Awareness

Public awareness can play a vital role in environmental management. Damaged to environment is caused by the activities of individuals who are not conscious and who do not have adequate knowledge of the environment. For example, when we cut forests on a large scale to get timber and fuel wood or clear land for agriculture, we damage the environment.

Similarly, when we throw liquid or solid wastes into ponds, rivers, lakes or oceans, we damaged the aquatic environment. When pollutions in large quantities are allowed to enter the atmosphere, it leads to air pollution. You may know that unscientific agricultural practices, unplanned industrial process, and even grazing of pastures can damage the environment.

There is no doubt that agriculture is essential, grazing of animals is unavoidable, forests have to be harvest for their produce, industries and thermal power plants have to be set up, dams have to be built and automobiles have to run for transporting people and goods. We cannot do away with these.

However, we can certainly do these things in a scientific and planned manner so that the balance of the ecosystem does not get disturbed. Every natural system has a limited capacity to absorb shocks. If these shocks exceed the limit, repair becomes difficult. For example, if we harvest mature trees from a forest and leave the young one has to grow, the forest will continue to grow and provide timber and fuel continuously.

Similarly, if a water body receives biodegradable wastes in a controlled way, which means that it does not contain toxic chemicals, the water body can take care of the wastes without undergoing drastic changes.

However, if the same water body is used for dumping all kids of wastes in unlimited quantities, the water body will become polluted, resulting in damage and death of the aquatic life in it. Let us take one more example. If the pastures are used for grazing of animals in a scientific manner, the pasture can remain useful indefinitely. However, if the pasture is overgrazed, greenery will soon vanish. Wind and water erosion will take away the fertile soil and the area will be rendered barren.

Thus, you can see that, we can use our natural resources and environment in two possible ways. The one, where the environment is not endangered and we get the benefits indefinitely. The other alternative is to use the resources and environment is an unscrupulous manner. In the latter case, we may get more benefits for sometime, no doubt, but in the long run we will be the losers. Obviously, every wise person would like to go for the first alternative.

However, many a time people adopt the second alternative due to ignorance and lack of information. For example, if a herdsman is told of the consequences of overgrazing, he would never like to go for it.

Similarly, if a person living in a forest is explained about the ill-effects of over-exploitation of forest, he would like to desist from it. Therefore, the important point is to make people aware of these things.

Hence, environmental awareness becomes imperative. The government is doing it's bit and we need to do ours!!!