By Jonas Odocha
The realisation that the environment which mother-nature has endowed us with is finite, continues to dawn on us with each passing day. There are some streams and rivers which were relatively deep and rich in aquatic life which are now either ephemeral or completely silted up. In a similar manner there are certain dreaded forests which were the habitat of various species of wild animals which have now been turned into mere farmlands. All these changes over time are attributable to human activities and or climatic conditions.
This scenario should remind us that if such drastic depletion of our environment persists unchecked, then we are wittingly exposing ourselves to harsh realities of life in the near future.
As we were discussing the impact of environmental degradation on Biodiversity, an incident which occurred between a grandmother and her grandson’s teacher readily came to mind. This incident narrated in the early 50s tells of a primary school teacher who had flogged his pupil for failing to give the correct answer to an arithmetic question. The little boy who was living with his grandmother had the stripes of the cane all over his body as he got back home. The illiterate grandmother could not understand why a child should be flogged for not getting an answer right and decided to confront the teacher in school the following day. As she went to the farm in the morning with her grandson before reporting to the school, she caught a grasshopper which she determined to take to the school to equally test the “all-knowing” teacher. When they got to the school she made straight to the class for the purpose of venting her anger on the teacher.
As the teacher came over to inquire of her mission, she quickly brought out the grasshopper and asked the teacher to identify and give the local name of that grasshopper, since he knew everything on earth. Since he failed to give her the correct answer, she admonished him that no one individual knows the answer to every question, and that her grandson did not merit such flogging for failing a test.
Well, this was her own level of understanding but inwardly this continues to remind me of the genuine bond between parents and their grandchildren! The question to ask ourselves: how many species of grasshoppers can we still find in our forests and farms today? What indeed happened to them in so short a time and space?
Human activities have been impacting negatively on the environment with the resultant effect of depleting both plant and animal species. In addition Climatic Change has introduced immense pressure on the environment as the observable rise in atmospheric temperature directly leads to ice-melt and flooding, impacting on coastal settlements and subsequent rise in sea levels.
Of very serious concerns are those human activities which lead to pollution of the atmosphere, water bodies and land masses such as activities associated with Petroleum exploration and exploitation. Gases from these activities released into the atmosphere introduce acid rain and also corrode the ozone layer, thereby causing leakages of ultraviolet rays which are harmful to man.
Spillages of crude oil and petroleum products on farmlands and surface water bodies cause devastating damage to plant life and plant yield, which invariably lead to food insecurity. The harm on aquatic life and the danger to potable water cannot be quantifiable. These scenarios pose immense threats to human life and development, thereby point to an impediment to Sustainable Development.
This is the essence of ENVIRONMENTALISTS preaching the gospel of Understanding Sustainable Development, by way of appreciating and promoting ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT [EIA] is a very important tool for the determination of the Potential Environmental Effects of a proposed project or development. It focuses on the assessment of the proposed project’s Physical, Biological, Chemical and Socio-economic effects, bringing together all facets of a development in a form that permits a decision to be made Logically and Rationally. By so doing, any actions that could lead to adverse environmental effects could be identified, and adequate precautions taken to eliminate or minimize such effects.
Little wonder then that governments, including the Nigerian government, have laws that require the conduct of EIA prior to any new projects or development. This is essentially the pathway to SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT as the name implies is an aggregate of all SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, and POLITICAL activities for improving the quality of human life from the supporting ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM.
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It follows, therefore, that when we release toxic or obnoxious gases into the atmosphere as a result of our activities thereby polluting the atmosphere, that we are not improving the quality of human life. When we cause deforestation by indiscriminate felling of trees, we not only destroy biodiversity we also expose the atmosphere to accumulation of Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which hitherto would have been used by the plant life for manufacture of food. When we pollute farmlands and water bodies as in the Niger Delta during Oil Spills thereby reducing plant yield and aquatic life we cause food insecurity and degrade the quality of human life. When we flare gases we not only harm plant life close to the flare sites, we also harm the animal life in the vicinity anddeplete their propagation. All these negative activities do not promote sustainable development.
This is therefore a call on the government, on groups and individuals to collectively join hands to promote any Human Activity that meets the NEEDS OF TODAY without compromising the ability of FUTURE GENERATIONS to meet THEIR OWN NEEDS.
This is Sustainable Development!
