Need seen for nature-centric planning rather than man-centric development

Symposium on environment conservation in Karnataka featuring environmentalists discussing nature-centric planning and preservation of natural resources.

Sahyadri Habba, a symposium on environment conservation, was organised by Save Western Ghats campaign and Parisarakkagi Naavu at Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha in Dharwad on Sunday.

Environmentalist Mahabaleshwar Hegde and other resource persons spoke at the various sessions.

Mr. Hegde, who was among the leaders of the Appiko movement, said that man-centric planning and urban development are damaging environment in many ways.

“We tend to forget that human beings are not the only creatures on the planet. Every living being on Earth has a right to live and the policy-makers and planners should keep this in mind all the time,” he said.

“We have to ensure that all our plans should be nature-centric and not human-centric,” he added.

He recalled the Appiko movement and said that concerted agitation by a group of youth in Uttara Kannada against the felling of trees in 200 acres of forest area forced the government to drop the idea.

This came to be known as the Appiko movement, inspired by the Chipko movement in the Himalayas.