NatureNews
NatureNews for the week ending August 03, 2007. To subscribe to NatureNews, please write to Library.
Environment - General
Bid to raise awareness about natural heritage sites
While the country has added many built heritage sites to the World Heritage List over the years, the five natural sites that are on the UNESCO World Heritage List seem to have been left out of the limelight. In an effort to raise public awareness, build capacity and strengthen conservation strategies, UNESCO held a one-day workshop to launch its World Heritage Biodiversity Programme. The programme will be implemented at four natural World Heritage Sites in India -- Kaziranga and Manas in Assam, Keoladeo in Rajasthan, and Nanda Devi in Uttaranchal. With these sites home to rare animals from rhinoceroses to birds, the programme will give the staff on the ground training as well as access to research facilities. Working together in close collaboration with the Government and other stakeholders, the aim is to come up with effective management plans for these critical eco-systems. For more: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/27/stories/2007072757490400.htm
Conservationists throng virtual world to find solutions to environment woes
Environmental conservationists and activists are now thronging the virtual world to find solutions to newer ways of making our cities a better place. As more and more Internet sites launch discussion forums, in which netizens can start threads dealing with various issues, some have started forums where people can discuss wildlife and nature. These groups seem to have now diversified from discussing sightings of migratory birds to setting up initiatives that tackle disposal of waste at a local level. One such group is the Garbyhog homebuilders club. The word “Garbyhog” denotes worms that devour garbage and turn it into valuable compost. Eight members in the group discuss the ways in which ‘garbage littered on the roads’ is causing problems and how it can be safely disposed. For more: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=247504
Climate Change & Energy
Beware Melting Glaciers This Century
Don't worry too much, for now, about rising seas caused by melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica. The big threat this century could come from small thawing glaciers, researchers reported. Even though these glaciers contain only one percent of the water tied up in the great ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland, they could account for 60 percent of an anticipated rise in the world's sea level by the year 2100. Sea-level rise is seen a key consequence of global warming, and much of the concern has focused on the big ice sheets that contain the vast majority of the world's ice. Researchers writing in the online journal Science Express estimate melting glaciers, which are located all over the globe including in the tropics, could add between 4 and 10 inches to world sea level this century. While this may not sound like much, consider that some 100 million people live within 3.3 vertical feet of sea level, said Mark Meier of the University of Colorado-Boulder, a lead author of the study. For more: http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/43189/story.htm
New supercomputer to track climate change
India got its first supercomputer during Rajiv Gandhi’s time in Mausam Bhawan for weather forecasting. Three decades later, with that becoming outdated, plans are afoot to buy another one for helping gauge impact of climate change. This would be a machine that will simulate changes in water, temperature and rainfall for the next 100 years by solving more than 10 million equations in a few seconds. A meeting was organised by R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Prime Minister, to finalise a national plan for adapting to climate change. One of the things that the PSA proposed was buying or building a supercomputer to help India make more informed decisions. As India sets out to draw its first roadmap to combat impacts of this change, large holes in India-specific data on impact of climate change is obvious. Current model simulations give one degree latitude and one degree longitude, which are too coarse for planning. This idea was proposed in the first meeting of the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/207085.html
Experts seek central research to coordinate work on glaciers
With the government indicating that it will increase investment in research on Himalayan glaciers, scientists are keen to see some sort of a central body which could co-ordinate and guide work on the issue of climate change and its impact on glaciers. Syed Iqbal Hasnain, a renowned glaciologist, now with the Centre for Policy Research, said, "Our data is very sporadic and our efforts are scattered at the moment. There are several institutions which are working from their end on the issue but we need a cumulative effort to understand the implications of climate change on a large system of more than 5,000 glaciers." At present, research by glacier experts has been conducted only in the Western Himalayas. The Eastern Himalayas have been neglected. J S Parihar of the Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, says, "There is no particular reason why everyone has focused on Western Himalayas; we had to start somewhere." For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Experts_
