NatureNews
NatureNews - A WWF digest of environment news on the Internet
NatureNews for the week ending October 15, 2007. To subscribe to NatureNews, please write to Library.
Environment - General
China Starts Countdown To Save Biodiversity By 2010
As the rate of biodiversity loss accelerates worldwide, civil society organizations and governments are joining forces to fight the global extinction crisis. On September 7 in Beijing, twenty Chinese and international organizations signed the Countdown 2010 declaration, committing themselves to additional efforts to reduce biodiversity loss by the year 2010. According to the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, China has a "particularly large number" of species in danger of extinction. China is also one of the world’s biologically richest countries. At the Countdown 2010 Launch, organizations ranging from local Chinese NGOs to international organizations active in China to government-affiliated institutions joined together to declare their commitment to saving biodiversity in China. With this decision, they honor the global 2010 biodiversity target, a commitment made by state representatives at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 to significantly reduce biodiversity loss by 2010. For more: http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/23421
China moves to protect ecology of Three Gorges
China is to relocate at least 4 million more people from the Three Gorges Dam reservoir area in the next 10 to 15 years to protect its "ecological safety," Xinhua news agency said. The $25 billion dam near Chongqing, in southwest China, is the world's largest hydropower project, but even senior officials who have defended the project as an engineering wonder now warn that areas around the dam are paying a heavy environmental cost. For more: http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/23787
Ecotourism May Benefit India’s Environment, Economy
Recent assessments of the state of the environment in 32 states across India indicate that the country’s rising economic prosperity is putting the environment under stress. Experts cite tourism as a leading cause of the environmental degradation in some areas. But “ecotourism,” if properly implemented, has the potential to benefit both the economy and the environment, according to Manoj Bhatt, president and executive director of RACHNA (Research, Advocacy and Communication in Himalayan Areas), a nongovernmental organization based in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. India’s tourism industry experienced a 20 percent earnings increase in 2005, but this “has not translated into jobs for areas like the Himalayas,” notes Bhatt. Despite the region’s world-renowned scenery and wilderness, tourism in Uttarakhand “remains a highly seasonal activity, served through a poor infrastructure and with unsustainable practices.” The lack of jobs has spurred migration away from the area, creating a shortage of workers available to effectively care for and protect the local environment, according to Bhatt. For more: http://www.enn.com/business/article/23577
Study: Growing more rice with less water
A new method to grow rice could save hundreds of billions of cubic metres of water while increasing food security, according to a study by WWF published. With a focus on India – a country which faces a major water crisis, yet has the world’s largest rice cultivated area – the study found that the system of rice intensification (SRI) method has helped increase yields by over 30% — four to five tonnes per hectare instead of three tonnes per hectare, while using 40% less water than conventional methods. For more: http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=11448
India creates network of wildlife sanctuaries
India has set up a network of 606 wildlife sanctuaries and national parks for efficient management of wildlife, Minister of State for Environment and Forests S. Regupathy said. Addressing a function to celebrate Wildlife Week, Regupathy said: "For better management and protection of wildlife, a large network of 606 protected areas comprising 96 national parks and 510 wildlife sanctuaries has been created." "This covers an area of 15.59 million hectare," he said. The minister said that Project Tiger has been restructured and transformed into National Tiger Conservation Authority with wider mandate and powers. He said his ministry was emphasising on expeditious settlement of rights of forest dwellers, improved habitat management and strengthening of enforcement infrastructure. For more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_
Industry/ET_Cetera/India_creates_network_of_wildlife_
sanctuaries/articleshow/2426486.cms
Climate Change & Energy
Cool off on global warming
All eyes are on Greenland’s melting glaciers as alarm about global warming spreads. This year, delegations of US and European politicians have made pilgrimages to the fastest-moving glacier at Ilulissat, where they declare that they see climate change unfolding before their eyes. Curiously, something that’s rarely mentioned is that temperatures in Greenland were higher in 1941 than they are today. Or that melt rates around Ilulissat were faster in the early part of the past century, according to a new study. And while the delegations first fly into Kangerlussuaq, about 100 miles to the south, they all change planes to go straight to Ilulissat – perhaps because the Kangerlussuaq glacier is inconveniently growing. For more: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071009/edit.htm#6
Forest & Biodiversity
Chinese loggers stripping Myanmar's ancient forests
