Rural rightsForest conservation begins with small, holistic

In essence, the scheme is startlingly simple. Wean villagers away from traditional and low-income livelihoods of grazing and collecting wood on forest lands by making human resource development investments like free computer classes and sewing and typing workshops and by making available interest-free loans to replace goats with high-breed cattle.

Digital diplomas for endless foraging… who can pass such a swap! So will they all live happily ever after a populace energised by newly acquired skills, the region’s precious flora and fauna conserved in verdant splendour? The early success notwithstanding, it will clearly depend on a sustained effort to preserve the participatory spirit of the programme and on constant reappraisal to adapt to changing circumstances and impediments.

As the Chipko movement in the hills of Uttar Pradesh amply demonstrated, it is only when a people are convinced that they have a stake in healthy environs will they guard it. So it is with Kadmanur today, and so it could be with endless villages across the country. Such participatory schemes could, for instance, counter the environmental menace of jhum (slash and burn) cultivation in the Northeast if the disadvantages of nomadic agriculture were made evident.

Pious exhortations to cherish India’s biodiversity are all very well, but public involvement can only be a reality if the people are given an opportunity to look beyond the arduous struggle to secure two meals a day and contemplate a better quality of life.

And it does not stop with forests and wildlife reserves, micro-schemes to clean up urban sprawls and provide for the half living on the margins are also imperative. Besides, as the second generation of reforms get underway, policymakers are confronted with a niggling paradox. In a country that solicits foreign investment by boasting of mammoth incentives delivered by an abundance of cheap labour, industry often deals with outdated labour laws by investing in machine-intensive projects. Reform in labour laws may tackle this paradox, but it would underline the need to constantly skill and reskill the work force.