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Protecting the tree of life

In the long list of insults to the environment, scientists say, extinction is the most serious because it is irreversible. Extinctions are happening at unnatural rates in many parts of the globe wherever plant and animal species in small ranges come into conflict with human demands. Biodiversity is crowded out as mass consumption puts pressure on space and natural resources. The 20th century set the inglorious record of pushing into extinction 20 mammals (including India's cheetah). Without major correctives, future generations will inherit a world that is much poorer in its biological diversity and in its gross natural wealth. The most recent proof of what might be lost comes from the Eden-like forests of western New Guinea, which have presented a cornucopia of flora and fauna to biologists of Conservation International. This trove includes the Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise, 20 frog species, butterflies, and a tree kangaroo in the Foja mountains. India's own monsoon tropical forests in the Western Ghats and the Northeast possibly hold many more species that wait to be documented. Only two years ago, a new pig-nosed purple frog, believed to be related to a family of frogs found in the Seychelles, was discovered in the Western Ghats, and a previously unknown macaque species was described in Arunachal Pradesh.

These finds underline the need for extreme caution in interfering with the natural environment. They also highlight the pressing need for a culture of scientific enquiry. The noted Harvard biologist, Edward O. Wilson, has been tirelessly campaigning for biodiversity conservation not merely on ethical and moral grounds but also from the standpoint of humanity's future. A poor understanding of diversity, he argues, has created excessive dependence on a mere 20 species of plants for food, although humans have historically used 7,000. About 75,000 plant species have edible parts and, being wild varieties, are superior to prevalent crop species. New plant species are being added each year to the International Plant Names Index and new birds are being described. Such priceless biodiversity will be totally lost unless the last remaining hotspots, which some scientists think number just 25 worldwide, are not protected by a consumerist world. There is no greater responsibility cast upon governments, including India's, than to protect nature in strategic terms. Biodiversity enriches life and contributes enormously to economic prosperity. The Ministry of Environment and Forests cannot afford to continue with its half measures and ill-advised dilution of environmental laws that facilitate commercial exploitation. What is needed is policy reform of the kind envisaged by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — such as the formation of dedicated wildlife research and anti-poaching wings. Only such resolute steps can save our last remaining natural treasures.

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