In eight weeks the quiet narrow road that hugs Nongdao's sugarcane fields on the way to the ancient jungles of Myanmar will be overrun with Chinese trucks loaded down with illegal timber. The large wheezing diesels will dump their logs in this southwestern border sawmill town where it will be processed, then shipped to Chinese furniture makers on the seaboard before being exported for Western consumption. "Come December and January this road will be so packed with trucks heavy with Myanmar timber that you can't pass for hours," said Xiao Zhengong, a 32-year-old resident of the area. Nongdao, a town of just hundreds of people, is one small link in the global supply chain that makes up the multi-billion-dollar wood processing industry centred in China. Each year caravans of Chinese trucks haul tens of thousands of tonnes of Myanmar's tropical trees to China, the world's largest importer of rare timber and a wood manufacturing centre. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/China/Chinese_loggers_stripping
_Myanmars_ancient_forests/articleshow/2448011.cmc‘Amazon
jungle could be lost in 40 years’
The Amazonian wilderness is at risk of unprecedented damage from an ambitious plan to improve transport, communications, and power generation in the region, conservationists warned. Development plans have been drawn up to boost trade links among 10 economic hubs on the continent, but threaten to bring “a perfect storm of environmental destruction” to the world’s oldest rainforest, according to a report from Conservation International. Projects to upgrade road and river transport, combined with work to create dams and lay down extensive power and communications cabling, will open up previously inaccessible parts of the rainforest, raising the risk of widespread deforestation that could see the loss of the entire Amazon jungle within 40 years, the environmental group said. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/03/stories/2007100353981100.htm
Modi gives forest land to tribals
Adopting a confrontationist course against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi threw an open challenge to the Centre to take action against him for handing over ownership rights of forest land to the tribals in defiance of the Central law. Launching his self-styled “civil disobedience movement” on Gandhi Jayanti, Mr. Modi handed over ownership rights to 30 tribals in the tribal belt. Documents to the remaining of the 2,204 tribals would be despatched to them soon, he said. The handing over of the “sanands” (ownership rights) was in keeping with the promise Mr. Modi made on Independence Day that his government would go ahead with the plan if the Centre failed to give its approval for it by October 2. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/03/stories/2007100362191600.htm
Land for tribals: court restrains Gujarat
The Supreme Court restrained the Gujarat government from issuing new “pattas” or possession letters, vesting ownership rights over forest land in tribals. Those already given will be subject to further orders. A “Forest Bench,” comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapadia, passed the order after amicus curiae Harish Salve filed an application that ownership rights over forest land were handed over to 30 tribals by Chief Minister Narendra Modi on October 2. The Bench issued notice to the Gujarat government seeking its response to the application. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/06/stories/2007100661790100.htm
New 'forest' definition may hit tribal rights
The environment and forest ministry is set to increase the ambit of its control over the country's land. It has finalised a definition of forests that will extend the forest bureaucracy's powers over large swathes of community-owned land. While the definition will pit one of the largest landholders in India against communities, the definition will allow some plantations - primarily meant for the paper and pulp industry - to escape the purview of the stringent forest regulations. The definition, innocuously short, identifies forests as "an area notified as forest in any Act or recorded as forest in any government record". But the definition goes on to say that such "forests" will include areas having trees, scrub, grassland, wetland, water body, desert, geomorphic or any other features. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/New_forest_definition
_may_hit_tribal_rights_/articleshow/2433582.cms
Project up for carbon credits in Himachal flouts forest laws
The private-sector hydel-power project in Himachal Pradesh that is under a cloud for flouting forest laws is ironically registered with the National Clean Development Authority for the purpose of earning Carbon Credits from the UNFCCC under the Kyoto Protocol. The 192-MW project, being executed by the Allain Duhangan Hydro-Power Company (a unit of Rajasthan’s leading LNJ Bhilwara group), is located close to the tourist destination of Manali. But following detection of serious environmental degradation and blatant violation of the Forest Conservation Act by the company, the Environment Protection Department of the state Government has stopped work at the project. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/224042.html
Marine & Oceans
Turtles unlimited
Kolkata-based Turtle Ltd, the menswear ready-made garments company, has taken up the task of saving turtles in the country, particularly in Orissa and Gujarat. It has joined hands with WWF India and the Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO) to fund projects on turtle conservation. According to Amit Ladsaria, director of Turtle Limited, “We wanted our corporate social responsibility to focus on turtle conservation because that goes with our brand name. We, therefore, joined hands with WWF India and the WSO in 2006 to take the cause forward.” According to Turtle Ltd, a part of the proceeds from the sale of its products goes to these two organisations and is used in undertaking scientific surveys, awareness programmes and conservation projects. “We have dispersed around Rs 18 lakh in the last one year to these organisations,” said Ladsaria. The company funds the salaries of the programme supervisor, field assistant and part time animators, travel expenses of the group, publicity and awareness material, local meetings for turtle conservation, boat charges and other expenses incurred for day-to-day operations. It also sponsors equipment like megaphones, binoculars, camera and life jackets. This attempt by the company to conserve turtles has started showing results. According to Biswajit Mohanty, secretary, WSO, “We have been working around the Mahanadi river area in Orissa for turtle conservation since 2004. In 2004, we covered about 200 km of the river where turtles are found in huge numbers. With the help of Rs 3 lakh provided by Turtle Ltd during the last one year, we were able to cover an additional 400 km area.” For more: http://www.business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?leftnm=3&subLeft=2&chklogin=Y&autono=299962&tab=r
