New Delhi: Poor in India as well as in the world face the negative fallout of depletion of natural resources and sustainable development rests on a "viable and sound" natural resource base, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Friday.
In his message on 'International Day for Biological Diversity' whose theme this year is "Biodiversity for Sustainable Development", he said the imperative challenge before India is to "imbibe and translate" the theme due to its privileged status as a mega bio-diverse country.
"Communities that are inclusive and resilient are also the only ones that will be safe in the long run. The poor in India and the world over face the negative fallouts of depleting and degraded natural resources in disproportionate measure to those who are responsible for such depletion and degradation.
"Sustainable development rests on a viable and sound natural resource base," Javadekar said.
The minister noted that it was imperative challenge for India in context of its status as a mega bio-diverse country, past and projected demographic transitions and commitment to democracy as a political principle.
"These three facets make it non-negotiable that we galvanise the political will, scientific and technological know-how and financial resources to contribute to the agenda set out in the outcome document from the Rio+20 Conference - The future we want," he said.
Javadekar said that the future depends heavily on the "restorative and ameliorative" action that we engage in relation to the wealth in biodiversity today.
"This challenge can only be met with broad stakeholder participation. From the right knowledge, to the right resources and the right spirit of working together for the common good, may the international day for biological diversity 2015 help us draw on synergies and strengths across sectors to achieve the vision of biodiversity for sustainable development," he said.
He said the theme this year is very topical as the international community is accelerating efforts to define the post-2015 agenda, including adopting a set of goals for sustainable development.
International Day for Biological Diversity is celebrated to recognise the pivotal role of biodiversity to life on earth and human well-being.
Javadekar said this year's theme reflects a "crucial" paradigm shift that the world has undergone from seeing development and environment as two ends of a spectrum to having development while protecting environment.
He said that environment or biodiversity and its invaluable and often irreplaceable ecosystem services - from the air we breathe to the water we drink - are the very foundation on which viable long-term development rests.
He noted that nature has generously endowed India while its ecosystem too is unparalled. He said that with only 2.4 per cent of the world's land area, India has 7-8 per cent of the recorded species of the world, with over 46,000 species of plants and 91,000 species of animals.
"These are the strengths to draw upon to meet the goals of ending poverty and hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture, ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.
"Ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all and in making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Promoting multiple varieties of staple foodgrains, switching to cropping patterns and other such things form key aspects of the way ahead," the Minister said.
According an Environment Ministry statement the Day is being celebrated all over the country by different states and the main event is being held in Srinagar where BIOFIN India project is being formally launched today with the release of a brochure.
Another brochure on announcement of India Biodiversity Awards 2016, the third in the series is being released today, along with a release of a publication on good models of biodiversity governance emanating from India Biodiversity Awards 2014.