seek_central_research_to_coordinate_work_on_glaciers
/articleshow/2241348.cms
Pollution threatens Himalayan glaciers
It is not just the growing levels of greenhouse gases and the resultant global warming that are threatening the Himalayan glaciers. Research to be published in the forthcoming issue of Nature indicates that large clouds of pollution which hang over south and east Asia could be contributing as much as the recent increases in greenhouse gases to the heating of the lower atmosphere. Their combined effect could be warming the lower atmosphere in the region by as much as 0.25 degrees Celsius per decade, which “may be sufficient to account for the observed retreat of the Himalayan glaciers,” noted a team of scientists led by V. Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, California. Such warming held “substantial implications for the elevated region of the Himalaya, where observed warming of 0.15-0.3 degrees Celsius during the past several decades has led to the rapid reduction of glacier mass,” said Peter Pilewskie of the University of Colorado at Boulder, U.S., in a commentary published in the same issue of the journal. For more: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/02/stories/2007080254261300.htm
Marine & Oceans
All about algae and hot air
A small California company is planning to mix up to 80 tonnes of iron particles into the Pacific Ocean 350 miles west of the Galapagos islands to see whether it can make a splash in the markets where people seek to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. Planktos — with 24 employees, a website and virtually no revenue — has raised money to send a 115-ft boat called the Weatherbird II on a voyage to stimulate the growth of plankton that could boost the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the air. The company plans to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide captured and sell it on the nascent carbon-trading markets. The boat is still in Florida, but the plan has already stirred the waters in Washington. Environmental groups say the Planktos project could have unforeseen side effects, and the Environmental Protection Agency has warned that the action may be subject to regulation under the Ocean Dumping Act. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/206319.html
Tata Port Imperils Orissa Coast
It’s an assault of steel on the fragile life of the sea. Tata Steel’s mega port coming up at Dhamra in Orissa’s Bhadrakh district, a 50-50 Joint Venture with the Larsen & Toubro group, is located less than five kilometres from the Bhitarkanika Sanctuary (a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance and a World Heritage Site) and less than 15 kilometres from the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, the world’s largest nesting ground for the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles. The port, which will be one of the largest in South Asia, is central to Tata Steel’s growth plans in eastern India, conferring significant cost advantages in terms of import of coking coal and export of ore and finished products. A biodiversity assessment commissioned by Greenpeace India and carried out by the North Orissa University under Dr SK Dutta, the head of the Zoology department, released its report in Mumbai on June 8, World Oceans Day, throwing up new evidence of the ecological diversity in the region. The study reported a significant horseshoe crab population, “living fossils” much valued for the copper compound in their blood that has applications in the pharmaceutical industry. Speaking at the release of the report, Dr Dutta said, “We have also made two exciting discoveries on the port site itself: the rare Crab-eating Frog, which has been recorded for the first time in mainland India, and the White-bellied mangrove snake, which has been reported only once before in the Sundarbans.” For more: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main33.asp?filename=Ne040807tata_port.asp
Forest & Biodiversity
China's key role in forest protection
China is playing its part in the conservation of the world's forests through the recycling of wastepaper, officials said in Beijing. "China imports tons of wastepaper each year to be used for paper-making and paperboard products," Zhu Lieke, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, said. The country also produces many packaging materials to be used at home and abroad. In this way, China has made "a supreme" contribution to global timber conservation, Zhu said at a news conference. Zhu appealed to the media to pay equal attention to China's wastepaper processing, as it does to the country's timber imports. A recent report by Forest Trends, a leading international forestry organization, said that from an environmental perspective, China's increasing demand for wastepaper has prevented an extra 65 million tons of wastepaper from heading to landfills in the United States, Japan and Europe in the past four years. For more: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-07/18/content_5438168.htm
Pollution & Toxics
NGO wants Gujarat Govt to explain 'hurried sale' of Blue Lady oil