Wildlife & Endangered Species
More species in the red
The 2007 Red List of endangered plants, animals, birds, and sea life released by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) offers a gloomy forecast for many species that make the earth unique. If unrelenting pressure from human activity continues, these evolutionary marvels, like others before them, will become extinct sooner rather than later at least in the wild. Global populations of several species have declined so dramatically that the IUCN has added 188 species to last year’s tally of 16,118 that may be wiped out in the wild. The animals facing serious threat include the Western lowland gorilla in Africa, the Sumatran and Bornean orangutans, and India’s gharial, a reptile belonging to the crocodile order. The gharial population has come down as a result of net fishing and irreversible loss of habitat. Their numbers have plunged by about 60 per cent in the last decade and their habitat has shrunk in the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mahanadi rivers in India and Nepal. The gharial is now critically endangered — just a step away from extinction in the wild. The rescue of the gharial now depends on whether the damagingly huge impact of human activity — the construction of dams, barrages, and irrigation canals — on habitats is recognised. The absence of far-sighted action is resulting in species that evolved over millions of years vanishing owing to pressure from a single species, our own. This tragedy has been described by naturalist E.O.Wilson as the silent haemorrhaging of the world’s biodiversity. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/29/stories/2007092955281200.htm
UAE's rare tahr goats and mountain fauna face extinction
Unprecedented economic growth, massive population increase and rapid infrastructure expansion, are having some unfortunate environmental consequences for the UAE. Not only are areas where developments occur directly impacted, but so are distant places as well: the country's mountain habitats for instance. Although many concerns have been expressed about coastal habitats degrading on account of the explosion of sea side properties it is, more often than not, forgotten that building materials for these constructions are being sourced from mountains. Extensive mining to acquire these is destroying habitats that host some of the rarest species in the world. One of these is the Arabian tahr, a goat look-alike, which is endemic to the UAE's (and Oman's) arid highlands. What this means is that the species is found nowhere else on earth. If its habitat goes, so does tahr in the wild. For more: http://www.ameinfo.com/134368.html
Implanting of microchips on domestic elephants begins
The Forest Department started implanting microchips on domesticated elephants in temples and private holdings. The concept, mooted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, to provide the elephants with unique identification numbers will help prevent manipulation of records, and illegal trading of elephants and further domestication of wild animals. The numbers will also help the authorities in periodical assessment of the status of the elephants, and evolving policies for the protection of domesticated elephants. R. Kannan, Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, and I. Anwardeen, District Forest Officer, Coimbatore, had deputed a team of Forest Department employees, led by veterinarian N.S. Manoharan, to carry out this exercise. These microchips, with registration numbers encased in glass shells, can be recognised by a reader to be carried by the officials. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/09/stories/2007100955330500.htm
Projects to save Jharkhand elephants in limbo
Delays in launching projects to save Jharkhand's elephants have resulted in a steep decline in their numbers in the state. Two years ago, 772 elephants roamed the jungles of Jharkhand. But a census in May 2007 found that only 622 elephants are left in the state. While most of the tuskers fall prey to poachers, some get killed when they stray out of the jungles and are run over by trains or electrocuted. Sometimes irate villagers kill the animals after they destroy houses and crops. For more: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1363286.php/
Projects_to_save_Jharkhand_elephants_in_limbo
Blueprint ready for critical wildlife habitats
A blueprint to create inviolate critical wildlife habitats (CWHs) across the country has been finalised by the environment and forests ministry. Unlike the existing protected areas — national parks and sanctuaries — the ministry has suggested a set of guidelines based on scientific criteria to establish the habitats. This is an important step to provide an exclusive space to wildlife when the Forest Rights Act gets operationalised. Under the Act, which is meant to formally recognise rights of forest dwellers, only areas declared as CWHs can be granted inviolate status — sans human presence. Even existing protected areas will have to be re-evaluated under these norms to declare them inviolate if they fall within the set criteria. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Blueprint_ready_for_critical
_wildlife_habitats/articleshow/2413080.cms
NGOs, corporates give lions wall cover
