ECOLOGICAL MOVEMENTS

 Ecology refers to that branch of biology, which deals with the interrelationships between organisms and their environment. During the first half of the twentieth century the concept spread rapidly, and the term ecology came to be used in a more popular sense to denote concern for the protection of the environment from a wide range of pollutants. Growing awareness of environmental problems led to the formation of activist groups. 

In many industrial democracies, the growing attention to environmental and ecological questions led to a broad political movement called the Green Movement. The Movement expresses alarm at the unprecedented assault on the natural environment by world industrialism. Its concerns include the depletion of irreplaceable resources such as fossil fuels, the extinction of species, the effects of pollution by industrial processes and the testing of nuclear weapons. The Green Movement contains some international organizations such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace.

Environmental Conferences

The growing concern for protecting the environment and maintaining an equilibrium in the ecosystem led to the formation of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), which works to encourage development through sound environmental practices.

Stockholm conference (1972) – The UNEP organized the ‘International Conference on Human Environment’ at Stockholm from 5-14 June 1972. Action plans and principles were approved to protect the delicate balance of the ecosystem and to preserve them for the coming generations. The conference adopted the motto ‘Only One Earth’ and declared 5 June as World Environment Day.

Nairobi Conference (1982) – In 1980, the world witnessed two major environmental disasters – the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in India and the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident in Soviet Russia, so at this conference the UN adopted a report entitled ‘The World Environment 1972-82’ which was a stock-taking exercise.

The Rio Summit (1992) – The UN convened ‘Earth Summit’ at Rio de Janeiro to foster ‘our common future’. The six basic issues discussed were: Greenhouse Gas Emission, Forests, Population, Technology, Finance (Global Environment Facility) and Degradation.

Johannesburg Earth Summit (2002) – This summit was a failure as prominent leaders (US, India) were not present. Environmentalists argued that the issues agreed upon in 1992 had not been put to practice. Many world leaders alleged that the US, which is the biggest producer of toxic waste – air, and water pollution, mismanagement of nuclear waste disposal, should clear up its own act before accusing other nations of not having implemented anti-pollution measures.

ECOLOGICAL MOVEMENT IN INDIA

Ecological or environmental problems in India can be classified into two categories:

-      Those arising as negative effects of the very process of development.

-      Those arising from conditions of poverty and underdevelopment.

The first category is related to the impact of efforts to achieve rapid economic growth and development. Poorly planned development projects are usually environmentally destructive.

The second category is related to the impact on health and integrity of our natural resources such as land, soil, water, forests, wildlife, space, etc., as a result of poverty.

The origin of the environment movement in India can be traced to the ‘Bishnoi Movement’ which is believed to have been started by a sage called Sambaji about four centuries ago in Rajasthan. The Bishnoi Movement led people to worship trees and resist cutting them down.

The real beginning of environmental movement in the twentieth century was made with the ‘Chipko Movement’ in the early 1970s. The people of Mandal Village in UP started their struggle against deforestation in 1973 under the leadership of Goura Devi, Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhat.

The growing concern for environment and threats posed by construction of dams in the name of development led to a mass movement in the 1980s called the Narmada Bachao Andolan under the leadership of Baba Amte and Medha Patkar. It is a movement which is opposed to raisign the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the river Narmada and for proper rehabilitation of over one lakh people being evicted and displaced by this multipurpose project. Arundhati Roy, the Booker Prize winner, had also lent her support to the Narmada Bachao Andolan.