StatingStating that fresh water bodies, Coastal zones and arable land all over the world suffer from “fertility paradox,” Spatial Transformations and Design expert Rob Roggem said this would lead to the destruction of regenerative power of the land and the sea.
He said this while addressing the International Conference on Impact of Climate Change on Hydrological Cycle, Ecosystem, Fisheries and Food Security in Kochi. He pointed out that the paradox is never widely discussed.
Roggem, who is a professor at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) told the gathering: “the fertile zones in land and sea are attractive to the people to live and this leads to their unlimited occupation and exploitation. Eventually this leads to a threat to natural ecosystem.” He also noted once people start to occupy these regions, then they start to prioritise economic growth and end up destroying the regenerative power of land and sea.
Roggem said that all these increased the threat of climate change like rise of sea level, storms, hurricanes, floods and heavy rainfall. The professor stressed that one would have to assert that “parasitism has no place and natural sustainability is the key to urban development for preserving ecological balance”.
Meanwhile, KUFOS Founder Vice Chancellor and Organizing Chairman of the event B Madhusoodana Kurup said that there was a need for a paradigm shift in conservation ethics for preserving wetlands.
He also mentioned that wetlands are considered “kidneys of landscape” that ensures functioning of water cycle. He said that wetlands and peatlands store about 550Gt of carbon, which is double the amount stored in the world’s forests.
The conference is organized by CUSAT School of Industrial Fisheries and Department of Fisheries.