Over 8,000 open wells in Gir forest that claimed the lives of 24 Asiatic lions during the past six years, will finally have parapet walls, courtesy corporates and NGOs. An MoU for this purpose has been signed with Rajkot-based NGO Wild Life Conservation Trust (WLCT) for construction of parapets on 100 wells during the current fiscal, said Bharat Pathak, conservator of forest (Gir). He added that parapets on 1,500 wells will be constructed this fiscal itself. Corporates, including Reliance, Ambuja Cement, Tatas and Shell, besides leading wildlife conservation NGOs, have evinced interest in the exercise, which is likely to be finished in three years. As per a survey carried out by the forest department, 8,778 open wells are situated in 158 villages surrounding Gir forest, which pose a grave threat to wild animals. Around 700 wells, located in Gir forest range, have already been covered by the forest department. The most vulnerable for wild animals are wells in Kotda, Paniya, Chanchai and Dalkhania villages where construction of parapets on wells will be taken up on a priority basis. During the past six years 47 lions had fallen into the wells. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/NGOs_corporates
_give_lions_wall_cover/articleshow/2410033.cms
Soon, forensic vans in Gir to bolster police probe
Recent poaching incidents in Gir have now forced the Gujarat Government to improve police investigations into wildlife crime. The government now wants the Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS) at Gandhinagar to provide special round-the-clock forensic van services in the only natural habitat of Asiatic Lions in the world. The step comes close on the heels of a special wildlife cell that was set up at CID headquarters a few months ago. The state Forest department is preparing the proposal of the project — which aims at stepping up security and vigilance at the sanctuary and bolstering investigations of wildlife crime — with the help of experts from DFS and Precision Operation System (India) Private Ltd in Ahmedabad. For more: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Soon-forensic-vans-in-Gir-to-bolster-police-probe/225556/
Rare tiger reappears after gap of 20 years
The Penthern tiger (South China Tiger), a species unique to China, has reappeared in the wild after a gap of two decades in the Qinling Mountains of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. "We made a breakthrough after more than one year of investigation," said Zhu Julong, deputy director of Shaanxi Forestry Administration Bureau. According to Zhu, Zhou Zhenglong, a farmer in Wencai, a village in Zhenping County, took photos of the animal on the mountain on October 3. "After the careful examination, experts confirmed the authenticity of the photos," he said. "That means the tiger has been found again after more than 20 years." In recent years, the provincial forestry bureau received a number of reports from local farmers saying that they saw big animals like tigers living in the mountains near their villages, prompting the bureau to launch its investigation in June 2006, said Zhu. For more: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-10/13/content_6171865.htm
Dudhwa tiger count by year-end
With the tiger (Panthera Tigris) disappearing from Sariska and precariously placed in Ranthambhore and Bandhavgarh, forest officials are tight-lipped on their numbers in the Dudhwa tiger reserve in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh. This year’s biennial census of the big cat was not conducted by the State Forest Department as the onus for conducting the count, through the camera trap technique, was taken over by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehra Dun, in 2006. In 2005, there were 273 tigers in Uttar Pradesh. Of these, 247 tigers were in the Terai region, including 164 in the Dudhwa reserve. According to the State wildlife officials, the figures of the tiger population in the Terai region and the reserve would be released by the WII at the October 8 meeting of the Indian Wildlife Board/ National Board for Wildlife. For more: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/08/stories/2007100857282000.htm
Experts worried over fall in tiger population
Conservationists have warned against the present status of tigers in India, terming their population now as the “lowest ever” in the past hundred years. Their number, when Project Tiger was launched some 34 years back, was slightly less than 1,800 while at present it is anywhere between 1,350 and 1,500. This is against an estimated 25,000 tigers in the country at the turn of the previous century, they pointed out. Yet the fact remains that India accounts for 65 per cent of the world’s tigers in the wild! The health of tiger habitats and the mountains in the difficult times of wanton commercialisation and growing biotic pressure came up for discussion during a seminar on wildlife and environment protection held to mark the Wildlife Week ahead (October 1 to 7). The Siddharth Singh Natural History Trust organised the seminar. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/03/stories/2007100353680800.htm
Handling of ivory stocks in dark
Ivory or white gold, the most sought after asset of a tusker, is not burnt in India after its death. It becomes government property and is stocked in godowns run by state wildlife departments. About 400 elephants die ever year and 20 are poached, according to estimates of the ministry of environment and forests. These include natural and accidental deaths and those caused by revenge killings. The Wildlife Protection Act, in place for 35 years, is silent on the eventual management of ivory. In case an elephant dies a natural death or in an accident, the ivory is kept in government godowns. Barring the state wildlife authorities, nobody knows what happens to the ivory—whether it remains in tact, given its huge demand in the domestic and the international market. The Act prohibits the sale and purchase of ivory. While a kilogram of ivory fetches Rs 20,000 in the domestic market, its value increases manifold in the international market. For more: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071007/main2.htm
Human-animal conflict in J&K.
