MAKING GOD’S OWN COUNTRY TRULY

GREEN

Team MembersSabitha ZBShahnas ASyama KSIII sem MBA(IB)

Kerala is one of the 10 paradises on earth for its natural beauty, greenery rich cultural heritage and tranquility—National geographical traveler

A green way of life can be defined as one that results in improved human wellbeing and social equity while significantly reducing environmental risk and ecological scarcity. In its simplest expression, a green way of life can be thought of as one which is low- carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive-------UNEP

LARGEST RIVER IN KERALA

Unchecked pollution on the Periyar  Eloor has been identified as one of the

toxic hotspots in the world by Greenpeace, an international NGO campaigning against environmental destruction.

Phase 1(0-5): Mitigating current polluting industries and large run-off areas by establishing common waste treatment scheme, public awareness

Phase 2(5-10): Remove garbage, Reclaim marshlands

Phase 3(10-20): Ecological habitatsOpen lands, Forest, Freshwater wetlands,

Seawater WetlandsLand Use: Policies for existing urban fabric,

Public Open Land, Agriculture and Recreation, Natural Vegetation, Natural Park

Mangrove forests are naturally resilient, having withstood severe storms and changing tides for many millennia. Mangroves have specially adapted aerial and salt-filtering roots and salt-excreting leaves which enable them to occupy the saline wetlands where other plant life cannot survive.

Mangroves’ protective buffer zone helps shield coastlines from storm damage and wave action, minimizing damage to property and losses of life from hurricanes and storms.

Mangroves have been useful in treating effluent, as the plants absorb excess nitrates and phosphates, thereby preventing contamination of near-shore waters.

Mangroves absorb carbon dioxide and store carbon in their sediments, thereby lessening the impacts of global warming; and help in the protection of associated marine ecosystems

Sea grass beds and coral reefs depend on healthy mangroves to filter sediments and provide nursery grounds for resident species.

Mangrove Forests are largely facing deforestation. However, mangrove forests are treated as “wastelands,” or useless swamps. This mistaken view has made it easier to exploit mangrove forests as cheap and unprotected sources of land and water. Mangrove Forests were largely destroyed in the name of unsustainable developments like:

Shrimp aquaculture Charcoal production and logging Oil exploration and extraction Tourism Urbanization and urban expansion Ports and roads

Continuing heavy loss of mangrove forests represents a real tragedy for our oceans and the extensive life-support systems mangroves engender.

With climate change and sea level rising upon us, we must look to the mangroves to help turn the tides which these forests can do through their ability to control erosion by buffer against storms, and sequester huge amounts of carbon.

Mangroves may in fact be one of our last defenses against the perils of climate change and global warming.

If the authorities stick on to the decision of the closure of the park, this may well contribute to the survival of our environment and in turn the species live inside it.

Deforestation Eutrophication Encroachment Reclamation Mining and biodiversity Loss

Wetlands Education Team (WET) Public Awareness  

One of Kerala’s main problems has been the indiscriminate, unscientific and illegal sand-mining in its river areas.

Damages the ecosystems of rivers and the safety of bridges.

Weakening of river beds where social, cultural and religious activities take place throughout the year.

Destruction of natural habitats of organisms living on the riverbeds.

Affects fish breeding and migration. Increases saline water in the river. Spells disaster for the conservation of many bird

species such as storks, sandpipers and egrets that feed on the riverbeds.

First, he must reopen the Ministry of to civil society engagement.

‘Expert’ committees with the crucial role of advising the MoEF on the viability or otherwise of development projects, were stocked with yes-men who would not raise uncomfortable questions.

Engagement with NGOs Most blatant was how people with clear

conflict of interest were put in key positions Second, Rescue the Environmental

department from its current status as a willing rubber stamp for industry.

Review membership of all expert committees and fill them with people known for their credible, independent experience and positions on a variety of environmental issues.

Institute a periodic public dialogue forum, at which environmental issues can be openly discussed; importantly, this needs to be accessible to local communities which are usually the worst hit by ecological degradation.

Proactively make public decisions and processes leading up to decisions.

Initiate an annual Kerala Environment Survey report that mandatorily includes civil society inputs and analysis, to be presented to Legislature.

Move to include robust sustainability indicators (for example, forest cover and quality, drinking water availability, per capita public transport, number of threatened species, and so on) into economic planning and assessment procedures.

Initiate a completely revamped EIA and clearance process that is meaningfully and transparently able to determine whether a development project should be allowed, and which puts potentially affected people at the centre of decision-making.

Bring in sector- and landscape-level EIA processes that go beyond assessing individual projects, providing an idea of the overall ecological implications of, say, the energy or agrochemicals sector, or, say, the entire series of dams in a river basin.

National Environment Commission, a statutory authority with the independence of the Chief Election Commissioner or the Comptroller and Auditor General. Such a commission would be charged with assessing the compliance of environmental regulations by government agencies (central and state), and acting as a mediator between the public and the government.