The Indian Platform on Ship Breaking has expressed concern over the alleged disposal in a hurry of the toxic waste and oil carried by the ship, Blue Lady (SS Norway), and demanded that the Gujarat Pollution Control Board and Gujarat Maritime Board explain the reason for the sale. The oil has been sold in the market without the Supreme Court's permission, it said here, pointing out that the apex Court, which heard the Blue Lady (SS Norway) matter on July 26, had taken notice of illegal sale of the ship's oil. It asked the Gujarat Pollution Control Board to submit its affidavit. In the last order, the petitioner's lawyer had pointed out that the oil lying on the ship is safer than its presence on the shore since taking it out would create complications due to prevalent illegal trade of waste oil etc. For more: http://www.newkerala.com/july.php?action=fullnews&id
=50380
Wildlife & Endangered Species
Wildlife conservationists oppose tiger farms
Opposing legalising of trade in tiger parts as a measure to protect the endangered animal, wildlife conservationists claimed that it was the growing demand for tigers in China which had fuelled the decline of the species in India through poaching. "China has repeatedly said that it wants to open tiger trade and promote tiger farming," wildlife activist Belinda Wright said at the release of the report 'The roar of the tigers' by the WWF. She, however, asserted that this would not help in conserving the species as it was cheaper to poach tigers than rear them. For more: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200708031510.htm
`India may have just 1,500 tigers`
India may have just 1,300 to 1,500 tigers left -- less than half of the number believed to exist five years ago -- conservationists say. The final results of a state-by-state census are expected in December but at a conservation meeting, a noted Indian tiger expert put the number of the cats left in the country at 1,500 or fewer. "The indications are that the present tiger population in India is between 1,300 and 1,500," said conservationist Valmik Thapar in New Delhi. Thapar said both wildlife experts and government officials were in agreement on the figure, a sharp drop from the 3,700 tigers believed to live in India in 2002. An Indian government official at the meeting would only call the number an "indication." "It's a preliminary indication," Ravindra B. Lal, a senior wildlife official, said. "It cannot be called an official figure. The population estimation is still going on." Other wildlife experts, however, said the final figure from the new tally, which uses technology such as camera traps rather than relying on pug marks (paw prints) as past surveys did, was likely to be close to the one given by Thapar. "I'd give you the same figure," Ravi Singh, head of WWF India, said. "These are based on the government's estimates. You can attach a fair value to them. They are reasonably accurate." For more: http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=387009&ssid=26&ssname=Eco%20News&sid=ENV&sname=
Going all out to save tigers
An official census of tigers in central India presents disconcerting evidence that the big cat may have suffered a serious population decline in reserves where it was thought to be abundant. Project Tiger says the animal has disappeared from 80 districts over the past century and a half. Fragmentation of habitat and poaching are cited as the leading causes. These reports underline the fact that the conservation framework for this charismatic species has failed to produce e ffective outcomes, although India still remains the world’s best chance to preserve the animal in the wild in good numbers. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s call for time-bound action yields a measure of hope. He has emphasised the value of science in conservation and the need to strengthen the integrity of tiger reserves by making them truly inviolate. One of the first actions necessary to ease pressure on tiger habitats is a plan to reduce human-animal conflict. The Prime Minister has designated this as a high priority task and has specifically called for time-bound relocation of 270 villages situated in the critical core areas of sanctuaries. Many research studies show that the coexistence of tigers and humans in a narrow spatial sense is a recipe for conflict: it tends to result in attacks on people, the loss of livestock, and the tit-for-tat elimination of tigers. The only sustainable answer is a humane resettlement scheme. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/20/stories/2007072055531000.htm
Exclusive space for tigers soon
A new rehabilitation package for people to be relocated from tiger reserves and the guidelines for government to declare 'inviolate areas' — an exclusive area for the tigers free of human presence — are on the anvil. They will be hammered out at a two-day meeting organised by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) at Dehradun with the field directors of the 28 existing tiger reserves and the eight new ones proposed. NTCA has prepared the first draft guidelines for deciding what constitutes an 'inviolate area' as well as a draft proposal for relocation of people who could get displaced by the declaration of such spaces. The government has been keen to find a better rehabilitation package with much of earlier resettlement attempts failing miserably and creating friction between the local populace and the forest department. But this time, it will have to demarcate 'inviolate spaces' keeping in mind the recent amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act which makes a scientific demarcation of such spaces as mandatory before any further relocation is undertaken. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Exclusive_space_for_tigers_soon/
