NatureNews

Environment - General

Increasing salinity impacts flora, fauna in Sunderban
Increasing salinity is severely affecting the flora and fauna of Sundarbans, the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world lying on the confluence of Ganga-Brahmaputra delta and Bay of Bengal. The Sundarbans was originally measured about 16,700 sq km, but now it has dwindled to two-third of its original size as accelerated salinity has led to disastrous consequences in several islands. It is facing threats predominantly from salinity as it apparently influences the regeneration density, which decreases with the increasing level of it due to the lean flows of rivers that fail to push out the saline sea water, according to the forest department officials. For more: http://www.sakaaltimes.com/2008/12/19115058/Increasing-salinity-impacts-fl.html

Climate Change & Energy

India to launch exclusive satellite for climate
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair has said that after the success of Chandrayaan 1, ISRO is going to launch an exclusive weather satellite jointly with the French space agency CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) in 2009. The satellite, named 'Mehga Tropiques' will study the tropical atmosphere and its associated phenomena and would help India and France to study the cyclones, monsoon and other changes. The Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) would be built and launched by ISRO and two instruments called SCARAB and SAPHIR would be built by the CNES. The other critical instrument called MADRAS will be jointly engineered by ISRO and CNES. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health__Science/Earth/Satellite_for_
climate/articleshow/3912700.cms

5% energy to come from renewable sources from 2009-10
Underlining the importance of electricity regulator in implementation of a national action plan on climate change, Pramod Deo, chairman of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), said that all power utilities in the country will have to buy at least five per cent of their grid purchase from renewable energy sources from 2009-10 onwards. The CERC will fix the dynamic minimum purchase standard for renewable energy which will help reduce emission from the electricity sector. "While the minimum purchase standard will be fixed, from 2009-10 onwards all electricity utilities in the country will have to buy renewable energy. There will be one per cent increase in the purchase of renewable energy for every year for the next 10 years," he said. Deo was speaking on National action plan on climate change and the role of electricity regulator to mark the fifth foundation day of Pune-based World Institute of Sustainable Energy (Wise). For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/5_energy_to_come_from_renewable
_sources_from_2009-10/articleshow/3915658.cms

Global warming affecting migratory birds, says Indian ornithologist
Indian ornithologist has said that global warming and the rising temperatures have brought about an imbalance in the timing of the winter arrival of migratory birds and the food stock available to them. World over experts have been saying that rising temperatures could wipe out more than half of the earth's species in the next few centuries, linking climate change to past mass extinctions. Unchecked climate change could force up to 72 per cent of bird species in some areas into extinction, but the world still has a chance to limit the losses, conservation group WWF said in a report. From migratory insect-eaters to tropical honeycreepers and cold-water penguins, birds are highly sensitive to changing weather conditions and many are already being adversely affected by global warming, the new study said. For more: http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-67089.html

Forestry & Biodiversity

Drug trade destroying forests in Peru
Drug traffickers have destroyed nearly two million hectares of forests in Peru in order to grow coca, the raw material for cocaine, quoting the country's Environment Minister Antonio Brack. "The traffickers invaded protected areas and cleared forests for land to grow coca," the minister said, adding that this activity has destroyed "nearly two million hectares of forest" in the country. Most of the damage has been done in the jungle regions of San Martin and Huanuco, and in the Valley of the Apurimac and Ene rivers, known as the VRAE region, according to the minister. "The illegal trade has had a very strong impact on the environment," Brack told the official Andina news agency. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health__Science/Earth/Drug_trade_
destroying_forests_in_Peru/articleshow/3907014.cms

Green cover may help Delhi strike it rich
That Delhi is one of the greenest capitals in India is well known. But the fact that its trees can earn the city serious money too, apart from cleaning its air, may come as a surprise. The Delhi Government has finalised its first proposal for a clean development mechanism (CDM) project, which will help the Capital earn carbon credits or carbon emission reductions (CERs). The Department of Environment has worked out a proposal according to which tens of thousands of trees will be planted in the Bhatti mines area to make them act as a carbon sink, or absorber. The afforestation, the project estimates, will earn credits equivalent to around eight lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide, over the next 30 years. One tonne of carbon dioxide equals to one carbon credit. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/green-cover-may-help-delhi-strike-it-rich/404076/