The Environmental Literacy requirement is not a state law, it's a policy decision from the state Department Of Education, which allows local school boards the freedom to select their own criteria, incorporating local issues into teacher's lessons.

“To mould students that possess the knowledge, intellectual skills, attitudes, experiences and motivation to make and act upon responsible environmental decisions as individuals and as members of their community.”

Although coconuts are cultivated on nearly 9 lakh hectares of land, constituting almost 30% of the state’s cropped area, there are very few large coconut plantations in Kerala. More than 95% of coconut trees are grown in the front and back yards of homesteads. 

Sharp increase in palm oil imports Poor brading of coconut products Diseases like Mandari Price fluctuation of coconut

Coconut biodiesel (Methyl Ester), a renewable, biodegradable and eco friendly fuel of the future.  It emits less smoke and is almost sulfur free.  Probably the next big thing after coconut oil (currently the country’s top agricultural export).

If you are looking for freedom from jostling crowds, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh are not the states you should be looking to pitch your tent in. These four are India’s most crowded states, with population densities ranging from 1,102 per square km for Bihar to 828 in Uttar Pradesh. Kerala, God’s own country, has 859 per sq km.

Green Architecture also known as “sustainable architecture” or “green building” is an approach to architectural design which emphasizes the place of the buildings with both local ecosystems & global environment.

It aims to create environmental friendly and energy efficient buildings. It entails actively harnessing renewable natural resources like solar energy and utilizing materials that cause the least possible damage to the global commons—water, soil, forests & air.

Super population: In 1900 world population was 1.25 billion inhabitants. By 2000, world population reached 6 billion. Optimistic forecast is that we shall reach 12 billion by 2050.

Over the past 100 years, cities have transformed their urban physiology.Concentrations of skyscrapers and large residential low-density areas.

Ecologically speaking, the consequences of this evolution have been the progressive destruction of vegetation, the irrationality on energy consumption and the deterioration of the environment.

Cities are overcrowded and locked with no available land for expansion. In addition to relieving the stress of overpopulation, the city needs means of alleviating the need for dependency on fossil fuels and nuclear power by incorporating the latest in eco-friendly energy generating technology. It is essential to design a system which will help alleviate the overpopulation issue, one which is self-sustaining through its use of eco-friendly means of energy production.

Urbanization has profound effects on the build-up of a city, intensification of energy consumption and the decline in greenery. As nature becomes more eroded, people are increasingly living in a less balanced ecological system.

Greater environmental awareness and societal pressures have necessitated the adoption of countermeasures in the areas of green buildings, vertical greenery and tree planting campaigns.

A community garden project was chosen because it contributes to greenery and has greater potential to closely engage the local community on a sustained basis.

To meet the residential, commercial and industrial needs of the growing population, urban development has taken place over formerly green areas.

Green spaces serve ecological and social functions.

Greenery is important to maintain ecological sustainability and a balanced ecosystem between flora and fauna.

The affinity with nature also has a soothing effect on humans whereby greenery beautifies and provides a more serene environment.

  The  green areas are considered the lungs of urban centers. Such green areas in a city ensures freshness and improves the ambience of the town,  maintain healthier environment by generating oxygen to the living creatures, and also function as an agent of recharging the ground with fresh rain water and controlling the increasing global warm. In fact, green areas increase the longevity of human life.

Urban Environmental Solutions

Expand greenery Skyrise greenery reduces heat

transmitted through the roof, reduces ambient temperature and glare, improves sound insulation for buildings

With the right use of plants, can increase our biodiversity.

Rooftop gardens Sky terraces Other vertical greening approaches.

Aesthetic value Thermal effects A solution for the scarcity of land by

enhanced use of the limited land available in urban areas for Greenery.

Better living conditions in urban areas.

Total elimination of congestion . Making "Sky-villages" in towns and

even in metropolises a reality Reduce Carbon Foot print

Provision of Green Buffer Zones / Areas Between Industrial Sectors and Non Industrial Sector 

Provision of Green Areas Around Sewerage Treatment Plants And Garbage Disposal Sites.

Development of Hillocks / Rocky / Ridge Areas As Green Areas.

 Provision of Green Areas around Airport, Radar, Ammunition Depot :- .

Provision of Green Areas in the form city level and district level parks and stadiums etc. :- 

NREGA - initiated in February 2006 as the government's most ambitious employment generation scheme for poor people - the authorities are bound by law to provide a minimum of 100 days of employment a year to members of families living below the poverty line.

Effectively addresses 2 burning issues : Global warming and Unemployment

Attitude Change Adoption of modern technology and standards Value addition industry Holistic approach Thailand Philippines case Branding Agriculturist as a professional Proper Orientation in education system Proper training Responding to the concerns faced by the sector1. Labour shortage2. Agricultural diseases3. Climatic Fluctuations4. Poor marketing

Ecotourism is a new concept in tourism. It is a purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the cultural and natural history of environment, taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem, while producing economic opportunities that make conservation of natural resources beneficial to local people.

