Pick tigers over coal
Blogpost by Vinuta Gopal – October 12, 2012
Few countries can boast a national animal with the status as India. The tiger, as a symbol of India, is as recognisable as the Taj Mahal and as loved as Mahatma Gandhi. Yet this iconic emblem of India is under threat and perhaps most shockingly, that threat doesn’t just come from blood thirsty poachers killing to order nor reckless chemical companies infecting the land through illegal dumping. No, today the biggest threat to the Indian Tiger comes from the very person charged with protecting the tiger – The Indian Prime Minister.
Yesterday Greenpeace India released its Trashing Tigerland report at the largest conference on biodiversity that shows how the Indian government’s present policy of mass deforestation in their mad dash for coal is threatening to make the Indian tiger extinct.
Between 2007 and 2011 the area where mining can happen and the amount of coal that has been made available has nearly doubled. Most of this expansion comes from the Central Indian region – home to over a quarter of the tiger population, yet the politically endorsed programme of coal growth will result in the removal of over 1.1 million hectares of natural tiger habitat.
Among the areas that will be affected include specifically designated zones that have supposedly been set aside to help the tiger breed and stem the tide of their diminishing numbers. Yet the rules to protect the tiger are being ripped up by a government more committed to destroying the environment and polluting the planet than it is in protecting one of its living national symbols.
That is why we are calling on the government to immediately put a stop on its coal programme that is destroying the forests.
So if you don’t want to stop the Indian tiger from becoming nothing more than an extinct symbol on a tourist board advert or left to the imagination of children through the pages of the Jungle Book, then join our campaign to save them. www.junglistan.org/act
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October 16th, 2012 at 8:07 pm
Coal provides cheap energy, a boon for the poverty stricken so they can cook without incurring lung disease from burning biomass (dung etc) inside their homes.
The World Health Organization states quite clearly that worldwide:
“Nearly 2 million people a year die prematurely from illness attributable to indoor air pollution due to solid fuel use (2004 data). Among these deaths, 44% are due to pneumonia, 54% from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and 2% from lung cancer.”
“Without a substantial change in policy, the total number of people relying on biomass fuels will increase to from today’s 2.4 billion to 2.7 billion by 2030 (IEA, 2010). This will increase the number of people at risk of adverse health effects from indoor air pollution. The use of polluting fuels also poses a major burden on development.”
And…
“The lack of access to electricity for at least 1.4 billion of households (many of whom then use kerosene lamps for lighting), creates other health risks, e.g. burns and injuries, as well as constraining other opportunities for health and development, e.g. studying or engaging in small crafts and trades, which require adequate light.”
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs292/en/index.html
Every year millions die prematurely due to the lack of cheap electricity. I find it amazing that you actually balance this human misery against the conservation of 1706 tigers.
As an aside, apparently there are 53,547 km2 (20,675 sq mi) of declared reserves for these tigers … that’s a generous 31 square kilometers for every tiger … whereas there are 370 Indians for every square kilometer … I think, all things considered, the tigers are being adequately cared for.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_reserves_of_India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India
Coal mining provides jobs for Indians and creates wealth in an economy trying to provide for over a billion people. The lives of millions of human beings are at stake, I hope you factor that into your campaign to pick tigers over coal.