India has always been a country where its people have lived harmoniously with nature for ages while revering and worshipping her for the life sustaining attributes. In such a scenario, it must be a certainty that the environment in India is surviving at its best and its sustained existence has been possible owing to the aforesaid mindset of the people.
But sadly enough the situation in India is far worse than imagined and is struggling for existence in its primordial form in the nation. The development of the nation coalesced with the boom in population has had a great toll on the environment. The current state of the nation’s natural forest cover and healthy natural habitat lies pathetically in utter disarray.
The global environmental bodies are of the opinion that a nation needs to have a minimum of 33% of its total geographic area under forest cover. This means that every nation in the world must keep a third of its area under pristine forest cover. This view has been advocated for sustaining a healthy atmosphere as well as a healthier natural habitat for all flora and fauna.
In contrast, India currently doesn’t even boast of a forest cover equivalent to 23% of its geographical area. This demure statistic is enough to point to the current state of affairs pertaining to the Indian environment.
India is currently facing many crisis situations which need to be arrested immediately to stop further damage which can ultimately turn out to be fatally irreparable. The poaching of animals is still dominant in India’s reserved forests. Encroachment on forest land and removal of tree cover is occurring at an unprecedented rate just for the sake of more agricultural lands, development projects and natural resources.
The awareness of the people to make them acknowledged with facts related to the conservation of nature that too in a nation where literacy is still hanging around 70% is a truly arduous job. For the sake of properly enlightening the masses, the knowledge on environmental education must be instilled in the young minds. This vision has reaped good yields as these are the individuals who will form the future generation of the country. Their educated and aware minds can help the nation fight with the harmful environmental odds and give the environment a fighting chance.
The union and state governments have already introduced compulsory environmental education in the schools after realizing the environmental crisis that looms large on the country. The awakening of minds and proper awareness of the subject can help many a people understand the cons of environmental degradation. The learned individuals will not only assist the nation with their deeds but also teach people belonging to the society about the hidden implications.
Studies have shown that the current generation of Indian students are more aware about the environment than their previous generations thanks to the education they get in their academic curriculum at schools. The nation is looking up to this enlightened lot of students to lead the nation to a better habitable environment and make the nation reap the good harvests of environmental education.