Toxic Culture

Toxic culture leads to destruction of ecosystem: Vandana Shiva

28 Dec, 2010 - Noted environmental and social activist Vandana Shiva today called for a nationwide ban on the pesticide endosulfan, which has caused serious health hazards in Kerala .

"Fortunately, we have a ban on the pesticide in Kerala. But there should be a nationwide ban on endosulfan," she said, inaugurating the first Biodiversity Congress here.

Shiva said a "toxic culture" was leading to "total destruction" of the ecosystem in the country. In Punjab, the number of cancer patients was going up with the increase in the use of pesticides in farms, she said.

"Biodiversity is not just about some plants. It is about the very web of life and about how ecosystems work. Biodiversity is the very foundation of an economy that is perennial," she said. {continued}