many wild plant species,” he states. One phase of afforestation has been completed with the other set to begin on May 22, which is international Biodiversity Day.
That said, disappearance of forest often presents a challenge in that certain businesses are quick to claim the land for development activity. Considering this, ECRO is also actively engaged ensuring that the said land stays free from encroachment, the organisation’s president stated. “Most of this area is either Comunidade land or has been notified as private forest. In regard to the Communidade land, closely with the Biodiversity Management Committee established by village Panchayat to ensure that the land is not misused. The private forests on the other hand come directly under the jurisdiction of Department of Forests. The hilly area surrounding the damaged forests is utilised for farming,” Phadte clarifies.
“Secondly we conduct research on biodiversity of a given area and present our studies to concerned people and organisations, underlining why exactly they should protect the forests, and what are the best ways to do it”, he states.
Founded in August 2015, ECRO today has a core managing committee comprising of 13 members. The group also recruits and trains interns from around India from disciplines such as Botany, Zoology, and other life sciences.
The organisation currently has eight interns on its roll. “Thanks to awareness created by platforms such as social media, youth of today are certainly interested in doing something for the environment, but very few of them will look at environmental conservation as a career. There are a lot of career options in this field such as ‘conservation management’. Also, most youth choose to go for ‘mainstream’ courses such as engineering, rather than study other nature and environment-related subjects,” notes the environmentalist.
In an era where forests are also threatened by phenomena such as growing population and increasing urbanization, there is a need to find a solution that delivers sustainable development for all, says Phadte. “In Goa, we have villages that are developing but have retained their traditional practices and activities. Such peri-urban settlements can pave the way towards achieving sustainable development. ECRO is engaged in researching traditional environment-conservation methods and testing how they could be modified to fit today’s fast-paced life. We believe that if we present traditional knowledge with a boost of deep research and appealing packaging, we could achieve preservation of both environment as well as culture,” concludes the NGOs president.