ATREE to the rescue of Western Ghats
To understand the rich biodiversity of the Western Ghats a Bangalore-based organisation, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), has been given the responsibility to profile the area under a five-year conservation project by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), an international organisation based in the United States of America. The Western Ghats are spread across the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The ranges in the state comprise the major portion of the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka hotspots', which is one of the 34 global biodiversity hotspots identified by conservation international. Almost nine per cent of the Ghats are protected', including various national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. "Under this project, ATREE will invite individuals and organisations to start researches and surveys funded and coordinated by the organisation. So, while ATREE will not have a direct role to play in the ground-level working, it will act as an umbrella under which the projects will proceed," said Bhaskar Acharya, project coordinator. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/ATREE_to_the_rescue_of_Western_
Ghats/articleshow/3853770.cms

Marine & Oceans

Gujarat to launch whale shark watching project to attract tourists
Tourists visiting Gujarat will now get a chance to watch whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in their natural habitat near Saurashtra coast, with the "Whale Shark Watching Tourism" being launched in the state. The state Forest Department will also be celebrating the Whale Shark Day in Porbandar every year. This year it is being celebrated on the day of the launch of the project. "We will also be sending a proposal to the Government to invite private parties to participate in the project. The department has already sent feelers to the Tatas who have evinced keen interest in the project", says PCCF (Wildlife) Pradeep Khanna. About 1,200 to 2,000 whale sharks visit the Saurashtra coast every year. The whale sharks migrate from the north coast of Sri Lanka to the Gujarat coast. The best time for whale shark watching is between November and May. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gujarat-to-launch-whale-shark-watching-project-to-attract-tourists/391244/

Coral springs back from tsunami
Scientists have reported a rapid recovery in some of the coral reefs that were damaged by the Indian Ocean tsunami four years ago. It had been feared that some of the reefs off the coast of Indonesia could take a decade to recover. The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) found evidence of rapid growth of young corals in badly-hit areas. A spokesman said reefs damaged before the tsunami were also recovering. For more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7800796.stm

Pollution & Toxics

Andaman tribesmen die of toxic drink
Five Onge aboriginal tribesmen, whose population has been dwindling, died and 15 others took ill after consuming a toxic chemical at Dugong Creek of Little Andaman island of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. "Onge tribals have drunk the chemical mistaking it to be alcohol last night from a plastic can that had got washed ashore from the Bay of Bengal at Dugong Creek," said South Andaman district SP Ashok Chand. A medical team led by deputy director R C Kar had gone to the far flung island, about 125-km south-west of Port Blair, to provide emergency medical service to the seriously ill tribesmen. They would be flown to Port Blair for further treatment as the remote area lacked proper healthcare facility, Chand said. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health__Science/Earth/Pollution/Andaman_
tribesmen_die_of_toxic_drink/articleshow/3813023.cms

Tackling e-waste: A major concern
With drastic changes in weather patterns across continents, rise in sea level, melting of polar icecaps and ever-increasing levels of all forms of pollution; conservation of environment is a major concern for nations. Initially disbanded as the task of the 'green brigade', the corporate world has woken up from its deep slumber. Embedded as an important postulate of social responsibility among most organisations across sectors, adherence to environmental sustainability has emerged as a major consideration for them. Expansive IT infrastructure is a cardinal component of most business processes and has improved productivity exponentially. But it is one of the major reasons for consumption of energy, water, emission of greenhouse gases and generation of electronic or e-waste. Hence, the transition towards the idea of 'green IT' has caught up. Tangible and visible efforts like data centre energy cost reduction, virtualization leading to server consolidation, remote management leading to CO2 footprint reduction, reducing software footprint of applications by consolidation form the backbone of Green IT culture. For more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Tackling_e-waste_A_major_concern/articleshow/3906088.cms

Wildlife & Endangered Species

Huge haul of animal parts in Assam
A joint raid conducted by the police and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) at Gossaigaon in Kokrajhar district in Western Assam yielded around 630 deer antlers, indicating the presence of a major racket dealing in animal parts in the region. Nearly 3,000 kg of red sanders was also recovered in the raid. No arrests, however, were made in this connection. The raid was carried out in Brahma Industries, a saw mill that had closed down several years ago following a Supreme Court ban on tree-felling in the Northeastern region in 1996. Gossaigaon sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Dambaru Dhar Hazarika said the raid initially led to the recovery of a sackful of antlers, but the police soon found more antlers, some intact, mostly broken, hidden under saw dust within the saw mill compound. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/huge-haul-of-animal-parts-in-assam/403031/

