Time to Restore and Rewild
“To restore stability to our planet, we must restore its biodiversity, the very thing that we’ve removed. It’s the only way out of this crisis we’ve created — we must rewild the world.” — Sir David Attenborough
It has been over 40 years since Jadav Payeng started to plant saplings on a desolate sandbar in the middle of the river Brahmaputra, and we can finally appreciate the enormity of his pioneering endeavor. It is now well understood that people and the planet are only as healthy as the ecosystems, with the environmental calendar this year focused on restoration and rewilding, redefining humanity’s role in mending the fractured relationships with nature.
The Earth Day theme of ‘Restore our Earth’ highlighted natural processes and emerging green technologies that can restore the world’s ecosystems, rejecting the notion that mitigation or adaptation are the only way to address climate change. The International Day for Biological Diversity slogan is: “We’re part of the solution” chosen to continue last year’s theme, “Our solutions are in nature”, which was a reminder that biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges.
The first World Rewilding Day was observed on 20th March; This annual observance initiated by the Global Rewilding Alliance will expand awareness of rewilding, one of the most powerful and widely available methods for stabilizing the climate crisis. Rewilding can empower millions of people around the world to take simple actions that restore nature and help combat climate change.
Rewilding is an idea, whose time has come and ‘Molaikathoni’ is testimony to the change we must aspire for. A recent study found that the planted forest provides comparable carbon sequestration services to a natural forest, and “can be a preferable ecosystem management tool to fulfill the objectives of biodiversity conservation.” Jadav Payeng’s forest harbors a wide variety of indigenous biodiversity including several species of threatened megafauna like elephants and tigers.
Last month’s landmark UN General Assembly resolution, the first-ever on transboundary conservation, Resolution 75/271 “Nature knows no borders: transboundary cooperation a key factor for biodiversity conservation, restoration and sustainable use” emphasized nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and for avoiding future pandemics.
World Environment Day 2021 will also mark the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The theme sounds the alarm on degradation of natural systems and the need for remedial action. Research has shown that restoration of wild landscapes can achieve a third of global carbon capture targets. The decade might be last opportunity for us to take inspiration from the likes of the Forest Man of India, get our hands dirty and restore and rewild all degraded natural areas around us.
