Whenever I deliver a talk on conservation to farmers, monks, nuns and sometimes even the educated lot, I m normally questioned to justify why would one spend money in conserving when nothing as conservation existed during our ancestral days and there were no recorded problems. My first answers would generally be, "our ancestors weren't greedy like we are now and didn't care of their wealth". Okey! on a serious note, I cover two main topics to justify myself to the question I get viz. Hydro-power and Human Wildlife Conflicts.
1. Hydro-power: How on earth is conservation connected to the economic generation potential of hydro-power?
I am not going to touch on the controversial idea of the relation between number of trees and water volumes. But, I would like to touch from another angle here. We all know the important role ROOTS of trees and plants play in binding the soil and rocks thereby preventing soil erosion, but very few might have realized the pressure of rain drops being reduced by more than 90% when the ground is covered by trees and plants. This is being done as the rain drops which freely falls would first hit the leaves and branches which absorbs much of the force. Imagine a rain drop hitting directly on the barren areas. What happens? the soils would be made lose making it prone to erosion. When there is an erosion, pebbles and sand gets washed by rivers which will ultimately hit the turbines which turns the generator to generate electricity. The well-ness of the turbines may be reduced when it is continuously hit by solid powders, thereby demanding earlier replacement or maintenance of turbines. Doing this, will reduce the supply of electricity and everyone knows the story after this.
2. Human Wildlife Conflicts: How will conservation help reduce this? more forested areas mean more animals which is directly proportional to the conflict.
To justify this, we have to go to the basics of ecology- the FOOD CHAIN. It is us, HUMAN BEINGS, who invite the problems of Human Wildlife Conflict. How? we put our hand and harvest Non Wood Forest Produce, kill wild animals. When such activities are undertaken, we are directly reducing the food for animals who directly depend either on plants (Herbivores) or who directly depend on other animals for food (Carnivores). Our interruption creates food im-balance for the animals who are thus, forced to visit our fields and lift livestock for their own survival- SURVIVAL INSTINCT.
These are the two prime reasons of the many, how conserving helps generate more economy.
1. Hydro-power: How on earth is conservation connected to the economic generation potential of hydro-power?
I am not going to touch on the controversial idea of the relation between number of trees and water volumes. But, I would like to touch from another angle here. We all know the important role ROOTS of trees and plants play in binding the soil and rocks thereby preventing soil erosion, but very few might have realized the pressure of rain drops being reduced by more than 90% when the ground is covered by trees and plants. This is being done as the rain drops which freely falls would first hit the leaves and branches which absorbs much of the force. Imagine a rain drop hitting directly on the barren areas. What happens? the soils would be made lose making it prone to erosion. When there is an erosion, pebbles and sand gets washed by rivers which will ultimately hit the turbines which turns the generator to generate electricity. The well-ness of the turbines may be reduced when it is continuously hit by solid powders, thereby demanding earlier replacement or maintenance of turbines. Doing this, will reduce the supply of electricity and everyone knows the story after this.
2. Human Wildlife Conflicts: How will conservation help reduce this? more forested areas mean more animals which is directly proportional to the conflict.
To justify this, we have to go to the basics of ecology- the FOOD CHAIN. It is us, HUMAN BEINGS, who invite the problems of Human Wildlife Conflict. How? we put our hand and harvest Non Wood Forest Produce, kill wild animals. When such activities are undertaken, we are directly reducing the food for animals who directly depend either on plants (Herbivores) or who directly depend on other animals for food (Carnivores). Our interruption creates food im-balance for the animals who are thus, forced to visit our fields and lift livestock for their own survival- SURVIVAL INSTINCT.
These are the two prime reasons of the many, how conserving helps generate more economy.
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