Global Warming

Our LOGO & MOTO HOW TO REACH US BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF NATURE PARK

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PROGRAMME SUPPORTED BY HOTEL OWNERS OF MUSSOORIE, SCHOOLS OF DEHRA DUN AND MUSSOORIE AND RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS LOCATED AT DEHRA DUN

NATURE PARK, KEMPTY FALLS, NEAR MUSSOORIE INDIA TEL:0091-135-2653400, 0091-9319988666,+919897531965
http://natureparkindia.blogspot.com/
(Contd from my blog:Responsible Citizenship under the flag title Sustainable Tourism)
A GRIM SCENARIO

(Extract of a speech by a great philanthropist on the occassion of the World Environment Day-the bitter truth!!Healthy criticism is constructive democracy and path to progress.)

Having seen the ecological destruction caused on account of indescriminate deforestation and lime stone mining, Dehra Dun didnot get rains for a few years. Drinking water became scarce. Citizens of the Valley, for a change, united and fought together to put a halt to lime stone mining as well tree felling. Above all the Honorable Supreme Court of India realised that Mussoorie was made for 25,000 local residents and say 50,000 tourists per annum..Lo and behold..India in her expertise at increasing population surpassed these figures many fold and then finally, breaks were applied on new construction of buildings and multistoreyed flats which sprung from nowhere!!
All this damage could have been averted had the local people been more aware("educated" in terms of ecology). Moreso, because this is the zone that claims itself to be the "Educational capital of India"!!

An Eco Task Force had to be deployed to control the situation from going out of control. Its Commanding Officer Col. L.T.Parnell was approached in the early 1990's who called a meeting with the heads of schools and discussed the matter at length, Dehra Dun and Mussoorie being a school based economy as well as that maximum mileage could be derived by spreading awareness in these young soldiers who could be trained as, they are destined to be tomorrow's Magistrates and Ministers . "Momentarily" all heads of schools agreed that they would send their students to camps in areas that need them, but soon realised that their students were from affluent families who only wanted Pizzas and Ice creams and stay in Five star hotels when they went out during their mid term holidays!! Good for the schools too as most of them made money from it. The only concept at that time was that trees should be planted so, the schools concentrated in planting "within their respective campuses", and photographs were taken on World Environment Day each year and printed in the local press to show that they too participated and shared concern in the worldwide concern for Global Warming!!

Again meetings were called and pledges taken, but very few good schools came forward. They demanded a common meeting place for school eco activities. This gave birth to Nature Park, Kempty Falls being near the backward officially declared tribal zone easily accessible to both Dehra Dun and Mussoorie which house at least 50 boarding schools where children from affluent countries come. Most of the schools are privately owned and being societies get tax free incomes. So less of time went to imparting "value based education" and more went to impressing their client - the students' parents, by presenting them with Founder's Day celebrations when all school activities come to a halt. Very few school members ever paid any annual membership fees for Nature Park or even bothered to send student groups for the designated purpose to support the Nature Park in fact, some said "Our children come from affluent families and donot wish to mix with the poor students in the villages who live in dirty surroundings!! So our efforts of reducing the urban-rural or rich- poor gap went for a six!! Psychologically too, these students who will become Magistrates and Ministers tomorrow will hate to go to the villages (for whose sake they are trained and paid salaries and given perks by the tax payer-which they donot count as their earnings) one whole generation gone backward in time!!

He further added "I have noticed many vocational institutes are training your young people only to go and serve in bigger cities, this does not help in the development of the state. The government should ensure that their curricullum is so designed that the local youth could earn through self employment and contribute to the development of this state."

The reasons of retarded national development are many fold. One of them is positive, value based and responsible guidance from senior management coming downwards. Schools were opened not by educationists but by businessmen to make money. Only a few good public schools carry the badge of educational institutions and on whose reputation these the "educational shops" prosper.

EVEN NOW THE NATIONAL PLANNERS ARE ENCOURAGING INTRODUCTION OF MORE NEW CARS TO OUR NARROW ROADS INSTEAD OF INTRODUCING MASS RAPID PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEMS. QUITE OBLIVIOUS TO THE REQUIREMENT OF THE ERA WHERE GLOBAL WARMING IS THREATENING HUMAN EXISTANCE!! THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS POPULATION EXPLOSION AND MAN/NATURE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MEASURES ARE NOT UNDERSTOOD BY MANY AND THE RESULTS ARE VISIBLE ON EVERY ROAD AND LOCALITY WHETHER COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL OR RESIDENTIAL.EVERY DAY CARS,TAXIES, BUSES ETC ARE FALLING OFF HILL SIDES FOR WANT OF BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE METALLED ROADS WITH PARAPETS WHICH SHOWS THAT THERE ARE MORE CARS/TRUCKS ETC ON THE ROAD THAT THE ROAD CAN TOLERATE!!