articleshow/2223886.cms
Corbett has highest tiger density: Study
Corbett National Park has been one of the most well-known tiger reserves in the country. A recent study indicates that the park now might also be the area with the highest tiger density in the world. A survey conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India across 200 sq km of the reserve yielded a count of 74 tigers — quite a high number for that small an area. Final figures of the countrywide survey are expected in October, and these will confirm whether Corbett indeed has the world's highest tiger density. Director of the reserve Rajiv Bhartari said that the new distinction poses greater challenges for the Corbett management. “The challenge has grown manifold. Now everyone knows how big the treasure is. It becomes that much more difficult to preserve that treasure,” Bhartari said. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/206758.html
This year, 10 rhinos killed in Kaziranga
Kaziranga National Park, recognised by UNESCO in 1985 as a world heritage site, has always been popular with tourists but this year, it's attracting a different kind of visitor. One motivated by greed instead of a love for wildlife. Lured by the huge price a rhinoceros horn commands in the clandestine international market, poachers have already killed 10 one-horned rhinos in the sanctuary this year. The latest incident - a case of pit poaching - has alarmed conservationists as it indicates a gang that has free run of the park. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/10_rhinos_killed_in_Kaziranga/
articleshow/2222214.cms
Kashmir goes digital to check shahtoosh trade
Authorities in Kashmir are using modern technology to check trade in shahtoosh products made from the fur of an endangered Tibetan antelope, officials said. Wildlife officials say they have put microchip tags on nearly 900 shahtoosh products owned by Kashmiris to discourage trading in the fabric known as the "king of wools" for its gossamer lightness. Tags "weighing less than a gram has been tagged to these shahtoosh products," wildlife warden Rashid Naqash told media. "The aim is to check shahtoosh trading in Kashmir." Trade in the luxurious shahtoosh shawls, sought by the wealthy as well as being a traditional dowry item in north India is outlawed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. India passed a ban in 1976 on shahtoosh made from the fur of the chiru, or the Tibetan antelope. Decades later in 2002, the government of Jammu and Kashmir followed suit under heavy pressure from environmentalists. For more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Cons_
Products/Garments__Textiles/Kashmir_goes_digital_to_check_
shahtoosh_trade/articleshow/2203630.cms
Poaching, Encroachment Threaten India's Leopards
India's leopards are under threat, with increasing numbers of the wild cats being poached for their body parts and villagers killing them for straying into human settlements, experts said. With tiger populations dwindling in recent years as a result of poaching, wildlife officials say hunters have increasingly set their sights on leopards, killing them for their skins as well as bones, claws and penises for use in traditional Asian medicines. Depletion of their habitat has also threatened the leopards, forcing them to stray into human settlements -- attacking people and cattle -- and often getting killed in return. For more: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSDEL26157020070730
Birds
Feathered friends
More than 250 Darters out of the 4,000 left in the world are breeding in a single village in Kerala, thanks to many community initiatives. For decades, Aloor village in Thrissur district of Kerala has been a breeding ground for many avian species, but never Darters. It was only in 1999 that six nests of Oriental Darters were seen in the village for the first time . This number increased to 30 by 2005 and has been rapidly increasing since then. So much so, these near cousins of Cormorants, which were seen breeding earlier for only three months in the village are now doing so for nine months, from April to December. For more: http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/07/22/stories/2007072250120700.htm
EVENTS
Third International Conference On Water And Climate; 3 - 6 September 2007; Helsinki, Finland; http://www.ymparisto.fi/default.asp?contentid=169172&lan=en
WETPOL 2007 – 2ND International Symposium On Wetland Pollutant Dynamics And Control; 16 - 20 September 2007; Tartu, Estonia; http://www.geo.ut.ee/wetpol2007
Nineteenth Meeting Of The Parties To The Montreal Protocol; 17 - 21 September 2007; Montréal, Canada; http://ozone.unep.org/Events/19mop_advance_info.shtml
Climate Change: Science, Politics And The Management Of Uncertainty; 17 - 23 September 2007; Merton College, Oxford, United Kingdom; http://www.21stcenturytrust.org/2007.html#1
United Nations High Level Ministerial Meeting On Climate Change; 24 September 2007; UN HQ, New York, USA; http://www.un.org/ga/61/International
Conference On The Future Of Forests In Asia And The Pacific: Outlook For 2020; 16 - 18 October 2007; Chiang Mai, Thailand; http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/33592/en/
27TH Session Of The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change; 12 - 16 November 2007; Valencia, Spain; http://www.ipcc.ch/
