Editor,
India being one of the signatories to COP 2029 and other subsequent global agreements to reduce carbon emissions. The theme of 2024 was “Addressing Climate Issues and Challenges”, with a focus on soil conservation, land restoration and proper waste management.
However the primary responsibilities also lie significantly with the state governments in being equal partners in addressing climate change and how do we mitigate climate disasters from affecting our fragile ecosystem.
In our state forest cover has been reduced in a systematic way fueled by various factors like housing and industrial requirements. The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) reported that Meghalaya lost 84.07 sq km of forest cover between 2021 and 2023. This has set alarm bells in the state forest department as well as in other partner organizations working in the field of environmental conservation and climate crisis.
Reduced forest cover has led to reduction in catchment areas as well and leading to animal conflict where human settlements have encroached into animal habitat. The need of the hour is a comprehensive action plan to mitigate and address dwindling forest cover, enhancing more plantations in existing forests and protection of catchment areas through community collaboration.
Dominic S. Wankhar
Shillong: 3
