Farmers’ Perception towards Transformation of Rice-based Cropping System intoTea Garden

Transformation of agricultural lands into non-farm lands or plantations has got tremendousecological chaos and ripples. Northern part of West Bengal is undergoing rapid changes inrural areas where new opportunities are emerging in the form of demand-driven and market-driven agriculture. Due to persistent low returns from traditional rice cultivation, thetransformation of paddy fields into tea gardens has been a recent trend for this part ofWest Bengal. The present study has been conducted by selecting purposively three blocksfrom Alipurduar district and sixty respondents through random sampling, those who havealready transformed their crop field into tea gardens from these blocks. The farmers’perception towards transformation is taken as dependent variable along with a score offourteen independent variables. The responses are collected through a structured interviewschedule. The study envisaged that the farmers’ education level, number of family membersengaged in the garden, their economic motivation, sources of information, risk orientationbehaviour and distance from the tea processing factory showed significant contributiontowards the transformation behaviour. The future impact of such transformation on theecological dynamics in terms of livelihood, biodiversity restoration and ecological resiliencecan be brought under policy frameworks.

Rewetting does not return drained fen peatlands to their old selves

Peatlands have been drained for land use for a long time and on a large scale, turning them from carbon and nutrient sinks into respective sources, diminishing water regulation capacity, causing surface height loss and destroying biodiversity. Over the last decades, drained peatlands have been rewetted for biodiversity restoration and, as it strongly decreases greenhouse gas emissions, also for climate protection. We quantify restoration success by comparing 320 rewetted fen peatland sites to 243 near-natural peatland sites of similar origin across temperate Europe, all set into perspective by 10k additional European fen vegetation plots. Results imply that rewetting of drained fen peatlands induces the establishment of tall, graminoid wetland plants (helophytisation) and long-lasting differences to pre-drainage biodiversity (vegetation), ecosystem functioning (geochemistry, hydrology), and land cover characteristics (spectral temporal metrics). The Paris Agreement entails the rewetting of 500,000 km2 of drained peatlands worldwide until 2050-2070. A better understanding of the resulting locally novel ecosystems is required to improve planning and implementation of peatland rewetting and subsequent management.

ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY OF PANDEMIC AND POST-PANDEMIC ENVIRONMENTS

The modern fast-paced era, characterized by sudden changes in various processes, these changes can be both positive and negative. In this case we are dealing with a pandemic like COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world hard, shutting down giants, locking most of the world's population at homes, "resting the environment", people using less transport, reducing the atmosphere, emitting pollutants, diversifying, clearing the sky, clearing the water and oxygen-loving fauna has spread. The process of overcoming the coronavirus crisis is a chance to achieve a dual effect - to stimulate economies - to create new jobs and at the same time accelerate greenery - to start a new design and revitalize a sustainable, inclusive economy and industry, to maintain vital biodiversity and biodiversity 50-55% reduction compared to 1990 by 2030. The European Green Agreement investment plan covers areas such as: sustainable mobility, renewable energy, building renovation, research and innovation, biodiversity restoration, circular economics. The Green Pact is a guide to the right decisions to respond to the economic crisis and transform Europe into a sustainable and climate-neutral economy. The impact of the pandemic on the environment in particular the pandemic and post-pandemic environment is interesting. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world hard, shutting down giants, locking up most of the world's population in their homes, resting the environment, using less transport, reducing emissions, making the sky more diverse, brighter and more transparent. The water was purified, oxygen increased, and oxygen-loving fauna has spared; In the spring of 2020, the water in the canals of Venice became so rich in oxygen and transparent that fish appeared on the bottom, Pisces, it was in Italy that the quarantine rules were introduced, reduced the flow of tourists in accordance with its accompanying actions. The work of industrial enterprises in the world has decreased, the cessation of Chinese industry of the world's largest polluter has drastically breathed the environment, people have seen the clear sky. According to the Energy and Clean Air Research Center during the pandemic, CO2 emissions from air in China fell by 25% (from February 3 to March 1) due to anti-pandemic measures. , Reduce production volume and restrict transportation. It is known that 30% of world CO2 emissions come from China. The number of "clean days" has increased Humans rudely interfere with the functioning of the natural environment and often lead to imbalances and deteriorating environmental sustainability! Deforestation and wildfires, a clear example of which is the devastating forest fires in Brazil. (These forests accounted for 20% of the world's oxygen balance). The European Green Agreement investment plan covers areas such as: sustainable mobility, renewable energy, building renovation, research and innovation, biodiversity restoration, circular economy. The Green Agreement is a guide to the right decisions to respond to the economic crisis and transform Europe into a sustainable and climate-neutral economy; Georgia's post-crisis plan cannot ignore the Green Agreement and the fundamental principles of sustainable development cannot be abandoned and do not keep the pandemic of the period, the "calm of the environment", at least in part, the greatest opportunities for the production of green products. Local products increased in the markets, the population managed not only to provide for their own families, but also to bring the produced products to the market and to supplement the family budget, the population migrated from the cities to the regions, thus unloading the city and improving the environment. Thus, the post-pandemic period will not be so alarming for the environment, if there is a correct vision of the states and the provision of measures aimed at sustainable development and eco-peace. And at once the giants will not be heavily loaded "Green life" will become our everyday life.

THE LAW OF INTERMITTENT EVOLUTION AND SELF-HEALING OF THE LIVING NATURE OF EARTH

The living nature of the Earth has an amazing property: its evolution is intermittent, it develops in separate stages, with the mass destruction of a large part of wildlife at the end of each stage, and with the subsequent selfhealing of almost all biodiversity for hundreds of thousands or millions of years. Self-healing was due to the presence of an information base - preserved wildlife. Several major natural mass extinctions of animals and plants are known, apparently related to volcanism, space influences, etc. After mass extinctions inevitably followed periods of biodiversity restoration. This development is in line with the author's concept of branching development. Therefore, the tree of evolution is multi-tiered, step-by-step. Extinctions served as natural filters, stopping the development of unpromising species, and supporting the emergence and development of promising species. But the coming period of man-made extinction is fundamentally different from the previous ones in that there used to be a base for biodiversity restoration - natural nature. For the first time, large man-made changes in the Earth's landscapes occurred in the last 150 - 200 years, during the scientific - technological revolution; they're in a good place ...in the components of landscapes ((e.g., the vital composition of air, water, extreme foresting, the limit of the development of nature, etc.).