A 10 per cent rule for sustainable development, Pg11

Key Highlights:

• India's rapid infrastructure, renewable energy, and economic growth are impacting ecological security, particularly in forested regions and tiger habitats.
• The article proposes a "10 per cent rule" as a simple, credible benchmark for sustainable development.
• This rule suggests a policy pause if cumulative ecological costs exceed 10% of a landscape's total economic or ecological value.
• For fragile wildlife corridors, a more conservative threshold of 5-8% is recommended.
• The principle is rooted in Lindeman's 10 per cent Law of energy transfer in ecosystems.

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Detailed Insights:

• Current regulatory instruments like Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), forest clearances, and compensatory afforestation often lack clear decision thresholds.
• The concept of Green GDP, which adjusts economic output for environmental loss, also struggles with practical application.
• The "10 per cent rule" aims to provide a clear trigger for reassessing the scale, location, and design of development projects.
• It can be integrated into EIA processes, landscape-level planning for notified corridors, green accounting frameworks, and infrastructure design.
• Tiger landscapes are highlighted as particularly urgent due to their critical ecosystem services and tight ecological margins.
• Incremental pressures in these areas lead to human-wildlife conflict, habitat fragmentation, and stress on prey populations.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Lindeman's 10 per cent Law: An ecological principle stating that only about 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next in an ecosystem.
• Green GDP: An indicator of economic growth that accounts for the environmental consequences of that growth, such as resource depletion and pollution.
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): A process used to identify the environmental, social, and economic impacts of a project prior to decision-making.
• Global Tiger Forum: An intergovernmental international body established to promote tiger conservation.