When someone asks us to imagine a scene of a ‘Jungle’ meaning forest then more and more ideas comes on our mind like when we enters the forest, the Environment will be peaceful with blowing of a cool breeze. It makes up happy and feels fresh. That feeling is unexplainable because we’re in between Mother Nature which is holding the precious life in it. We can end speaking on any given topic in school but our Imagination about the Jungle world will not end. We hear the sounds of birds and sounds from the branches of trees on which Monkeys are jumping and the sound of water from a Waterfall spreads the happiness everywhere.
Now, this feeling will no longer can be feel in future for the Nature lovers in Thano Forest region, near Dehradun in Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand government sought National Wildlife Board's approval to transfer 243 acres of forest land to Airports Authority of India. Up to 10,000 trees could be chopped down for the expansion of Uttarakhand's main airport in Dehradun. The move to cut the trees in the Thano range of the Dehradun forest division could affect wildlife in the elephant corridors nearby, forest department sources said. The Uttarakhand government has sought the National Wildlife Board's approval to transfer 243 acres of forest land to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for expanding the Jolly Grant Airport. The area in question also lies within a 10 km radius of the Rajaji National Park Eco-Sensitive Zone.
It may cause severe damage to the region's delicate ecology and more frequent natural disasters because of projects that do not consider long-term environmental impact. As the region is highly Eco Sensitive, here in Thano region a Bird Watching camp was organized by state Forest Department from March 13 to March 15, 2015. The results shows that As many as 104 bird species were identified at Thano. The birds seen included the passage migrants chestnut-eared bunting and white-capped bunting. Oriental pied hornbill and seven species of woodpeckers among numerous other bird species were other birds sighted.
Forests are the lungs of the entire planet. Forests help in maintaining average temperature of Earth. They also helps in maintaining many Bio-Geochemical Cycles that includes Water, Nitrogen, Carbon, Sulfur (Sulphur), etc.
The deforestation of forests is one of the major reason behind the acceleration of Climate Crisis. Deforestation causes Soil Erosion which will make the soil infertile that will be resulted in Desertification, a process in which fertile land get converted into Desert. Trees prevent soil erosion. The tree cover also softens the effect of heavy rains on the forests soil due to which top soil does not flow easily.
When there will be no trees, then the devastation caused by the Natural Disasters will increase like more floods, droughts, etc. Deforestation will also affect the Water Cycle which will decrease the rainfall. The decrease in rainfall will lower the groundwater level and could cause droughts because no process of Water cycle will take place in the absence of trees.
Another damage to the Human Kind and Nature will be the extinction of many Wild plants and Animals which are found only in that particular area only and are nowhere found in the world. When trees and other plants are cut down then the Natural habitat will get destroyed.
“Nature contributes a lot to the peoples. It provides you shelter, food, Oxygen, etc. But what you are contributing for the ‘Mother Nature’? You are contributing nothing except of destroying it”. Now is the time to start conserving and protecting our forests by working on the principle that All Forest Matters, by working on the principle that is Save Every Forest to Save Every Life because it took many years for a forest to grow but it takes a single or a half minute for our elected officials to sign a order to clear the entire forest.
Save Thano: Why We Need To Work On The Principal Of Save Every Forest To Save Every Life- Original Title