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Covid-19: An ‘Earth Day’ Like No Other

What has the pandemic taught us, and can we learn from it, asks Neha Sinha.

A brown-headed barbet on a blossoming Neem tree. (Photograph: Neha Sinha)
A brown-headed barbet on a blossoming Neem tree. (Photograph: Neha Sinha)

Each Earth Day, students call dignitaries to talk about the environment, colleges plant saplings, and companies hold CSR-led events to mark a ‘happy earth day’. Like many other platitudes, this one gets quickly forgotten—saplings die, cards are discarded and its business as usual soon enough. This Earth Day—the fiftieth one—is different. For the first time, the feeling of ‘One Earth’—united in struggle against the Covid-19 pandemic—is pulsing through us. There are also theories of an ‘Angry Earth’, taking back its land and wildernesses, with us locked up in our houses. This is the first Earth Day where we are not taking the Earth for granted. With billions of us under lockdown, we look desperately at snatches of the sky, remembering that we need a circadian rhythm of sunshine to flourish, and a sense of freedom is allied to being outdoors.

There are at least two immediate things that must hold on to, as this epidemic tides over. The first is recognising we are going wrong, and the second is what we can do right, gleaned through lessons from the pandemic. Covid-19 is traced to the creation of ‘novel interfaces’ that caused stress to wild animals, which are natural carriers of viruses. Deforestation, the trade in wild animals, or incursions in their habitat can cause them to shed viruses. The inference is that we must plan in a way that avoids destroying wild habitats, and reduces human impact.

A butterfly feeds on Siris flowers. (Photograph: Neha Sinha)
A butterfly feeds on Siris flowers. (Photograph: Neha Sinha)

Going The Other Way Instead

Like a bad joke, we are doing exactly the opposite. The government has just shared the draft of a new Environment Impact Assessment notification. While easing norms for various sectors – including mining, ports, and road-laying, the draft comes up with the idea of post-facto project approval. Developers who did not apply for clearance (and thus broke the law at that time) will be appraised to see if their projects actually harm the environment. The draft says:

“The cases of violation will be appraised by Appraisal Committee with a view to assess that the project has been constructed or carried at a site, which under prevailing laws is permissible or expansion has been done which can be run sustainably under compliance of environmental norms with adequate environmental safeguards; In case, finding of the Appraisal Committee is negative, closure of the project shall be recommended.”

This is ironic. The purpose of the EIA notification is not to sell tickets to a show. It is to scientifically study whether a project causes environmental damage, what that damage will be, and on this basis, whether it should exist at all in the place it is proposed. The goal is to conserve our resources and our country in a sustainable fashion, with a fair view of the future rather than retrospectively looking back after a project comes up. Saying no to a project based on good practices, or suggesting alternatives, is an empowered decision. It helps in the creation of new innovations, better technologies, and more abundant common sense. For instance, finding bypasses to roads and railways is a cost that can and should be borne, because today forests are less expendable than railway tracks.

The times when cutting through forests was okay were the colonial times, and are far behind us.
A brown-headed barbet on a blossoming Neem tree. (Photograph: Neha Sinha)
A brown-headed barbet on a blossoming Neem tree. (Photograph: Neha Sinha)
Opinion
Coronavirus: Find Yourself In Social Isolation? Turn To Trees.

Sadly, Business As Usual

More and more evidence is piling that the coronavirus emergency has not led to any policy lessons, and wildlife areas are expendable. In its first-ever video conference meeting, the National Board for Wildlife cleared several projects for mining and railways this month. Just before that Karnataka wildlife board cleared the decks for the Hubli-Ankola railway line, which will cut over 2 lakh forest trees. A day after this decision Congress MLA Sowmya Reddy quit the wildlife board, tweeting that the project was steamrolled despite the fact that alternatives existed.

This is the very heart of the issue. If we don’t work hard at finding alternatives that don’t destroy nature, we don’t have the moral authority to keep clearing forests either.

This is where we must give pause to the second issue. What has the pandemic taught us, and can we learn from it? People across the world over are rediscovering: how to live with Nature, rather than against it. There is a global #balconybirding challenge, with people logging observations of birds and wildlife they see from their houses. An ordinary Neem tree has transformed into the extraordinary, as it puts out star-shaped pinpricks of flowers, shaking with birds. Those who had no time to look at birds are discovering them to be a huge relief from the drudgery of masks, handwash and housekeeping concerns. Perhaps the feeling that we are hugely vulnerable, rather than invincible—the fact that technological answers do not cover everything – have led to a new respect for wildlife.

Balcony Birding: A Purple Sunbird on a Siris tree, which flowers in early summer. (Photograph: Neha Sinha)
Balcony Birding: A Purple Sunbird on a Siris tree, which flowers in early summer. (Photograph: Neha Sinha)

Making The Moment Count

The internet has lapped up ‘nature taking over’ pictures and videos. A rather sick looking small-Indian civet, (a small scavenging mammal) walking on the streets was touted as the Malabar civet, which hasn’t been seen for years. People rejoiced in the ‘comeback’ of the species, though this was far from the truth. In all the uncertainty – caused by a virus we can’t see—the idea of animals having a happy ending or being able to lie comfortably on a street or parking lot has enormous emotional appeal.

But to really make Earth Day meaningful—to make it an idea rather than just an event—it is imperative to not make natural areas worse than they are, and to think of alternatives other than the slash-and-burn model we currently prefer. The wildlife we love in a video can’t thrive if we make railway lines through forests, and trees can’t stand if we feel we don’t need urban commons like tree-lined footpaths anymore.

Over the miserable lockdown, people have found joy in birdsong, meaning in spring flowers, beauty in a brown bird, and are paying attention to small things. In an age of uncertainty and environmental grief, the best thing we can do is reconnect with the small things, knowing a healthy environment is as much a right as healthcare. The Neem trees don’t really need us, but for our recovery, I have a sneaking feeling we need them. That one tree that stands defiant and blooming against our stresses may be the inspiration we need before the daily pile of dishes. And the fact that the tree will be there even after we have stopped sneezing may be the strength we need to ask for better policies.

Neha Sinha works with the Bombay Natural History Society. Views expressed are personal.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of BloombergQuint or its editorial team.