Time and again, we are repeating our failures as a society in our inaction to save biodiversity, regardless of many legally binding calls for urgent actions having been adopted by this country. The next ten years will be the most decisive period in human history to turn around their future towards a world where people live in harmony with nature. Biodiversity loss becomes the single most catastrophic event resulting in damage to many ecosystem services that are critical to the survival of humans. Every one hour, ca. 240 acres of natural habitats are being destroyed, and WWF says ~80% of the terrestrial biodiversity has already been declined due to habitat destruction and degradation.
The tropics where 80% of the planet’s terrestrial biodiversity and over 95% of its coral and mangroves located are the worst affected region on the Earth. This region is where by 2050 more than half of the world’s population will live, with India alone over 1.5 billion people. As a fast-developing country, India has unprecedented pressure on ecosystems and biodiversity and posing great challenges for achieving the 2030 SDGs.
Prof. M. S. Swaminathan once stated, “greening of the human mind must precede the greening of our Earth. A green mind cares, saves, and shares. These are the qualities essential for conserving biological diversity now and forever”. Let’s take his 96th birthday to build the Green minds together for Saving species and Saving lives. For the estimated cost of rehabilitation and restoration of one species, we calculated INR 100,000/. We, Indians are good at helping others by everyday giving, especially for the community needs, religious causes, followed by urgent situations like natural disasters. The situation of saving the endangered species is squarely urgent now for community, religious belief systems, and for Mother Nature to keep her healthy! Gear Up for GOD species!