Environmental Degradation
Psychological Perspectives

ENVIRONMENTAL degradation has been a global concern in recent years. Most of the environmental hazards are the outcome of human activities. It is, therefore, necessary to understand the human behavior patterns in the course of environmental degradation. Basically, researchers perceive environment in various modes. Psychologists consider environment in the context of surroundings. Accordingly, those scientists deal environment on the bases of physical, social and biological parameters respectively. Human beings represent as a part and parcel of the environment .The existence of man cannot be imagined without the environment. A harmonious relationship with environment may create psychological pleasure and satisfaction within individual. Psychologists observe environment from a global perspective and study how human lives are evolved and affected by the environment.

The environmental study covers a model of human nature in broad way as related to multidisciplinary focus. It explores such a divergent issues as common property resource management, the effect of environmental stress on human performance, the characteristics of restorative environments, human information processing, and the promotion of durable conservation behaviour. The environmental research has a close relationship with sociology, anthropology, biology and ecology. In the context of environmental conservation, Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), publishes journals including Environment and Behavior and the Journal of Environmental Psychology, and was reviewed several times in the Annual Review of Psychology.

Environment is a broad term .In a greater sense; it encompasses the entire cosmos, which include rivers, oceans, mountains, lands, forests, animal kingdoms etc. In psychology, environment represents wider fields of study. Basically, psychology deals environment in a macro approach. It is true that man is a prime source in establishing sound environment in this global world. As having met this challenge, environmental psychologists at present are indulging in diversified areas of research, that is, environment and stress, crowd behaviour, coping with earthquake, noise and environment, people and environment, environment and health, population growth and environment etc. Basically, people in developed and developing countries are differently aware and concerned on various environmental issues. Due to its vast covering areas of study, environmental psychology emerges as a separate discipline in understanding and offering solution for the environmental problems.

Human beings represent a highly sophisticated, delicate and intelligent creature in the this modern world. As a social animal, he or she interacts within environment successfully. Basically, human beings are the product of environment. A harmonious relationship and balance existed between mankind and its environment since time immemorial. But this balance has reached a critical point at the commencement of the 21st century. The delicate balance between living beings and the environment fast moving towards a breaking point. Today the environment has been polluted and nature is behaving irregularly.

The Nepalese people and HIS Majesty’s Government of Nepal have felt the importance of the conserving the forestry and agricultural sectors. So, the people are encouraged to implement preventive and rehabilitative measures for the conservation of forest, wild life, soil, and water through the implementation of inter alias, the Master Plan of Foresty Sector, the Agricultural perspective plan and the National Conservation. Nepal’s environmental problems in the rural and urban areas are of different nature. Fragile slopes, cultivation in the marginal land, and deforestation has accelerated soil erosion and landslide in the mountains, while riverbank cutting, sedimentation and forest encroachment are common in Terai areas. Human activities such as use of agro-chemicals, landfilling practices, and farming steep slopes resulted in the decline of production. In recognition of the existing environmental issues, His Majesty’s Government of Nepal has formulated policies, legislations, standards and guidelines, and implemented several activities since the beginning of planned economic development in the mid-1950s.

Recently, Tribhuvan University, Institute of Forestry has launched M. Sc. Forestry course in Pokhara. The institute has covered a multidimensional course of study pertaining to environmental conservation. Basically, when the students come to the field, it may certainly help the nation for building awareness in diversified areas like ecosystem approach to conservation, landslide and eco-region approach, eco-tourism and bio-diversity, community forestry ideology, energy conservation, alternative energy, environmental pollution, natural resources pollution, bio-geography of Nepal, and concepts of sustainable development.

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held the Earth Summit, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (June 3-4, 1992), to reconcile worldwide economic development with protection of the environment. The Earth Summit was the largest gathering of world leaders in history, with 117 heads of state and representatives of 178 nations the conference attending. By means of treaties and other documents signed at the conference, most of the world’s nation committed themselves to the pursuit of economic development in ways that would protect the Earth’s environment and nonrenewable resources.

Ecologically, many forms of noise in the urban environment, including traffic and airplane noise, industrial may contribute to hearing damage. Research on environmental stressors continues to receive attention. Noise, crowding, pollutants as well as natural and technological disasters have psycho- physiologic, health, and cognitive implications. The actual behaviors of people during emergencies have also provided critical insights into human behavior that inform emergency planning policies as well as the design of spaces to minimize harm when disasters do occur.

Environmental psychologists have planned series of studies to link environment like crowding and noise to human cognition. They have attempted to demonstrate the independent and combined effects of crowding and noise on cognitive task performance. In Nepalese context, researcher has highlighted noise level of 15 different locations in Kathmandu metropolis .The findings reveal–that monitoring of noise pollution produce in the metropolitan areas are essential for management and objective study .So the impact of noise on human health and behavior should be taught at school for raising the awareness of environmental pollution.

Environmental researcher highlights the role of chronic, economic and environmental strains as stressors in urban poor people. Chronic exposure to residential crowding is found to be associated with increased level of psychological distress. Environmental researches have stated that the less crowded residents in comparison to crowded residents express greater non- specific psychological distress. Human beings are subject to challenges posed by environment and react to environmental challenges in order to survive. Contemporary environmentalists recognize that physical surroundings are only part of a total environment that includes social and economic factors, cultural tradition, and reciprocal influences between societies and their environment. Especially, psychologist refers environment as a complex stimulus properties that are determined by the social surroundings. The person does not respond to an object in isolation. Psychologically, the behavior and experience of individuals can be understood and judged only through their reactions toward environment. Basically, the internal environment or the psychological environment of an individual influences his or her perception toward physical surroundings.

Thus, it can be easily observed that environment is more than just physical surroundings. In its totality it comprises of the whole set of natural and man made or socio- cultural systems in which man and other organisms live and interact together. The extent of human intervention has developed to a point where it has produced vast and disruptive changes in the environment. Deforestation, soil erosion, industrialization, urbanization, depletion of natural resources, extinction of several living species and growing pollution are some of the instances of environmental degradation leading to the present day environmental crises. Finally, psychological counseling, planning, resource allocations, response mechanisms, imparting educational awareness programmes and trainings are the basic strategies for coping with environmental degradation. Also in such burning problems, diversified fields of experts i.e. environmental psychologists, ecologists, sociologists, geologists, naturalists, geographers, legal experts and journalists must work jointly in resolving environmental issues.

Other Stories

• Vietnam Battles Copyright Piracy
• Fun In Politics