NTCA throws spanner in Sariska relocation
The second phase of India’s most hyped tiger management programme — the translocation of a tigress to Sariska from Ranthambhore — faces an unusual obstacle. Procuring a young tigress from Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve but not from Ranthambhore National Park. This August a tiger and a tigress had been moved to Sariska from Ranthambhore and a second tigress was supposed to be translocated by November 3, to coincide with the mating season. However, the state elections and confusing directives from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) have put a spanner in the works. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ntca-throws-spanner-in-sariska-relocation/401286/

India's Elephants in Peril
India’s elephants, as much as tigers the country’s symbol, are dying in ever-greater numbers as industrialization, deforestation, the pressure of human settlement and shrinking food resources cut into their numbers. Although the world's concern has risen over the fate of India's tigers, the descending numbers of India's elephants have not caused alarm. They are not listed as endangered species. The Federal Ministry of Environment and Forests estimated the population of wild elephants at 26,413 in 2002, the last figure available. Although officials say the population has risen, the World Wildlife Fund believes that India’s elephant population has fallen by 50 percent over the last two decades. Statistical estimation on either tigers or elephants is not sound. Obviously, as man encroaches, the elephant population faces problems, not least because they love to break into human settlements and poach not only crops but vats of homemade liquor. An Indian elephant needs some 500 square miles to roam, consumes 250 kilograms of leaves and wild fruits and drinks as much as 180 liters of water a day. Indiscriminate felling of trees and development projects cuts their habitat. Although the federal government has written and passed laws, implementation is in the hands of state governments, which often look the other way when poachers strike. For more: http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1598&Itemid=404

Glimmer of hope for rare monkey
Biologists from Fauna and Flora International said they had found up to 20 Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys in a remote forest. The team said the new group offered a ray of hope because it included three infants, suggesting that the monkeys were breeding and increasing in number. Until now, fewer than 250 of the primates were thought to exist. "When I saw the Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys, I was overjoyed," said biologist Le Khac Quyet. "This new discovery further underlines the importance of learning more about the monkeys' range and distribution. "There is still time to save this unique species, but with 200 or so left and the threat still strong, we need to act now," he added. For more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7767360.stm

Can eco-tourism save India's tigers?
The one fact that struck as the most interesting at a lecture by Dr Raghu Chandawat, an eminent tiger scientist, was that a well known tourism zone of Bandhavgarh Tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh held a greater density of wild tigers than he had ever believed possible in such a small area. So is tourism really that good at protecting tigers? The fact is that today, parks with both tigers and tourism hold the greatest density of tigers left in India. Screaming headlines across the world tell the real story of plummeting wild tiger numbers, with the latest figures showing as few as 1300 wild tigers remaining, a collapse of over 40 per cent in just the last 10 years. Poaching, revenge killings, Chinese medicine, pelt sales, population and livestock pressures and deforestation are held to be the principle causes. Tourism is a good thing for tiger conservation. It gives them extraordinary protection through the passive viewing and monitoring of these magnificent creatures. For more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3320370/Can-eco-tourism-save-India%27s-tigers.html

eBay bans sale of ivory products
The internet auction site eBay has finally banned the sale of virtually all ivory products from its website after coming under intense pressure from conservationists who accused the site of acting as a major black market source for forbidden elephant tusks. The ban will also cover antique jewellery created before the international trade ban came into effect in 1989. Only pianos with ivory keys and wood furniture with small amounts of ivory inlay made before 1900 will be allowed to be sold. The online auctioneer instigated a limited ban on ivory sales in 2007, stopping all cross-border sales, but it suffered a major consumer backlash in October when it emerged that two-thirds of all online ivory sales in the US were made through its website. For more: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/ebay-bans-sale-of-ivory-products-1220035.html

