There Hon’ble Minister of Environment, Forests & Climate Change Indira Paryavaran Bhavan, Jor Bagh Road, New Delhi – 110 003 Sub: Please appoint credible experts to NBWL Dear Sir, Your ministry is perhaps the most important one in the government because it controls the fate of India’s precious natural resources and irreplaceable wildlife heritage. While development may be an avowed priority of your government, clearing projects in and around India’s PAs without a proper examination of their merits or environmental impacts, will amount to a gross betrayal of a sacred responsibility. While you have put in place a transparent online system for project clearances in forest areas, the same transparency is absent when it comes to how decisions that affect the nation’s wildlife reserves are taken. Your government was voted into power on the promise of good governance. Yet, in a blatant mockery of the law, a travesty of a National Board for Wildlife was constituted, without the required number of experts or NGOs. Now that the Supreme Court has intervened to halt all decisions taken by this National Board, your Ministry has an opportunity to set things right. Minister, you may now be faced with two choices: (a) pack the National Board with ‘yes men’ without the right credentials, and carry on, or (b) induct credible experts with ecological knowledge, experience and integrity. It is fervently hoped that you will choose the latter option, and recommend the right set of experts to the Prime Minister. Only if that happens will the NBWL be able to take decisions that are sensible, sustainable, and in the long-term interests of the nation. Minister, the forests, mountains, rivers, and coastal ecosystems that we have inherited are our precious green capital. Without the vital ecosystem services they provide, there can be no lasting development or advancement of society. Your Ministry is the custodian of India’s natural wealth, held in trust for present and future generations. History will not forgive us if we wantonly destroy that which we can never recreate. No amount of tree planting can ever make up for the damage done to complex natural habitats that have evolved over millions of years. It is hoped that the MoEF under your leadership will discharge its duties with great diligence and honesty of purpose. While everyone agrees on the need for development, let it be brought about in the right way, after careful due diligence by credible experts, to avoid devastation of our remaining wildlife habitats. This is an appeal requesting that you constitute a credible National Board for Wildlife that we, the people, can have faith in, and one that your Ministry can be proud of. Yours truly, (Your name and address) CC: Director General of Forests, Indira Paryavaran Bhavan, Jor Bagh Road, New Delhi – 110 003
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 05:19:35 +0000
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