Environmentalists and academics linked to ecological conservation movements are up in arms against the appointment of former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) S.C. Joshi as chairman of Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB).
They question the new chairman’s track record as head of the State’s forest force to argue that the appointment, allegedly done at the behest of an advisor to the Chief Minister, would only help further the onslaught on the State’s rich biodiversity.
Jananeethi, a people’s initiative for human rights chaired by Kusumam Joseph, State coordinator of the National Alliance of Peoples Movements led by Medha Patkar, wrote to Pinarayi Vijayan on October 3, urging him to revoke the appointment.
The rules related to the appointment stipulate that “the chairperson shall be an eminent person having adequate knowledge and experience in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and in matters relating to equitable sharing of the benefits”.
In its petition, Jananeethi, comprising green and rights activists, contended that Mr. Joshi’s appointment was “against the letter and spirit of the Biodiversity Act as his knowledge on access and benefit sharing is highly questionable and disputed… the board has to be chaired by a person who would ensure that the benefits are shared with indigenous communities, the real custodians of our biodiversity”.
Mr. Joshi, it maintained, carried the “legacy of the Forest Department’s militant approach to local communities” and the process of appointment lacked transparency and openness.
George D’Cruz, former programme coordinator at KSBB, who had done extensive field work between 2009 and 2011 to put together a Biodiversity Register, said the appointment smacked of the government’s interest in pursuing a stereotyped development pattern that went against the very grain of environment protection.
“The primary duty of KSBB is to protect our biodiversity. Equally important is its responsibility to ensure that the custodians of biodiversity get to share bio-resources utilisation. But the way this is interpreted and executed is deeply flawed, as we saw when the State Expert Appraisal Committee asked quarries to apportion their profit with the panchayat-level biodiversity management committees”.
Francis Xavier, proponent of the Thumboormuzhi composting model, said there should be a well laid- out selection procedure on the lines of the norms governing the appointment of the National Biodiversity Authority chairman for KSBB as well. “There was not even a search committee and it is all done arbitrarily,” he rued.
Ms. Joseph, who is currently taking part in the Western Ghats Raksha Yatra, said the government would revoke the appointment if it really cared for sustainable development, as said in the ruling Front’s election manifesto. She said Jananeethi would think of moving the court against the appointment. Mr. Joshi declined to officially comment on the controversy.