A time-bound plan to phase out hazardous chemical pesticides in Kerala, shift to safer agricultural practices and mission-mode programs for paddy and plantation revival, climate mitigation and river management have been proposed in a citizen environmental charter prepared by the Kerala Paristhithi Aikya Vedi, a collective of environmental organizations and civil society groups.
The ‘Green Manifesto’ titled ‘From Forest to Sea: Environmental Policy Framework for Kerala’ was released by senior journalist MG Radhakrishnan and the first copy was received by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president PC Vishnunadh and former agriculture minister and senior CPI leader Mullakkara Ratnakaran at a function held in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
The charter, which is gaining ground ahead of upcoming parliamentary polls, calls for the integration of environmental aspects into planning, budgeting, infrastructure design, agriculture, industry and urban development.
One of the key proposals is the creation of a Kerala Climate Action and Resilience Mission to coordinate climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts across ministries. The mission should integrate climate issues into development planning and help align policies on agriculture, infrastructure, energy, land use and disaster management.
In the agricultural sector, the charter recommends the gradual phasing out of dangerous chemical pesticides and, at the same time, the expansion of ecological and organic farming practices. Another major proposal is to launch a nationwide rice paddy restoration mission to restore abandoned paddy fields and bring them back into cultivation. The document highlights that the decline in rice cultivation has weakened food security, disrupted natural water management systems and reduced the extent of wetlands that help regulate floods.
It also recommends a plantation revitalization and diversification mission aimed at supporting plantation areas to adopt diversified cropping systems that enhance ecological stability and rural livelihoods.
The manifesto places great emphasis on forest restoration and biodiversity conservation in the Western Ghats and proposes a State Mission for the removal of invasive species and restoration of forest ecosystems to rehabilitate the degraded forest landscape. It also highlights the importance of legal security and restoration of wildlife corridors, especially key corridors in Kerala that connect fragmented forest habitats.
The Manifesto recognizes the importance of integrated water management and proposes the establishment of a Kerala River Basin and Water Systems Mission to coordinate management of rivers, floodplains and drainage networks at the basin scale. The framework also calls for the restoration of degraded natural drainage channels, mountain streams and riverbanks.
A Kerala Wetland Mission has been proposed to coordinate the mapping, legal protection and restoration of wetlands and floodplains across the state.
Given Kerala’s long coastline and vulnerability to sea level rise and erosion, the charter recommends the creation of the Kerala Coastal and Marine Resilience Mission. The initiative should focus on protecting estuaries, backwaters, coastal wetlands, sand dunes and marine ecosystems that support fisheries and coastal livelihoods.
The paper also calls for expanding mangrove conservation through the Kerala Mangrove Mission, which aims to restore and protect mangrove ecosystems as natural buffers against storms and coastal flooding.
The Charter further proposes the establishment of a State Land Management Reform Commission to review and harmonize existing laws relating to land use, environmental planning and planning permission.
Tribal poet Sukumaran Chaligadda and environmentalists N. Badusha, Sridhar Radhakrishnan, Veena Maruthoor, MJ Babu and S. Usha also spoke.
Published – 11 March 2026 20:23 IST