A unique version of the classic conflict between wildlife and a prosperous human population is taking place in Jammu and Kashmir. But while the conflict generally centres around ever-precious lands, here the victims of conservation are the traditional and famous furriers of the region. Their livelihood has become endangered. Ever since the ceasefire along the Line of Control fell into place four years ago, there have been signs of a resurgence of wildlife. Animals which had been scared away from their natural habitats by the routine artillery barrage and fire assaults, and were dwindling in numbers, have welcomed the silencing of the guns by returning to their homes. A key element of the counter-insurgency operations has been the ban on carrying firearms in public. While this may not have hindered the militants, it did make things tough for the poachers, particularly after the closure of the small factories in the Jammu region which once produced hunting weapons and ammunition. When it comes to the woes of the furriers, most of them are legislation-related. History would suggest that J&K has actually preceded the rest of the country in terms of wildlife legislation. It had its own enactment way back in 1926, while the national Wildlife Protection Act was passed in 1972 and amended six years later. Yet the major difference was that the fur trade was legal under the 1926 Act. It was only in 1982 that a total ban was enforced. One of the factors is that the skins of animals poached anywhere in the country were taken to J&K where they were cured, converted into garments and passed off as being Kashmiri, hence legitimate. For more: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?date=2007-10-07&usrsess=1&clid=2&id=199845
U.P. new nerve centre of illegal wildlife trade
With wildlife trade emerging as a global multi-billion dollar industry with an estimated turnover of around 20 billion US dollars, next only to narcotics trade, and India being used as a “super market”, several animal species have been pushed towards extinction. Notably the majestic tiger (Panthera Tigris), whose parts remain the most sought after commodity in the international market, particularly in China. The Big Cat has already vanished from Sariska and is on way to disappearing from Ranthambore and Bandhavgarh, largely on account of depredations of poachers and organised wildlife crime syndicates. However, the illegal wildlife trade is not limited to tiger parts. Leopard and otter skins, mongoose hair, elephant tusks, turtles, crocodiles and even snakes figure in the consignment of wildlife crime traffickers. Even as India figures prominently in the route map of organised wildlife crime, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the nerve centre of the illegal trade in wild animals. At a seminar on “Wildlife Crime Detection and Prevention” organised by the U.P. Forest Department in collaboration with Wildlife SOS Uttar Pradesh was described as a haven for organised crime syndicates. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/30/stories/2007093054260600.htm
Birds
Spoon-billed sandpiper on brink of extinction
Conservationists warned that one of the rarest birds in the world was on the brink of extinction. The population of spoon-billed sandpiper decreased dramatically at a key breeding site in Russia. Experts from the Britain-based conservation group BirdLife International blamed the decline of breeding pairs in the remote Russian province of Chukotka on loss of key feeding sites during their migration from Russia to its wintering grounds in South Asia. The bird is also fighting a losing battle at its Russian breeding grounds against foxes and dogs that eat the eggs, the group said. For more: http://newsfromrussia.com/news/russia/11-10-2007/98648-sandpiper-0
Vulture culture
In 1990 the Indian vulture population was estimated at between 20m and 40m, divided between three species. Now it is about 10,000, and falling by 50% a year. Indeed, one species, the slender-billed vulture, numbers a mere 400. The birds are victims of a drug called diclofenac. This is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory that was developed to treat people but adopted for cattle in the 1980s. Unfortunately, it causes kidney failure in vultures—and vultures eat a lot of dead cattle. Hence the establishment of the Bombay Natural History Society's vulture-breeding centre at Pinjore, in Haryana. The centre is intended to create a secure breeding-stock of vultures that may eventually be released into a diclofenac-free wild. It consists of three giant concrete-and-wire aviaries, and is designed to house 75 pairs of each of the three stricken species. At the moment it has 124 vultures, most of them trapped as nestlings in the past two years. For more: http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9898312
Back on the radar
These may be difficult times for tigers, elephants and many other wildlife species, but for birds, there seems to be a lot to cheer about in India. Many of the documented 1,300 bird species are increasingly being spotted in the country. Bird watchers here can now hope to see quite a few rare species. Nearly 10 birds, considered extinct, have been re-discovered recently. In April this year, a rare warbler known as the large-billed reed warbler was spotted after 140 years. Birder Sumit Sen of Kolkata sighted the warbler near Chintamani Kar Bird Sanctuary, Narendrapur, 10 kms South of Kolkata. A single specimen of this specie was collected in the Sutlej Valley near Rampur, Himachal Pradesh, way back in November, 1867. Recounts Sen, “While bird watching, we found this warbler flitting from one tree to another and chased it for 45 minutes. It displayed a rare behaviour — while feeding it constantly fanned its tail and opened and closed its tail every time it hopped from one tree to another. The movement of the bird was fantail (a bird specie), the bird seemed to slide/glide from one feeding point to another. It did not call even once in 12 minutes. This bird was difficult to identify. I took visuals and rotated them around various bird clubs. It was promptly identified as the reed warbler.” Sen says, “I am convinced that there are yet-to-be-discovered birds lurking in the Eastern Ghats and the North-East.” For more: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2007/10/04/stories/2007100450900100.htm