The world should think (crazy at may seem) in terms of a ZERO YEAR each for Marriages and Child birth. Each year India adds the population of Australia !! Man has been on Earth some say for 10 million years. I have seen maximum development in the post World War II period till now which is less than a century von Braun's rockets, Atom Bombs dropped on Japan, Man on the Moon, Space stations and Now Colonies on the Moon - Good heavens!! How many times man must have progressed, civilizations must have come up and then destroyed themselves like we are doing now. Perhaps God is scared of his robots taking over the universe that's why he does it-destroys it through the robot himself!! Lets be "smarter" this time out-wit God and apply "Anti Aging Cream" to our present day progress!! Let's fight it out and replenish the endangered species of plants and delay the extinction of certain living beings which have taken millions of years to form moreover, we ourselves depend upon these plants and animals as we are a part of the chain. We need to eat healthy meat and vegetables for lunch and dinner - so have they - plants and animals got to eat healthy fertilizers - got to complete a healthy food chain to maintain our health. We on our part have made efforts which are mentioned below. Come and join us if you agree with our humble approach. There is a lot of room for Eco-Volunteering herein.
NATURE PARKS EFFORTS:-
1) Research with Flex Foods Ltd to identify a commercially viable herb for the villagers to grow with buy back assurance from M/s Flex Foods Ltd.
2) Identification of endemic endangered plants and "connected" insect and animal life with the help of Botanical and Zoological Surveys of India for propagation and in-situ rehabilitation by school children to build the lost habitat for birds and butterflies. Some school groups are shown below.

Mussoorie International School students Left and Centre Dun Intl School


Welham Boys School, Asian School at Bhatoli Asian School at Nature Park
Pheasants of the region:


The Kaleej Pheasant is now found in decreasing numbers
(Courtesy ZSI)
This pheasant and butterflies of this Himalayan region can be used as indicators for the health of the habitat which supports them.


The plants for in - situ rehabilitation have to be matched to the entamology of the region plants which support a particular insect which is the food for the pheasant

MAN IS AS MUCH A PART OF THIS BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AS THE PHEASANTS OR PLANTS AND NEED EQUAL CARE IF NOT MORE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.THE SOONER WE REALISE IT THE BETTER.

3) Creation of tent accommodation for accommodating student groups as well as farmers for hands on training in herb farming to help the local farmers to generate higher incomes
About the herb, as per Flex Foods Horticulturist Dr. Mamgain:

1) Rosemary Orientalis is an aromatic herb which grows at this altitude of 4500 ft above sea level on northfacing lands which is disliked by monkeys, cattle, goats etc and hence "needs no expenses for making fences and has a lower mortality rate "

2) Herb gives three harvests of exportworthy quality which have to be "freeze dried " and must reach the freeze drying unit within 2-3 hours of its harvested time for maximum preservation of it's essential constituents.
3) The herb does not require much care except at the time of harvest. Fourth quarter i.e. in winter the shrub hybernates. It has a life span for optimum output of 15 years (similar to an apple tree equivalent to having an orchard)

4) The lower quality herb is good for oil extraction and this aromatic volatile oil has a long shelf life

5) It is in demand by the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and culinary/food companies as it is an excellent marinate for meat and fish

A separate list of endangered endemic plants is available which matches the habitat needs to support Himalayan birds and butterflies. Saplings of these are to made for insitu rehabilitation in areas designated by the forest department.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
This program meets with the blessings of all concerned who appear in the photogallery and many more, whom we owe our gratitude.










Governor.S.S.Barnala

Chief Minister N.N.Swami

Forest and Environment Minister Mr.NavPrabhat

Mr Prakash Pant, Tourism Minister,

D.F.O.(MUSSOORIE) MrA.K.BANNERJEE (Above) Mr.N.N.Parsad Sec.Tourism


Distict Magistrate at the Nature Park.
Local Marketable talent to Make Bhatoli A Model Tourist Village.

The Potato Dance

This is the collective Farewell Dance