"...as the young spend less and less of their lives in natural surroundings, their senses narrow, physiologically and psychologically, and this reduces the richness of human experience.

Yet, at the very moment that the bond is breaking between the young and the natural world, a growing body of research links our mental, physical, and spiritual health directly to our association with nature—in positive ways... As one scientist puts it, we can now assume that just as children need good nutrition and adequate sleep, they may very well need contact with nature." - Richard Louv, "Last Child In The Woods"

back-to-basics approach would do well to get Kerala back on to its glorious path of development

The increase in agriculture productivity can be the trigger for growth and poverty reduction.

The right kind of agriculture can make an important contribution to poverty alleviation, food security, development of backward communities, economic growth and development, etc..

Reviving agriculture is not the whole of the answer to rural poverty although it is a big part of it.

NREGs leads to labour shortage in Kerala agri sector: survey

Thiruvananthapuram : The implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), flag-ship programme of the UPA Government, has led to shortage of labour and increase in the wages of farm workers in Kerala, according to a survey.

The Kerala University’s field survey conducted in Palakkad District, the largest paddy producing district in the state, has found that the basic problem faced by farmers was the acute shortage of labour.

As a major share of paddy cultivation depended on hired labour, the implementation of NREGS has led to increase in wage rate and escalation in cost of cultivation, the survey headed by Head of Economic Department B A Prakesh said.

Withdrawal of young people from agriculture was found to be main reason for shortage of labour. Paddy cultivation involved physical labour and youth especially those having school education considered the agriculture work a dirty job, the survey report said.

Employment opportunities in non-agriculture sector, chances for migration of labour to other parts of the country and abroad also discouraged youth from doing agriculture work, the survey report compiled in April 2008 said.

Along with rapid mechanisation of paddy farming and harvesting to solve the labour shortage, the survey wanted the government to suspend the NREGS during the peak agriculture seasons.

The survey conducted during months of June-July 2007 also asked the centre and other states to follow favourable policies to promote the mechanisation of agriculture through appropriate initiatives like provision of subsidies, tax exemption, interest waiver and other measures.

The survey also suggested withdrawal of all taxes on farm machinery and other capital stock required for agriculture operations to make paddy cultivation profitable and economically viable to small and marginal farmers.

On loans of farmers, it said marginal farmers faced more distress and top priority should be given to them in determining norms for giving relief to farmers.

The survey found that 40% of the sample households had taken loans mainly from co-operative banks and commercial banks.

The amount borrowed ranged from below Rs20,000 to Rs3 lakhs plus. A majority of the farmers who had borrowed belonged to the marginal category of farmers, the survey said.

The money borrowed was utilised not only for cultivation purpose but also to repair and construct houses, meet expenditures of marriage of farmily members, medical treatemnt, education of children and purchase of consumer durables.

Regarding loans taken from commercial banks and co-operative banks, the survey found that around 55% of the farmers had not made any repayment so far.

Another interesting finding was that financial problem was not the sole reason for the repayment of the majority of loans availed from co-operative and commercial banks.

“Majority of the farmers who availed loans are not repaying due to the expectation that the state government or the Farmers Debt Relief Commission will announce debt relief to them,” the survey said.

Introduction of Techno lodges Implementation of Green Tax Linkage between Agricultural

Universities, R&D centers and Farmers Tourism Renewable Energy Forestation Coordination of Existing Technology Waste Management Kerala Green Action PlanCommittee

Transportation Through Water Ways Community Biogas Plan Forestation Beyond Road Sides Food Industry & Food Processing

Industry Upliftment of Traditional Industry like

Coir, Handloom, Bamboo and Textiles Paper Bags

One village one product projectObjective of this project is to build human

dignity and reduce poverty in rural areas of Kerala by supporting the development of sustainable, non-farm, rural small and micro enterprise that creates opportunities for the rural poor.

Roads are not entirely for vehicles. Green parks as lungs to our cities. City planning. Underground transportation. Integration of water ways.

Kerala, which has many rivers originating in the Western Ghats, has some 24 hydroelectric power stations generating around 1,800 MW. However, the installed capacity of these stations is 4,300 MW. Indeed, dams erected in heavily forested areas are often their own worst enemy because when a reservoir is created, trees are either extensively felled beforehand or they are submerged. Without such cover, there can be widespread erosion of the soil. In effect, the “life” of a dam is drastically reduced because the reservoir is silted up. This also plays havoc with the cost-benefit assessment of a dam which cites economic returns over a certain period to get the project sanctioned.

Large dams are less efficient than small scale dams.

Disastrous, costly, environment side effects, dislocation of people.

Water harvesting can be resource for agriculture.

“Water-use it twice whenever possible”.