Owl adds new twist to smuggling
This is a problem which is keeping the state forest officials in Nadia district of West Bengal awake at nights. The reason is an unusual spurt in cross border smuggling of owls. Out of 33 species of owls available in India, the barn owl (white owl), an endangered species protected under Wildlife Protection act, 1972 is high on demand. The nocturnal birds are hunted for their eyeballs which are supposed to have high medicinal value. Interestingly, some time ago it was human hair that was in great demand among the smugglers for the making of wigs. However, with the increase in the demand for owls, smuggling along the Indo-Bangladesh border in bordering districts of West Bengal has reached a new high. With the lure for lucre, the villagers residing in bordering Karimpur and Chapra in Nadia district and Jalangi in adjacent Murshidabad district have been hunting for these precious birds at night. The villagers have also been prowling old abandoned houses where owls usually hide during the day. The owl trade came to light recently when the BSF official seized one such consignment in Murshidabad. Sources said people in Kacharipara, Sarkarpara and Gopalpur ghat areas in Nadia and Jalangi in Murshidabad owl-trapping has become a cottage industry. For more: http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/asian-age-plus/ideas-plus/owl-adds-new-twist-to-smuggling.aspx
Wetlands, Rivers & Water
Warning bells in Kole
A decade ago, the Kole wetlands had everything the 85,000 avian residents needed. Now a long battle with chemical pesticides and fertilizers, changing agricultural practices, poaching and proliferating real estate has left it shattered. Today this beautiful reserve in Kerala is left with only 35,000 birds, including seven endangered species. With an area of 13,632 hectares, the Kole wetlands is spread over Thrissur and Malappuram districts and extend from the northern bank of the Chalakudy in the South to the southern bank of the Bharathapuzha in the North. The name, Kole, refers to the peculiar cultivation method from December to May. ‘Kole’, a Malayalam word, indicates a bumper yield when floods do not damage the crop. According to ecologists, the Kole wetlands is the third largest in India, after Chilika Lake (Orissa) and Amipur Tank (Gujarat), in terms of the number of birds. Ornithologists say that 241 species of birds, including passerines, have been recorded in these wetlands, of which 30 per cent are migrants; 70 species of water birds and four migratory raptors have so far been recorded. For more: http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/10/14/stories/2007101450020200.htm
Reptiles & Amphibians
Another Golden Gecko ‘discovered’
In what could be termed as gold rush of sorts, another Golden Gecko, the “severely endangered lizard” has been found in the State this time in the equally threatened Papikonda hills of the northern Eastern Ghats abutting Godavari river. “It was discovered by a team of WWF- India during one of its nature camps at the Papikonda hills ”, said Farida Tampal, director of WWF- India, Andhra Pradesh Chapter. The primitive living lizard protected by the Schedule I Part II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 was sighted a few months ago but not highlighted till it was published in a research journal recently. For wildlife enthusiasts it is big news coming as it were close on the heels of its sighting in Seshachalam hill ranges by young researcher, M. Rajasekhar of Sri Venkateswara University. Its sighting in northern Eastern Ghats is significant as it was earlier thought to be endemic to Seshachalam hill ranges in the south, the WWF team said. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/04/stories/2007100453740600.htm
Gharials critically endangered: report
Gharial, the Indian crocodile, has been declared critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In its 2007 Red List of Threatened Species, which was released recently, the IUCN has included 188 new species and the gharial. The IUCN Red List has put the number of breeding adult gharials in Nepal and India at 182 in 2006. This is a decline of 58 per cent as only a decade ago, the number of gharials stood at 436. Between 2006 and 2007, gharials have slipped from the endangered to the critically endangered list of the IUCN. The IUCN report says these fish-eaters are restricted to the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Mahanadi river. In fact, gharials were once the prized possession of the Mahanadi river system. However, the Orissa Forest Department has managed to sight only three gharials in the river recently. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/224084.html
Smallest Indian frog found
The latest issue of Current Science, the international science journal, reports the finding of the smallest known land vertebrate in India, a miniature frog, from Kurichiyarmala in Kerala’s Wayanad district on the Western Ghats of peninsular India. The finding was reported by Delhi University Systematics Biologist S.D. Biju and his colleagues. This new species of frog, measuring only between 10 and 14 millimetres in size in adult males, belongs to the Nyctibatrachidae family and they have named it Nyctibatrachus minimus. The frog compares in smallness to the smallest reported from any other part of the world, including Cuba, the Amazon and Borneo. There are only 12 recognised species currently in Nyctibatrachidae family. The scientists found the frog in the Shola forests of Kurichiyarmala, at an altitude of 1,200 metres above mean sea level. The frog usually rests under leaf litter or rocks and turns active during the night, with the males starting their calls inflating their subgular external vocal sacs on either side of their neck immediately after sunset. It is most vociferousduring the nights of the monsoon season, the best time for reproduction. Nyctibatrachus means night-frog. For more: http://www.hindu.com/seta/2007/10/04/stories/2007100450021500.htm