Bid to raise awareness about natural heritage sites
While the country has added many built heritage sites to the World Heritage List over the years, the five natural sites that are on the UNESCO World Heritage List seem to have been left out of the limelight. In an effort to raise public awareness, build capacity and strengthen conservation strategies, UNESCO held a one-day workshop to launch its World Heritage Biodiversity Programme. The programme will be implemented at four natural World Heritage Sites in India -- Kaziranga and Manas in Assam, Keoladeo in Rajasthan, and Nanda Devi in Uttaranchal. With these sites home to rare animals from rhinoceroses to birds, the programme will give the staff on the ground training as well as access to research facilities. Working together in close collaboration with the Government and other stakeholders, the aim is to come up with effective management plans for these critical eco-systems. For more: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/27/stories/2007072757490400.htm
Conservationists throng virtual world to find solutions to environment woes
Environmental conservationists and activists are now thronging the virtual world to find solutions to newer ways of making our cities a better place. As more and more Internet sites launch discussion forums, in which netizens can start threads dealing with various issues, some have started forums where people can discuss wildlife and nature. These groups seem to have now diversified from discussing sightings of migratory birds to setting up initiatives that tackle disposal of waste at a local level. One such group is the Garbyhog homebuilders club. The word “Garbyhog” denotes worms that devour garbage and turn it into valuable compost. Eight members in the group discuss the ways in which ‘garbage littered on the roads’ is causing problems and how it can be safely disposed. For more: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=247504
Climate Change & Energy
Beware Melting Glaciers This Century
Don't worry too much, for now, about rising seas caused by melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica. The big threat this century could come from small thawing glaciers, researchers reported. Even though these glaciers contain only one percent of the water tied up in the great ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland, they could account for 60 percent of an anticipated rise in the world's sea level by the year 2100. Sea-level rise is seen a key consequence of global warming, and much of the concern has focused on the big ice sheets that contain the vast majority of the world's ice. Researchers writing in the online journal Science Express estimate melting glaciers, which are located all over the globe including in the tropics, could add between 4 and 10 inches to world sea level this century. While this may not sound like much, consider that some 100 million people live within 3.3 vertical feet of sea level, said Mark Meier of the University of Colorado-Boulder, a lead author of the study. For more: http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/43189/story.htm
New supercomputer to track climate change
India got its first supercomputer during Rajiv Gandhi’s time in Mausam Bhawan for weather forecasting. Three decades later, with that becoming outdated, plans are afoot to buy another one for helping gauge impact of climate change. This would be a machine that will simulate changes in water, temperature and rainfall for the next 100 years by solving more than 10 million equations in a few seconds. A meeting was organised by R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Prime Minister, to finalise a national plan for adapting to climate change. One of the things that the PSA proposed was buying or building a supercomputer to help India make more informed decisions. As India sets out to draw its first roadmap to combat impacts of this change, large holes in India-specific data on impact of climate change is obvious. Current model simulations give one degree latitude and one degree longitude, which are too coarse for planning. This idea was proposed in the first meeting of the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/207085.html
Experts seek central research to coordinate work on glaciers
With the government indicating that it will increase investment in research on Himalayan glaciers, scientists are keen to see some sort of a central body which could co-ordinate and guide work on the issue of climate change and its impact on glaciers. Syed Iqbal Hasnain, a renowned glaciologist, now with the Centre for Policy Research, said, "Our data is very sporadic and our efforts are scattered at the moment. There are several institutions which are working from their end on the issue but we need a cumulative effort to understand the implications of climate change on a large system of more than 5,000 glaciers." At present, research by glacier experts has been conducted only in the Western Himalayas. The Eastern Himalayas have been neglected. J S Parihar of the Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, says, "There is no particular reason why everyone has focused on Western Himalayas; we had to start somewhere." For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Experts_
seek_central_research_to_coordinate_work_on_glaciers
/articleshow/2241348.cms
Pollution threatens Himalayan glaciers
