'sustainability'

of environmentalism is that they act from inside the matrix of capitalism. Capitalism, by its very nature, does not permit any radical reforms within its framework.

In his seminal essay on the nature of economics, British economist Lionel Charles Robbins wrote: "Economics is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses." This definition illustrates the flaws of economic libertarianism as well as indiscriminate environmentalism constrained by a capitalistic or progressive framework.

Unlike most other definitions, this succinct wording is both considered and categorical, without disregarding either anthropocentric purpose or obvious natural limitations. A potential way out may also be derived from the same.

It is important to acknowledge that natural, economic and mutual equilibria tend to restore themselves to a certain point but also evolve and are prone to spiraling out of control if disturbed or deteriorated beyond a certain threshold. Thus the top-down planning and enforcement approach that is typical of South Asian nations is ill-suited to the cause of sustainable development and instead, grassroots-based bottom-up planning and implementation should be the policy paradigm.

Take for instance the case of alienation of indigenous communities from protected and reserved areas. Indigenous communities have co-existed harmoniously with nature for an ecologically significant order of time, tens of thousands of years, more or less stably. Thus the equilibrium that existed before the advent of settled human life slowly and gradually evolved and shifted to attain stability incorporating the expanded influence and role of humans as its major component.

The activities of indigenous tribes became augmented as a part, and eventually an indispensable component, of the delicate ecological balance of the ecosystem they occupied.