1
October 2008 - My name is Dilip Hazra. I
earn my livelihood through agriculture and
inland fishery. I have lived on this island
for the last 15 years. I was born and brought
up on the mainland which is almost 100 kilometres
away. I came here initially to cultivate
land owned by someone else.
Later, I managed to
purchase almost three hectares of agricultural
land from that same person. Over time, I
have developed some ponds for fishery and
I have also have planted almost 109 coconut
trees. Coconuts fetch me 15,000 rupees every
year. Initially I had one cow but now I
have nine cows and ten goats.
Rising water levels
eroding land
Unfortunately, almost one hectare of my
land had been washed away by sea. It seems
this island is undergoing some geophysical
changes and it’s being eroded everyday.
In the year 2005 I witnessed a breach of
a 900 metre stretch of embankment on the
western part of this island which extensively
damaged my house. I was forced to take refuge
in Baliara Kishore High School for a couple
of days. When the situation normalised,
I built a temporary shelter over the embankment
until I finished repairing my old house.
The size of this island has also reduced
significantly.
Changing weather patterns
affecting agriculture
According to my observation there are some
obvious changes in climate and it has implications
over agriculture and the dependent agrarian
population.
When I came here 15
years back, storms were not so frequent
during the months of April and May as they
are today. Due to this, our agricultural
productivity is suffering a lot. We never
had to use chemical fertilizers in the past
but now we are heavily dependent on extensive
use of chemical fertilizers. Usage of chemical
fertilizer has become essential to ensure
good crop productivity.
Incidences of pest attack
have also increased. For instance, last
year I harvested 480 kilograms of potatoes
after sowing 42 kilograms of seed potatoes,
but this year I am able to harvest only
240 kilograms of potatoes after showing
50 kilograms of seed potatoes. Similarly,
I harvested 150 kilograms of onions after
sowing 3000 pieces of seed onions previously,
but this year I harvested only 100 kilograms
of onions even after sowing 5000 pieces
of seed onions. Many farmers are compelled
to change their agricultural practices in
accordance with the changing weather.
These days I cultivate
oil seeds, sunflower, mustard, chilly, potato,
onion and other vegetables. Due to periodic
changes in weather, we used to get six seasons
a year, but now we only witness three seasons;
summer, winter and the rainy season.
Safeguarding lives and
livelihoods
Apart from strengthening embankments, planting
mangroves along the coast is very important
for safeguarding our lives and livelihoods.
This island had a very
good network of canals for drainage and
irrigation but most of them are now either
silted or encroached. This results in salt
water intrusion whenever there is flooding
as well as lack of fresh water for irrigation.
Re-excavation, cleaning
and making the stretches of canals encroachment
free is very important for storage of valuable
fresh water in this island. Furthermore,
farmers’ cooperative formation, improvement
of access roads, training and capacity building
for improved agriculture and inland fishery
as well as enhancing public awareness is
also equally important.
+ More
Sustainability ‘no longer
just CSR’ says WWF chief
02 Oct 2008 - Sustainability
is no longer just a matter of corporate
social responsibility (CSR), it is a fundamental
business proposition, James Leape, Director
General of WWF International, told a business
audience in Geneva this week.
“WWF has been working
for 47 years to save endangered species,
but to save them we must get to grips with
the challenge of humanity’s ecological footprint,”
Mr Leape said at the opening session of
WWF’s first One Planet Business conference.
Mr Leape said that the
overuse of the world’s resources was having
major impacts on the world’s wild places,
and it must be tackled in the cities.
“With the urban population expected to double
by 2050, new ways must be found in which
to provide housing, food and transport,”
Mr Leape said.
“If we are to achieve
our goal of reducing the global ecological
footprint to a sustainable level by 2050,
we will need innovative partnerships among
business, governments and civil society.
“We are promoting the
concept of One Planet Living to help people
understand and respond to this challenge,
and our partnerships with business are at
the heart of our strategy.
“Sustainability must
be a good business proposition, but this
is no longer just about corporate social
responsibility. We are talking about a new
bottom line.”
Mr Leape also went on
to highlight the importance of water resources.
“After climate change, water is the second
biggest danger facing humanity,” he said.
“Water scarcity will
be exacerbated by climate change. Seventy
per cent of water use is linked to agriculture.
A typical fast-food meal of hamburger, fries
and cola requires 5,000 litres to produce
it.”
The two-day conference
featured case studies of WWF’s One Planet
Living partnerships, including the Masdar
City project in Abu Dhabi, a $22 billion
solar-powered city that will be entirely
car-free and produce zero waste.
It also highlighted
examples where WWF has developed partnerships
with industry sectors such as the Forest
Stewardship Council and Marine Stewardship
Council, initiatives which have helped bring
sustainable wood and seafood products into
mainstream markets.
One Planet Business
is a WWF corporate engagement initiative
aimed at transforming business practices
and markets.
Other speakers at the
two-day conference included Stefan Behling
of the renowned architectural firm Foster
and Partners, Dr Jonathan Woetzel from McKinsey
and Malcolm Smith of Arup, the company developing
the Dongtan eco-city in China.
