An Analysis Of Environmental Resources And Sustainability: Pathways To Resilience And Development With Special Reference To Sikkim
- IJLLR Journal
- 23 hours ago
- 2 min read
Dr. Sushma Sharma, Assistant Professor, Sikkim Government Law College, Gangtok, Sikkim
ABSTRACT
The growing pressure of modernization, population expansion, and technological advancement have significantly increased the demand for environmental resources, posing serious challenges to environmental sustainability. This rising threat to the environmental resources to meet the demands of the society and also to preserve it for the generations to come is a serious concern. This thought has put across globally at the international level, national level and also at the local level. Environmental resources include – forests, water, soils, biodiversity and the clean air. The sustainable use of environmental resources means utilizing them in a manner that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. The state like Sikkim which is unique due to its ecological fragility, steep slopes, climate change impacts and socio-economic development pressure.
By aligning forest conservation, organic farming, water resource management, and eco-tourism, the state has created a multi-pronged strategy for sustainable development. There have been ongoing challenges around climate change risk, enforcement, livelihoods and scaling remain. The sustainable use of environmental resources here is not only about conservation but also about equitable access, community benefits and ensuring ecological resilience in the face of change.
This paper aims to focus on “how are environmental resources being utilised and managed to ensure their sustainable use in the face of ecological fragility and socio- economic developmental pressure? It also analyse the laws and policies of India to promote sustainable use of biological resources? This paper also ponders upon the community- based traditional practices prevalent especially in the State of Sikkim to sustainable resource management? Sikkim can be a model state to all other Himalayan region globally for sustainable practices in Sikkim that helps in maintaining sustainability in eco-sensitive zone. Understanding these dynamics will help in coining policies and legal framework for formulating stronger policies, use of traditional knowledge and community participation.
Keywords: environment, resources, protection and sustainability.