It is not just the growing levels of greenhouse gases and the resultant global warming that are threatening the Himalayan glaciers. Research to be published in the forthcoming issue of Nature indicates that large clouds of pollution which hang over south and east Asia could be contributing as much as the recent increases in greenhouse gases to the heating of the lower atmosphere. Their combined effect could be warming the lower atmosphere in the region by as much as 0.25 degrees Celsius per decade, which “may be sufficient to account for the observed retreat of the Himalayan glaciers,” noted a team of scientists led by V. Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, California. Such warming held “substantial implications for the elevated region of the Himalaya, where observed warming of 0.15-0.3 degrees Celsius during the past several decades has led to the rapid reduction of glacier mass,” said Peter Pilewskie of the University of Colorado at Boulder, U.S., in a commentary published in the same issue of the journal. For more: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/02/stories/2007080254261300.htm
Marine & Oceans
All about algae and hot air
A small California company is planning to mix up to 80 tonnes of iron particles into the Pacific Ocean 350 miles west of the Galapagos islands to see whether it can make a splash in the markets where people seek to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. Planktos — with 24 employees, a website and virtually no revenue — has raised money to send a 115-ft boat called the Weatherbird II on a voyage to stimulate the growth of plankton that could boost the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the air. The company plans to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide captured and sell it on the nascent carbon-trading markets. The boat is still in Florida, but the plan has already stirred the waters in Washington. Environmental groups say the Planktos project could have unforeseen side effects, and the Environmental Protection Agency has warned that the action may be subject to regulation under the Ocean Dumping Act. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/206319.html
Tata Port Imperils Orissa Coast
It’s an assault of steel on the fragile life of the sea. Tata Steel’s mega port coming up at Dhamra in Orissa’s Bhadrakh district, a 50-50 Joint Venture with the Larsen & Toubro group, is located less than five kilometres from the Bhitarkanika Sanctuary (a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance and a World Heritage Site) and less than 15 kilometres from the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, the world’s largest nesting ground for the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles. The port, which will be one of the largest in South Asia, is central to Tata Steel’s growth plans in eastern India, conferring significant cost advantages in terms of import of coking coal and export of ore and finished products. A biodiversity assessment commissioned by Greenpeace India and carried out by the North Orissa University under Dr SK Dutta, the head of the Zoology department, released its report in Mumbai on June 8, World Oceans Day, throwing up new evidence of the ecological diversity in the region. The study reported a significant horseshoe crab population, “living fossils” much valued for the copper compound in their blood that has applications in the pharmaceutical industry. Speaking at the release of the report, Dr Dutta said, “We have also made two exciting discoveries on the port site itself: the rare Crab-eating Frog, which has been recorded for the first time in mainland India, and the White-bellied mangrove snake, which has been reported only once before in the Sundarbans.” For more: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main33.asp?filename=Ne040807tata_port.asp
Forest & Biodiversity
China's key role in forest protection
China is playing its part in the conservation of the world's forests through the recycling of wastepaper, officials said in Beijing. "China imports tons of wastepaper each year to be used for paper-making and paperboard products," Zhu Lieke, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, said. The country also produces many packaging materials to be used at home and abroad. In this way, China has made "a supreme" contribution to global timber conservation, Zhu said at a news conference. Zhu appealed to the media to pay equal attention to China's wastepaper processing, as it does to the country's timber imports. A recent report by Forest Trends, a leading international forestry organization, said that from an environmental perspective, China's increasing demand for wastepaper has prevented an extra 65 million tons of wastepaper from heading to landfills in the United States, Japan and Europe in the past four years. For more: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-07/18/content_5438168.htm
Pollution & Toxics
NGO wants Gujarat Govt to explain 'hurried sale' of Blue Lady oil
