This 5th June will be the 40th World Environment Day, marked by a world far removed from the hopeful, easy-on-commitment atmosphere of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm that inspired the ‘WED’ at its first anniversary. What we probably share is the irony — 1973 was also the year the human carbon footprint outran the earth’s resources for the first time. A few months after the first World Environment Day, Project Tiger was launched in India to save 1,700-odd big cats still surviving in the country. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, was already in place. After four decades, we still have 1,700 tigers in the wild. We failed to revive the population but succeeded in delaying what many feared was inevitable. No mean feat at a time when 150-200 species go extinct every 24 hours. Does that leave us satisfied? These 40 years have changed the world and its environment like never before in human history. Our population has nearly doubled but the growth rate has almost halved. The global poverty rates have fallen drastically but many indigenous communities have been driven to destitution. Should we worry or celebrate? Our needs have multiplied manifold. Global hunger for power will double by 2050 but India will hit the landmark 30 years earlier. So there is a blind rush for hydroelectricity and nuclear power. But nobody is investing in grid reforms to plug massive distribution losses. Are we surprised that our wastage is commensurate only with our growing demand? Growth, indeed, has been the unifying theme of these four decades. Undoubtedly, we have become more knowledgeable and have started asking more questions — many of those about our, and the planet’s future. We have framed excellent legislations and regulations. We have also developed an unblinking brazenness that helps us bypass our own rule of law. But after four decades of chasing growth in all spheres of life, there is no reason why we should be short on hope. So TEHELKA takes this opportunity to present a special issue bringing you up to speed with the key threats facing our environment, the status of our ecology, exploring how you can “go green” and stay practical, celebrating our well-camouflaged green warriors, and, a little more. From construction labour camps ruining the cold desert in Ladakh to the destruction of marine treasures in Tamil Nadu, and from weeds taking over natural forests in Rajasthan to the ruthless poaching syndicates of Nagaland, the cover story scans the country to flag the biggest threats to India’s green future. This special issue also focusses on issues as diverse as the air you breathe and the water you drink to the coastline you see and the snowline you don’t, from ushering in wilderness in your gated society to the next big swindle that is carbon trading. On the TEHELKA website, we take stock of our severely endangered species and the future that awaits them. It is easy to dismiss this attempt, even the occasion itself, as tokenism. But this is not a one-off show. Like our green crusaders, who smirk and sigh but stay the course nevertheless, TEHELKA has been investigating and writing about the issues that affect our environment and will keep the concerns shared in these pages alive through the year. This is an opportunity to renew that commitment and urge the reader to engage with us on that journey. Granted, the idiom of hope is clichéd. There is no denying that the green future of the country, and indeed the planet, does not seem too bright. But the past 40 years, and the many thousands of years before that, have, even if staidly, borne out that change is the only constant. If the world must change tomorrow, chances are it will change for the better. The choice is with each of us. Jay Mazoomdaar is an Independent Journalist. jaymazoomdaar@gmail.com