President Droupadi Murmu recently emphasised re-evaluating the standards of development and said the destruction of forests is, in a way, the destruction of humanity.
“Unsustainable exploitation of resources has brought humanity to a point where the standards of development have to be re-evaluated,” Murmu said while addressing trainee officers of the Indian Forest Service (2022 batch) during their convocation ceremony at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy.
She mentioned the Anthropocene Age, which is the period of human centric development, and said “We are not owners but trustees of the earth’s resources” and hence our priorities should be human-centric as well as nature-centric.
“Our priorities should be ecocentric along with anthropocentric. In fact, only by being ecocentric, we will be able to be truly anthropocentric,” she said.
The president expressed concern over the rapid loss of forest resources in many parts of the world saying, “Destruction of forests is – in a way – destruction of humanity. It is a well-known fact that conservation of earth’s biodiversity and natural beauty is a very important task which we have to do very quickly.”
The president said that human life can be saved from crisis through conservation and promotion of forests and wildlife. “We can repair the damage at a faster pace with the help of science and technology. For example, the Miyawaki method is being adopted at many places. AI can help in identifying suitable areas for afforestation and area-specific tree species,” President Murmu said.
