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Govindaswamy Hariramamurthi answers the following question

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Question

Is there an ecological limit to economic growth ? David Letellier


Answer

Govindaswamy Hariramamurthi: Yes, surely. There is an ecological limit and there is an ecological cost to economic growth. One need not have any doubt about it. Just take the case of India. We have more than 6,200 medicinal plant species, out of which in the southern part of India more than 200 medicinal plant species have already got into the red list of endangered, rare, threatened species. How has it happened? It has happened, #1, because of our inability to conserve nature. It has happened because of our lopsided understanding of development. It has happened because of our unsustainable levels of harvest in the wild. So, what is the result of this? The communities, the traditional communities, the tribal communities, the marginal communities in our country who depend so much on these medicinal plant resources for meeting their healthcare will be unable to have access to their own biodiversity. It doesn’t affect much the rich, but it affects the poor directly and in an impactful manner. If we don’t see this as something that as one drives a vehicle, you see the red mark beyond the sustainable speed limits, because once you cross that red mark you apply brake at whatever speed that you want to bring it down, it will take long time for you. But that is the case of a vehicle, but it never happens in the case of nature. What you destroy, you can’t recreate. It takes millions [audio ends]