The Indian Platform on Ship Breaking has expressed concern over the alleged disposal in a hurry of the toxic waste and oil carried by the ship, Blue Lady (SS Norway), and demanded that the Gujarat Pollution Control Board and Gujarat Maritime Board explain the reason for the sale. The oil has been sold in the market without the Supreme Court's permission, it said here, pointing out that the apex Court, which heard the Blue Lady (SS Norway) matter on July 26, had taken notice of illegal sale of the ship's oil. It asked the Gujarat Pollution Control Board to submit its affidavit. In the last order, the petitioner's lawyer had pointed out that the oil lying on the ship is safer than its presence on the shore since taking it out would create complications due to prevalent illegal trade of waste oil etc. For more: http://www.newkerala.com/july.php?action=fullnews&id
=50380
Wildlife & Endangered Species
Wildlife conservationists oppose tiger farms
Opposing legalising of trade in tiger parts as a measure to protect the endangered animal, wildlife conservationists claimed that it was the growing demand for tigers in China which had fuelled the decline of the species in India through poaching. "China has repeatedly said that it wants to open tiger trade and promote tiger farming," wildlife activist Belinda Wright said at the release of the report 'The roar of the tigers' by the WWF. She, however, asserted that this would not help in conserving the species as it was cheaper to poach tigers than rear them. For more: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200708031510.htm
`India may have just 1,500 tigers`
India may have just 1,300 to 1,500 tigers left -- less than half of the number believed to exist five years ago -- conservationists say. The final results of a state-by-state census are expected in December but at a conservation meeting, a noted Indian tiger expert put the number of the cats left in the country at 1,500 or fewer. "The indications are that the present tiger population in India is between 1,300 and 1,500," said conservationist Valmik Thapar in New Delhi. Thapar said both wildlife experts and government officials were in agreement on the figure, a sharp drop from the 3,700 tigers believed to live in India in 2002. An Indian government official at the meeting would only call the number an "indication." "It's a preliminary indication," Ravindra B. Lal, a senior wildlife official, said. "It cannot be called an official figure. The population estimation is still going on." Other wildlife experts, however, said the final figure from the new tally, which uses technology such as camera traps rather than relying on pug marks (paw prints) as past surveys did, was likely to be close to the one given by Thapar. "I'd give you the same figure," Ravi Singh, head of WWF India, said. "These are based on the government's estimates. You can attach a fair value to them. They are reasonably accurate." For more: http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=387009&ssid=26&ssname=Eco%20News&sid=ENV&sname=
Going all out to save tigers
An official census of tigers in central India presents disconcerting evidence that the big cat may have suffered a serious population decline in reserves where it was thought to be abundant. Project Tiger says the animal has disappeared from 80 districts over the past century and a half. Fragmentation of habitat and poaching are cited as the leading causes. These reports underline the fact that the conservation framework for this charismatic species has failed to produce e ffective outcomes, although India still remains the world’s best chance to preserve the animal in the wild in good numbers. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s call for time-bound action yields a measure of hope. He has emphasised the value of science in conservation and the need to strengthen the integrity of tiger reserves by making them truly inviolate. One of the first actions necessary to ease pressure on tiger habitats is a plan to reduce human-animal conflict. The Prime Minister has designated this as a high priority task and has specifically called for time-bound relocation of 270 villages situated in the critical core areas of sanctuaries. Many research studies show that the coexistence of tigers and humans in a narrow spatial sense is a recipe for conflict: it tends to result in attacks on people, the loss of livestock, and the tit-for-tat elimination of tigers. The only sustainable answer is a humane resettlement scheme. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/20/stories/2007072055531000.htm
Exclusive space for tigers soon
A new rehabilitation package for people to be relocated from tiger reserves and the guidelines for government to declare 'inviolate areas' — an exclusive area for the tigers free of human presence — are on the anvil. They will be hammered out at a two-day meeting organised by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) at Dehradun with the field directors of the 28 existing tiger reserves and the eight new ones proposed. NTCA has prepared the first draft guidelines for deciding what constitutes an 'inviolate area' as well as a draft proposal for relocation of people who could get displaced by the declaration of such spaces. The government has been keen to find a better rehabilitation package with much of earlier resettlement attempts failing miserably and creating friction between the local populace and the forest department. But this time, it will have to demarcate 'inviolate spaces' keeping in mind the recent amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act which makes a scientific demarcation of such spaces as mandatory before any further relocation is undertaken. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Exclusive_space_for_tigers_soon/