Education
Nature Trail a big hit with children
Nearly 200 children from 15 schools took part in the first foundation day function of the Nature Trail set up at the 3 Motilal Nehru Place residence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit here. A street-corner play was staged to highlight the need for wildlife protection. A film on animal rights was screened and well-known environmentalist and Green Oscar winner Mike Pandey interacted with the children. It was mentioned that in its first year the Nature Trail, that has a green canopy and an activity room, was visited by over 2,000 students from 90 schools. An exciting outdoor classroom, the Nature Trail was set up to allow children to have a look at the nature from close quarters. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/06/stories/2007100657830400.htm
AWARDS
Honour for nature film-maker
The Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award has come a bit too late for Mike Pandey, internationally renowned nature film-maker. Much before he was chosen for India’s highest award for conservation and protection of wildlife, Pandey was decorated with Green Oscar, becoming, thereby, the first-ever Asian to receive the world’s most prestigious award. Nevertheless, it was an apt occasion to honour India’s most accomplished and iconic nature film-maker as the nation observed World Wildlife Week (October 1 to 7). Pandey’s comment was: “I am humbled and honoured by the Rajiv Gandhi Award. It is heartening to see the awareness that has come about nature and environment, but this is just a beginning”. For more: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071007/edit.htm#2
An honour for IPCC scientists, says Pachauri
“Humbled” by the honour bestowed on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with the former American Vice-President Al Gore, IPCC chairperson R.K. Pachauri said it was an honour that went to all the scientists and authors who had contributed to the work of the IPCC. “I am only symbolic of the hundreds of scientists and authors who have worked extremely hard that alone has resulted in enormous prestige for this organisation and the remarkable effectiveness of the message that it contains,” he said at a press conference here soon after the Nobel Prize was announced. Dr. Pachauri said the award for the IPCC and Mr. Gore highlighted the importance of climate change and the need for action to meet the challenge that it presented. He appreciated the steps taken by India in reducing emissions. Thanking the governments who have supported the IPCC, Dr. Pachauri, who is also the Director-General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), said the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC contained a major advance in knowledge over previous reports and had not only shown the strong physical science basis for climate change that had taken place since industrialisation, but what was even more noteworthy was the considerably detailed assessment of the impacts of climate change in different parts of the world. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/13/stories/2007101362280300.htm
EVENTS
Thirteenth Conference Of The Parties To The UNFCCC And Third Meeting Of The Parties To The Kyoto Protocol; 3 - 14 December 2007; Bali, Indonesia; http://www.unfccc.int
CMS Meeting To Identify And Elaborate An Option For International Cooperation On Migratory Sharks:; 11 - 13 December 2007; Mahé, the Seychelles; http://www.cms.int/news/events.htm
Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) 2008: Sustainable Development And Climate Change; 7 - 9 February 2008; New Delhi, India; http://www.linux.teriin.org/dsds/2008/index.htm
The Future Of The Carbon Market; 26 - 27 February 2008; London, UK; http://www.marketforce.eu.com/carbon/
17th Meeting Of The CITES Plants Committee; 15 - 18 April 2008; Geneva, Switzerland; http://www.cites.org/eng/news/calendar.shtml
International GEF Workshop On Evaluating Climate Change And Development: Results, Methods And Capacities; 10 - 13 May 2008. Alexandria, Egypt; http://www.esdevaluation.org
China Starts Countdown To Save Biodiversity By 2010
As the rate of biodiversity loss accelerates worldwide, civil society organizations and governments are joining forces to fight the global extinction crisis. On September 7 in Beijing, twenty Chinese and international organizations signed the Countdown 2010 declaration, committing themselves to additional efforts to reduce biodiversity loss by the year 2010. According to the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, China has a "particularly large number" of species in danger of extinction. China is also one of the world’s biologically richest countries. At the Countdown 2010 Launch, organizations ranging from local Chinese NGOs to international organizations active in China to government-affiliated institutions joined together to declare their commitment to saving biodiversity in China. With this decision, they honor the global 2010 biodiversity target, a commitment made by state representatives at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 to significantly reduce biodiversity loss by 2010. For more: http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/23421
China moves to protect ecology of Three Gorges
China is to relocate at least 4 million more people from the Three Gorges Dam reservoir area in the next 10 to 15 years to protect its "ecological safety," Xinhua news agency said. The $25 billion dam near Chongqing, in southwest China, is the world's largest hydropower project, but even senior officials who have defended the project as an engineering wonder now warn that areas around the dam are paying a heavy environmental cost. For more: http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/23787
