Forests play key role, help avoid calamities: Activist

NAGPUR: Forests should be saved at any cost as they protect the mankind from natural calamities like floods and reduce soil erosion by regulating the flow of water, said noted environmentalist and artist Manohar Sapre on Friday.
He was replying to the felicitation after receiving the late Uttamrao Patil Smruti Van Samvardhan Puraskar conferred by Vanarai Foundation for his contribution to protection of forests at a programme held at Dhanwate Sabhagruh, Shankar Nagar.
Vanarai trustee Girish Gandhi, writer Suresh Dwadashiwar and social worker Ajay Patil were present.
Sapre, a multifaceted personality from Chandrapur, who is a writer and a cartoonist too, said, “Adequate forest cover ensures sustainable and safe environment. A thick forest cover helps in increasing air humidity which results into better rainfall.”
Touching upon the sensitive issue of tiger protection, he said forest fragments are surrounded by human population which is growing rapidly. Poachers roaming around exploit the situation that deforestation brings along and kill animals. Tigers will not survive without wilderness, he added.
Explosive growth in Asia’s population demands that more and more land should be brought under agriculture to maintain ecosystem, he said.
Sapre had a word of praise for Vanarai when he said the organization focuses on conservation of nature and is doing its best to reduce threats to biodiversity. The main area of concern of deforestation is in forests itself as it is home to biodiversity. Forest conservation programmes undertaken by Vanarai are based on scientific methods, he said.
Commenting on his artistic journey spanning over decades, Sapre said ideas, sense of humour and ability to draw are the three characteristics of a cartoonist. Presence of these qualities can take artists to places, he added.
In his address, Gandhi said, combating the challenge of climate change through people’s movement and giving biodiversity a boost is the objective of Vanarai.
Speaking on the occasion, Patil said, “Mahatma Gandhi had once said that what we are doing to the forest of the world is nothing but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another. The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land as they help in purifying air.”
Patil shed light on Sapre’s works and the way he looks at life. “Unable to find a purpose in life and after quitting job, life took a complete turn for Sapre when he accidentally stumbled upon an amazing piece of wood that created a powerful image in his mind.
From thereon, Sapre created some unbelievable pieces of artefacts, inspired by nature, like ‘Not old age but gold age’, ‘Ganpati’ and ‘Enjoyment of liberation,” besides others, Patil added.