Thousands protest against Indian tiger reserve
More than 15,000 people in southern India protested against the extension of a new tiger reserve, despite official assurances that they will not lose their homes to the sanctuary. Representatives from all parties in Tamil Nadu state, including the state's ruling party, took part in what is the third such protest since November against the extension of the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary, police said… demonstrators were not against the declaration of a 321 sq km (125 sq mile) core area but against the creation of a buffer zone, Rajeev Srivastava, a field director for Project Tiger said. For more: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4BT32R20081230?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews

Myanmar hot spot for elephant smuggling and ivory
Around 250 live Asian Elephants have been smuggled from Myanmar in the past decade, mostly destined for “elephant trekking” tourism activities in neighbouring Thailand, a new report by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC reveals. Meanwhile blatant illegal ivory trade continues in Myanmar, with TRAFFIC surveys of 14 markets and three border markets in Thailand and China finding 9,000 pieces of ivory and 16 whole tusks for sale. Retailers generally displayed ivory and other elephant parts quite openly and rarely hesitated in disclosing smuggling techniques and other illegal activities to TRAFFIC staff posing as potential buyers. For more: http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/38849

WWF: More Than 1,000 New Species Discovered in Southeast Asia
An international environmental group says scientists have identified more than 1,000 new species in the Greater Mekong Region over the past decade. A new World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report says striped rabbits, bright pink millipedes and a spider bigger than a dinner plate are among a host of species discovered in the region. According to WWF, researchers found 1,068 plant and animal species that were previously un-cataloged, or were believed extinct. For more: http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-12-17-voa1.cfm

Centre sanctions Rs 2 crore for project tiger in TN
The Centre has released Rs 2 crore to Tamil Nadu this year for protection of tigers and management of tiger reserves under the ongoing centrally-sponsored scheme of Project Tiger. According to sources, the financial assistance under Project Tiger to the state has quadrupled from Rs 45 lakh due to the creation of two more tiger reserves in Anamalai and Mudumalai in 2007. Compared to allocation of funds for Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan which have got Rs 24.77 crore and 20.83 crore respectively, the funds released to Tamil Nadu, the only state to have registered a positive growth in tiger population last year, is on the lower side. Last year, the state registered a 25% increase in tiger population when the numbers in the country had dwindled from 3,642 to 1,411. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Centre_sanctions_Rs_2_crore
_for_project_tiger_in_TN/articleshow/3842545.cms

More reserves for tigers, wildlife crime control tight in 2008
The tiger census released early this year indicating a drastic decline in the big cat's population was a wake-up call enough for the government to initiate a string of measures to boost its count and save it from extinction. Reintroduction of the stripped animals in the Sariska Tiger reserve, an increased budget allocation, framing of a tiger conservation plan besides a special tiger force were some of the major measures undertaken which reflected the government's seriousness to protect tigers. In one of the biggest conservation measures, a stripped big cat couple -- first a male followed by female -- were successfully airlifted from Ranthambore and introduced in Sariska reserve in Rajasthan where tigers were lost to poaching in 2005. For more: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200812231421.htm

Wetlands, Rivers & Water

35 rivers covered by National River Conservation Plan. The National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), under which the Ganga Action Plans are formulated, now covers 35 rivers spread over 20 states, the Government informed Rajya Sabha. "The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had initially carried out the river basin studies of major rivers in the country and on the basis of these studies, first phase of Ganga Action Plan was launched in 1985 from Varanasi," minister of state for environment and forests Namo Narain Meena said replying to supplementaries during Question Hour. He added that subsequently, based on CPCB identification of polluted stretches along the rivers, other river action plans have been formulated and implemented under the NRCP. Meena said that CPCB along with state pollution control boards, is monitoring water quality of rivers and other water bodies at 1,365 locations covering 27 states and six Union Territories. The monitoring network covers 282 rivers besides a number of lakes, tanks and ponds. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health__Science/Earth/Pollution/35_rivers
_covered_by_National_River_Conservation_Plan/articleshow/3856632.cms

Second largest lake under severe threat
Pulicat lake, the second largest waterbody in the country next only to Chilka in Orissa, is facing severe degradation and rapid reduction in size owing to natural and human activities, a recent survey has revealed. The lake, also called Pazaverkadi lagoon, extends between South Andhra Pradesh and North Tamil Nadu, about 80 km north of Chennai. More than 60,000 migrant water birds feed and breed in the northern part of lake during winter. About 40,000 people living in 34 villages on the banks Pulicat on the Tamil Nadu side, depend directly or indirectly on the lake. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health__Science/Earth/Pollution/Second_
largest_lake_under_severe_threat/articleshow/3817386.cms