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Corbett has highest tiger density: Study
Corbett National Park has been one of the most well-known tiger reserves in the country. A recent study indicates that the park now might also be the area with the highest tiger density in the world. A survey conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India across 200 sq km of the reserve yielded a count of 74 tigers — quite a high number for that small an area. Final figures of the countrywide survey are expected in October, and these will confirm whether Corbett indeed has the world's highest tiger density. Director of the reserve Rajiv Bhartari said that the new distinction poses greater challenges for the Corbett management. “The challenge has grown manifold. Now everyone knows how big the treasure is. It becomes that much more difficult to preserve that treasure,” Bhartari said. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/206758.html
This year, 10 rhinos killed in Kaziranga
Kaziranga National Park, recognised by UNESCO in 1985 as a world heritage site, has always been popular with tourists but this year, it's attracting a different kind of visitor. One motivated by greed instead of a love for wildlife. Lured by the huge price a rhinoceros horn commands in the clandestine international market, poachers have already killed 10 one-horned rhinos in the sanctuary this year. The latest incident - a case of pit poaching - has alarmed conservationists as it indicates a gang that has free run of the park. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/10_rhinos_killed_in_Kaziranga/
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Kashmir goes digital to check shahtoosh trade
Authorities in Kashmir are using modern technology to check trade in shahtoosh products made from the fur of an endangered Tibetan antelope, officials said. Wildlife officials say they have put microchip tags on nearly 900 shahtoosh products owned by Kashmiris to discourage trading in the fabric known as the "king of wools" for its gossamer lightness. Tags "weighing less than a gram has been tagged to these shahtoosh products," wildlife warden Rashid Naqash told media. "The aim is to check shahtoosh trading in Kashmir." Trade in the luxurious shahtoosh shawls, sought by the wealthy as well as being a traditional dowry item in north India is outlawed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. India passed a ban in 1976 on shahtoosh made from the fur of the chiru, or the Tibetan antelope. Decades later in 2002, the government of Jammu and Kashmir followed suit under heavy pressure from environmentalists. For more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Cons_
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Poaching, Encroachment Threaten India's Leopards
India's leopards are under threat, with increasing numbers of the wild cats being poached for their body parts and villagers killing them for straying into human settlements, experts said. With tiger populations dwindling in recent years as a result of poaching, wildlife officials say hunters have increasingly set their sights on leopards, killing them for their skins as well as bones, claws and penises for use in traditional Asian medicines. Depletion of their habitat has also threatened the leopards, forcing them to stray into human settlements -- attacking people and cattle -- and often getting killed in return. For more: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSDEL26157020070730
Birds
Feathered friends
More than 250 Darters out of the 4,000 left in the world are breeding in a single village in Kerala, thanks to many community initiatives. For decades, Aloor village in Thrissur district of Kerala has been a breeding ground for many avian species, but never Darters. It was only in 1999 that six nests of Oriental Darters were seen in the village for the first time . This number increased to 30 by 2005 and has been rapidly increasing since then. So much so, these near cousins of Cormorants, which were seen breeding earlier for only three months in the village are now doing so for nine months, from April to December. For more: http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/07/22/stories/2007072250120700.htm
EVENTS
Third International Conference On Water And Climate; 3 - 6 September 2007; Helsinki, Finland; http://www.ymparisto.fi/default.asp?contentid=169172&lan=en
WETPOL 2007 – 2ND International Symposium On Wetland Pollutant Dynamics And Control; 16 - 20 September 2007; Tartu, Estonia; http://www.geo.ut.ee/wetpol2007
Nineteenth Meeting Of The Parties To The Montreal Protocol; 17 - 21 September 2007; Montréal, Canada; http://ozone.unep.org/Events/19mop_advance_info.shtml
Climate Change: Science, Politics And The Management Of Uncertainty; 17 - 23 September 2007; Merton College, Oxford, United Kingdom; http://www.21stcenturytrust.org/2007.html#1
United Nations High Level Ministerial Meeting On Climate Change; 24 September 2007; UN HQ, New York, USA; http://www.un.org/ga/61/International
Conference On The Future Of Forests In Asia And The Pacific: Outlook For 2020; 16 - 18 October 2007; Chiang Mai, Thailand; http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/33592/en/
27TH Session Of The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change; 12 - 16 November 2007; Valencia, Spain; http://www.ipcc.ch/
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