Nature in its purest form is nothing less than bliss. The adventurers seek the sanctity of the ‘rawest’ form of nature. The romantics seek the solemn peace at a place that is ‘untouched’. The tourists seek the safe ‘expedition’ of a place that does not disappoint. The difference between these types is the logistics of getting to this place that they seek. The similarities are that they all have an unintentional agenda to bother something in the nature that does not wish to be bothered.
Urbanization rates around the world are said to be 56% with projections indicating rise to 68% by 2050. That will mean about 2,5 billion more people will start living in cities. With most existing large present cities saturated, this would mean that most of these cities are towns and forest that will be urbanized to become cities. UNFAO (United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization) indicates that an area close to the size of Portugal gets deforested every year. Deforestation is a necessary evil that is not just because of land giving way to civilization but is mainly due to two other main reasons: demand for forestry products, and expansion of agricultural land (not urban land). Contrary to urban belief, deforestation rates are actually coming down as a net-net change with most of the deforestation happening in tropical areas but most of the afforestation happening in temperate areas.
Think about it; if there is a huge contribution from forests to the ecosystems in tropical areas, is this shift of forest areas a good trend? Population will grow, civilization will move, urban lands will occupy existing agricultural and thus agricultural land will occupy forest land. Infrastructure is required and connectivity is key. So there will be more roads, bridges, buildings and accompanying population, tourist attractions, resorts, reclamations and expansions. All of these are development nonetheless and all essential for humankind to prosper in a changing world. Think about it – Any and all development necessarily comes at the cost of the environment but not all of it is avoidable or evil, it is in most cases necessary.
Capt Pappu Sastry
CEO – ASL Dubai
