Environment

Today, the planet is struggling to provide enough resources to sustain its 7 billion people (growing to 9 billion by 2050).

* One-in-seven people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of five die daily from hunger (Source: FAO).

* The WHO estimates that more than 1 billion people in Asian countries are exposed to air pollutants and in excess of 800 000 people die prematurely due to particulate matters.

* Water scarcity already affects almost every continent and by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water stressed conditions.

When Sohrab Mistry relocated to Bangalore 20 years ago, his new home did not have ceiling fans; Tara Joseph always went to church bundled up in her cashmere coat; and for Anand Gowda, cycling to college or to the cinema was the quickest way to get around. The three still live in the Garden City of India, but they can no longer recognise their home town. Today, Bangalore's temperate climate, green avenues and lakes are fast disappearing into a smoggy nothingness; a deadly cocktail of development, which has translated into a burgeoning population, mushrooming buildings, increased vehicular traffic and carbon dioxide emission levels hitting the sky.

* 'Of the 212 lakes, 42 have succumbed to 'development works'. They have been turned into hospitals, schools, government buildings, shopping complexes...'

India:
A Silk Yarn For Times Of Extreme Weather
By Ratna Bharali Talukdar

Despite a growing demand, Muga silk - the pride of Assam - has encountered production problems as a result of climate change, more precisely the drought, threatening the survival of the unique Antheraea Assama silkworm. Known for its great sensitivity to climatic conditions and its need for humidity, this wild silkworm can only be reared in the outdoors. Women, who constitute a major workforce in the entire process of silk-rearing and reeling of raw-silk yarn, may have opted for alternative livelihoods but have kept their plantations intact, in the hope that the good times will spin back.

* 'If we want to save it (Muga) we will have to save the habitat. At least the food-plant areas must be free from global warming or pollution.'

India:
Dam'ned Tribal Daughters Of The Man River
By Rahul Banerjee

Home to a significant tribal population, the Man River basin - a sub-basin of the Narmada River basin in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district spanning three distinct agro-ecological zones - faces a serious problem of over-extraction of groundwater. The large dam in the basin, built on the river midway through its course, has affected water management drastically. Problems arising out of the mismanagement of dam irrigation and over-dependence on ground water have led to a serious crisis of over-exploitation of groundwater; waterlogging; inequity in water usage among the rich and the poor; and seasonal migration. And it is the women who are, perhaps, the worst affected.

* "The canal leaks like a broken pitcher and all the water seeps into our farmland rendering it useless for cultivation... this dam and its canals have made us into paupers."

India:
Poor Rain Takes The Zing Out Of Assam's Ginger Farms
By Ratna Bharali Talukdar

The decline in ginger production has pushed thousands of traditional ginger-growing tribal families in Assam's Karbi Anglong district into distress, despite the region being one of the largest zones for the cultivation of pure and organic ginger. Industrious women farmers add to their household incomes by planting Eri silkworm food plant, chilli and arum-roots alongside the ginger.

* The women growers - very few of whom have gone to school - use their traditional knowledge and attribute the poor crop to "less water in the soils of our hills".

India:
Illiterate Muslim Woman Turns A River's Fury Into Opportunity
By Bula Devi

It all began when hope was flooded out. River Kosi was in spate after the breach at Kusaha, Nepal, in August 2008. Several villages adjoining the river in Bihar were washed away. In Sirwar, Saharsa district, people who lived in mud huts placed their cots, one on top of the other, clambered on to them and held on to life. When the waters receded, the villagers discovered that they had lost all their assets. It was in these dismal circumstances that Kulsum Khatum, an illiterate Muslim woman from a backward caste, discovered leadership qualities within herself. She formed a group of 10 women, who decided to start an informal co-operative business on a small scale. Not only did this step transform their lives, it changed the face of the village.

* "If the 'sahibs' can weave dreams for their children, so can we."

India:
Renu's Zoo Story: Solar Power Keeps Animals Comfy
By Anjali Singh

Lucknow's Prince of Wales Zoological Garden is India's first zoo to harness solar energy for its day-to-day running. Presently, the offices, the streetlights and the zoo kitchen run on solar power. Another six months and the entire establishment will depend on the eco-friendly fuel - from the water pumps to the vehicles that take visitors around to the quaint lanterns on the main gate. Who is the force behind this green switch? Renu Singh, the zoo director, whose ecologically friendly initiatives goes a long way towards ensuring a healthier environment for animals while providing visitors with an educational experience.

* 'It was a workable idea... we could cut down substantially on the electricity bills. The Lucknow zoo will now set an example of how the functional use of solar energy is possible in our daily lives.'

India:
Helping Children Save Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary
By Smita Deodhar

Svelte jeans-clad Sharmila Deo and matronly Purnima Phadke are familiar figures at the 'ashramshalas', or the government-run residential schools for tribal children, in Tekavade and Terungan villages, near the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary. Armed with colourful posters, picture cards and slides, the Pune residents have been heading to this forest reserve for two years now with one mission - to instill in the local children an appreciation and protective attitude towards their verdant home. Today, thanks to their hand-on sessions the children are more aware about their own environment.

* Another expert was called in to explain the characteristics of indigenous trees but, much to his amazement, the children rattled off the local names of all the trees they saw during their nature walk, along with their diverse uses!

India:
Green Designs By Women Architects
By Surekha Kadapa-Bose

Now you can build a home that is eco-friendly, easy to maintain, reduces energy related greenhouse gas emissions and yet costs no more than a conventional home. Energy-efficient homes is the new buzzword among those who want to reduce their carbon footprint on Planet Earth. And fuelling this eco-trend are talented women architects. Mumbaikar Shimul Javeri Kadri and Bangaloreans Chitra Vishwanath and Anupama Kundoo, who shuttle between Mumbai and Berlin, are optimistic that concrete-metal-glass monstrosities will soon make way for mud houses that are today considered the poor person's dwelling.

