Experts for effective solution to environment degradation

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 24

Experts emphasised the need for adopting holistic solutions to tide over the threats posed by environmental degradation.

Speaking at an international conference organised by the School of Environment and Natural Resources, Doon University, in collaboration with the Tarab Ling Institute, Dehradun, and Doon Library and Research Centre, Dehradun, they reminded the audience of the grim challenges posed by environment on humanity.

Doon Varsity Vice-Chancellor Prof VK Jain highlighted the initiatives of the government and outlined the major causes behind the crisis in terms of energy consumption patterns promoted by the west and an unregulated transport sector causing fuel emissions in third world countries.

Dr Lene Handleberg, Tarab Ling Institute, said, “Depending on the cultural framework, one may consider nature as a gift to be honoured, or a set of exploitable material resources, or a vast interrelated web of existences. And depending on the associated values, one’s action in nature can dramatically vary from protection to destruction.”

BK Joshi emphasised on alternative model of growth and outlined the need for preserving environment while fulfilling the development imperatives of modern society by balancing the conflicting needs of both perspectives.

Prof Tarik Chekchak, Sciences and Environment Equipe Cousteau, France said, “The present generation is a witness to the human-driven mass extinctions of species, the disruption of key atmospheric, geologic and hydrologic cycles. In 1987, the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” he said. Prof NP Malkania, Prof Harsh Dobhal, Prof Pradeep Mamgain and Dr Archana Sharma presented their papers on different themes.