'It's fight between planet and profit'

Addressing the valedictory programme on ‘Western Ghat- conservation’ held in Chikmagalur, he said that the only gift of industrial revolution had been ‘Carbon di-oxide’.

Demarcation of limits of Western Ghats, Devarakadu conservation, recruitment of personnel to Forest Department and conservation of Western Ghats overall will be the priority of the State Government, said Task Force President Anantha Hegade Asisara.

Revival of Forest Department as a whole and Bio-Diversity Committees and conservation of Western Ghats including all the Government Departments will be the next endeavours of the Task Force.

Asisara opined that there should not be a clash between tourism and bio-diversity and to keep a check on the harm caused by tourism on ecology, a committee headed by Deputy Commissioner will be formed. Environment and development should go hand in hand.

“Lifestyle of tribal is not something which can harm the environment. Some invisible hands of vested interest making use of tribals make them do certain activities, which cause harm to nature,” said Deputy Commissioner R Narayanaswamy.

“As a scientist who know fully well the adverse affects of pesticides on nature, today I stand at a juncture of time where usage of Endosulphan in my coffee plantation is inevitable. People like me will have to bow to market pressures,” said Coffee Researcher Pradeep Kenjige. Delivering a paper during the workshop, he said that the coffee borer remains unaffected by many medicines and pesticides and coffee growers are left in a fix.
Researcher Dr Keshav Hegde Korse said that out of 7000 plant species identified in the world, 900 plant species are found in Western Ghats. The studies conducted on plant species in the district is much lesser compared to that of studies on wild animals.

“A Botanist named Yoganarasimha had conducted a study on plant species in 1947 in the Western Ghats and identified about 650 species. Later on researchers found additional 150 species,” he said.