Birds

Whither Himachal's vulture breeding project?
A project to help breed vultures in captivity has failed to take off in Himachal Pradesh in the last four years even as the scavenger bird teeters on the brink of extinction across Asia.
"For setting up a vulture breeding centre, we (the state wildlife wing) had started the process of acquiring land in Solan in 2004," an official of the wildlife wing told IANS, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district is home to a sizeable vulture population. "Permission of the ministry of environment and forests was taken to capture 25 pairs each of white-backed and slender-billed vultures from their natural habitat to start captive breeding. But somehow the project did not become a reality." For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Flora__Fauna/Whither_Himachals_
vulture_breeding_project/articleshow/3838216.cm

Migratory vultures fill gap left by dying Indian species
As numbers of white-backed, slender-billed and long-billed vultures - three of the nine species found in India - decline across the country, migratory vultures have taken their space. Ornithologists attributed the increase in arrival of the migratory species - the Eurasian griffon, the Egyptian vulture and the Himalayan griffon - in the region to plenty of food being available now. "Large flocks of the Eurasian griffon, the Egyptian vulture and the Himalayan griffon can be spotted these days feeding on carrion, insects, eggs and droppings of carnivores in Himachal Pradesh, especially in the hills of Kangra, Bilaspur, Una and Hamirpur districts," Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife) S.K. Guleria told IANS. For more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Flora__Fauna/Migratory_vultures
_fill_gap_left_by_dying_Indian_species/articleshow/3868880.cms

Poachers using kids to hunt birds in Orissa's Chilika Lake
Poachers are using children to hunt birds in Orissa's Chilika lake -- India's largest brackish water lagoon -- after authorities increased their surveillance in the area, officials and conservationists say. Officials said they are concerned because poachers are adopting new methods to hunt birds and now engaging children between 12 to 17 years old for the purpose. "The poachers are now using children to avoid arrest. They think we will not suspect children," assistant conservator of forest (wild life) BK Mohapatra said. The state government this year has set up at least 16 anti poaching camps in the area and deployed more than a hundred people, including officials and volunteers, to nab all those involved in poaching in Chilika Lake. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Flora__Fauna/Poachers_using_kids_
to_hunt_birds_in_Orissas_Chilika_Lake/articleshow/3838260.cms

Reptiles & Amphibians

Near-extinct frog found.
A purple frog with a pig-like snout, thought to be near-extinct, has been found alive in a field close to the Kerala Forest Research Institute at Peechi near Thrissur town in Kerala. First reported in India eight years ago, the rare frog species is closely linked to a similar frog found only in the island group of the Seychelles — suggesting the affinity between the Western Ghats and the Indian Ocean archipelago. Just over 8 cm in length and weighing 142 gm, the frog, which lives mostly under soil was found by a farm worker planting tuber crops. The KFRI researchers brought the frog to their campus and identified it as the species Nasikabatrachus sahyadrenis, never before reported in the district. ‘It is almost a living fossil,’ K.K. Ramachandran, head of the KFRI’s Wildlife Biology Division, said. Source: http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/25/stories/2008122557272400.htm

EVENTS

Conservation of Biodiversity in Protected Areas - Opportunities and Challenges; 23 - 24 January 2009; Bangalore, India; http://www.christuniversity.in

The Second Gulf Conference & Exhibition on Environment & Sustainability; 16 - 19 February 2009; State of Kuwait; http://www.wes.com.kw

World Biodiversity Congress; 10 - 14 March 2009; Chiang Mai, Thailand; http://www.cenfoundindia.org.in

ENVIROENERGY 2009: International Conference on Energy and Environment; 19 - 21 March 2009; Chandigarh, India; http://www.enviroenergy2009.org

Sustainability 2012: Shaping an Environmental Legacy for World Cities; 25 - 27 March 2009; London, United Kingdom; http://www.sustainableregeneration.org/

EMAN 2009: Environmental Accounting and Sustainable Development Indicators; 23 - 24 April 2009; Prague, Czech Republic; http://ea-sdi.ujep.cz