* 'If buildings are constructed giving attention to the direction of natural wind flow and angle of sunlight, a lot of energy can be saved.'

India:
An Economist Looks At Women and Forests
By Pamela Philipose

Bina Agarwal, Director and Professor of Economics, Institute of Economic Growth, who had earlier authored 'A Field Of One's Own', a landmark work on women and land rights, has just written a pioneering new book, 'Gender and Green Governance' (Oxford University Press). The book explores a central question: If women had adequate representation in forestry institutions, would it make a difference to them, their communities, and forests as a national resource? Pamela Philipose interviewed her in Delhi.

* "The question is: How can we build institutions of deliberative governance that can take the voices of women, especially poor women, to policy makers?"

India:
Imagine Being Captured By Militants: For Pallavi, It's A Reality
By Teresa Rehman

You are a young girl, keen on a career as a wildlife conservationist. To fulfill your childhood dream you complete a course in Wildlife Management from Assam's Gauhati University, which enables you to join the WWF-India as a volunteer. A short while later, you get a challenging assignment: You are part of a team working on the All India Tiger Estimation Programme being conducted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority at Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam. The fieldwork is very satisfying until one day you suddenly find your team being abducted at gun point by a militant outfit... This is the story of Pallavi Chakraborty, 25, who relives her two-and-half days in captivity.

* They had cautioned us: "Do not take undue risks. The consequences will not be very good."

India:
Supraja Dharini And Her Turtle Protection Super Squads
By Hema Vijay

Until some years ago, he would dig out the leathery, cricket-ball sized turtle eggs from their sandpits and use them to play cricket. And he was not the only one doing this in the fishing village of Periya Neelangarai on the East Coast Road, a few kilometres from Chennai. Today, however, young T.A. Pugazharasan is a turtle conservationist. In fact, if you happen to head towards the Coromandel Coast at nightfall, you may find an eclectic bunch of people - from school and college kids to lungi-clad fishermen and even the white collar types - patrolling the beach during the nesting season. How is it that the highly endangered Olive Ridley turtles have become such a priority for the citizens of Chennai and those in the neighbouring towns? For this you can credit artist-turned-conservationist, Dr Supraja Dharini, who is behind this 'save the turtles' mission.

* 'I see a definite change in our fishing community. A year back, some fishermen used to chop off the flippers of turtles caught in their fishing nets, because they didn't want to cut their nets. Today, they gently set them free."

India:
Nutrition Gardens And Seed Banks: Women Farmers Adapt To Climate Change
By Aditi Kapoor

While world leaders at the December 2011 Durban meet may have postponed taking hard decisions, the impacts of climate change on farming activities and hunger and malnutrition levels in India has been significant. The recent Rajasthan draft State-level Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) recognises malnutrition, especially among women, as a major concern, while the Orissa SAPCC predicts that "drier areas will become drier and flood-prone areas will be subject to more flooding". But where leaders have failed, women are taking matters into their own hands. Innovative measures by women farmers across the country are helping several poor families adapt to climate change and keep hunger at bay. Village-level grain banks are already hugely successful, while other adaptations like seed banks, fodder banks and ‘nutrition gardens’ are catching up.

* 'Earlier, we could not produce enough food for a year because our village would get water-logged by the flood waters. Now, using early maturing paddy varieties and organic manure … we can eat for all twelve months…'

India:
Jharkhand's 'Lady Tarzan' Rescues Both Tigers And Trees
By Saadia Azim

Chami Devi, 42, is fondly called the 'Lady Tarzan of Jharkhand', not because she has befriended tigers or can talk to monkeys and elephants in the Muturkham jungles of Saraikela district. She is on a mission to protect local wildlife by saving the forests that have been vanishing due to the havoc caused by the timber mafia and Naxal insurgency in the area. A native of Barisai village, which falls in the Rajnagar block of Seraikhela Kharsawan, it took Chami nearly 24 years to mobilise some 500 women from 40 villages to plant Sal, Eucalyptus and Acacia trees to replenish the heavily depleted forest cover. Chami's eco-brigade of Self-Help Group (SHG) women has planted more than a million trees and built watersheds to help raise ground water levels.

*"Our local women contacts would immediately let us know where trees were being felled. Our Sahyogi Mahila group, a cluster of various SHGs, now plants trees and also protects them."

Nepal:
Film Personalises Climate 'Weathering' On Women
By Danielle Zielinski

Walking into the forest near her home, Sarada Chaudhary likes to look up. Above her head, branches weave together, allowing pockets of blue sky and glints of sun to peek through their leaves. Look straight ahead, though, and the forest tells a different story. Trees stand awkwardly far apart in the dusty ground. Every few feet a stump pokes out from browned shrubbery. Compared to the past, a large part of the forest has been depleted and now they have to walk for more than an hour to fetch firewood. Chaudhary's story is just one of those that feature in the documentary 'Weathering Change', which shows how women in developing countries shoulder the burdens of climate change. In Nepal's Terai region where Chaudhary lives unpredictable temperatures and a disruption of rainfall patterns have taken a toll on the indigenous Tharu people - dependent on agriculture for their livelihood - with only a quarter of the people in the village having sufficient amounts of food. (By arrangement with Women's eNews.)

*In the past, we used to have enough to eat and we could sell what was left. That is no longer possible. This year has been the worst. It is hard to survive."

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