Ecotourism May Benefit India’s Environment, Economy
Recent assessments of the state of the environment in 32 states across India indicate that the country’s rising economic prosperity is putting the environment under stress. Experts cite tourism as a leading cause of the environmental degradation in some areas. But “ecotourism,” if properly implemented, has the potential to benefit both the economy and the environment, according to Manoj Bhatt, president and executive director of RACHNA (Research, Advocacy and Communication in Himalayan Areas), a nongovernmental organization based in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. India’s tourism industry experienced a 20 percent earnings increase in 2005, but this “has not translated into jobs for areas like the Himalayas,” notes Bhatt. Despite the region’s world-renowned scenery and wilderness, tourism in Uttarakhand “remains a highly seasonal activity, served through a poor infrastructure and with unsustainable practices.” The lack of jobs has spurred migration away from the area, creating a shortage of workers available to effectively care for and protect the local environment, according to Bhatt. For more: http://www.enn.com/business/article/23577
Study: Growing more rice with less water
A new method to grow rice could save hundreds of billions of cubic metres of water while increasing food security, according to a study by WWF published. With a focus on India – a country which faces a major water crisis, yet has the world’s largest rice cultivated area – the study found that the system of rice intensification (SRI) method has helped increase yields by over 30% — four to five tonnes per hectare instead of three tonnes per hectare, while using 40% less water than conventional methods. For more: http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=11448
India creates network of wildlife sanctuaries
India has set up a network of 606 wildlife sanctuaries and national parks for efficient management of wildlife, Minister of State for Environment and Forests S. Regupathy said. Addressing a function to celebrate Wildlife Week, Regupathy said: "For better management and protection of wildlife, a large network of 606 protected areas comprising 96 national parks and 510 wildlife sanctuaries has been created." "This covers an area of 15.59 million hectare," he said. The minister said that Project Tiger has been restructured and transformed into National Tiger Conservation Authority with wider mandate and powers. He said his ministry was emphasising on expeditious settlement of rights of forest dwellers, improved habitat management and strengthening of enforcement infrastructure. For more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_
Industry/ET_Cetera/India_creates_network_of_wildlife_
sanctuaries/articleshow/2426486.cms
Climate Change & Energy
Cool off on global warming
All eyes are on Greenland’s melting glaciers as alarm about global warming spreads. This year, delegations of US and European politicians have made pilgrimages to the fastest-moving glacier at Ilulissat, where they declare that they see climate change unfolding before their eyes. Curiously, something that’s rarely mentioned is that temperatures in Greenland were higher in 1941 than they are today. Or that melt rates around Ilulissat were faster in the early part of the past century, according to a new study. And while the delegations first fly into Kangerlussuaq, about 100 miles to the south, they all change planes to go straight to Ilulissat – perhaps because the Kangerlussuaq glacier is inconveniently growing. For more: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071009/edit.htm#6
Forest & Biodiversity
Chinese loggers stripping Myanmar's ancient forests
In eight weeks the quiet narrow road that hugs Nongdao's sugarcane fields on the way to the ancient jungles of Myanmar will be overrun with Chinese trucks loaded down with illegal timber. The large wheezing diesels will dump their logs in this southwestern border sawmill town where it will be processed, then shipped to Chinese furniture makers on the seaboard before being exported for Western consumption. "Come December and January this road will be so packed with trucks heavy with Myanmar timber that you can't pass for hours," said Xiao Zhengong, a 32-year-old resident of the area. Nongdao, a town of just hundreds of people, is one small link in the global supply chain that makes up the multi-billion-dollar wood processing industry centred in China. Each year caravans of Chinese trucks haul tens of thousands of tonnes of Myanmar's tropical trees to China, the world's largest importer of rare timber and a wood manufacturing centre. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/China/Chinese_loggers_stripping
_Myanmars_ancient_forests/articleshow/2448011.cmc‘Amazon
jungle could be lost in 40 years’
The Amazonian wilderness is at risk of unprecedented damage from an ambitious plan to improve transport, communications, and power generation in the region, conservationists warned. Development plans have been drawn up to boost trade links among 10 economic hubs on the continent, but threaten to bring “a perfect storm of environmental destruction” to the world’s oldest rainforest, according to a report from Conservation International. Projects to upgrade road and river transport, combined with work to create dams and lay down extensive power and communications cabling, will open up previously inaccessible parts of the rainforest, raising the risk of widespread deforestation that could see the loss of the entire Amazon jungle within 40 years, the environmental group said. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/03/stories/2007100353981100.htm
Modi gives forest land to tribals
Adopting a confrontationist course against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi threw an open challenge to the Centre to take action against him for handing over ownership rights of forest land to the tribals in defiance of the Central law. Launching his self-styled “civil disobedience movement” on Gandhi Jayanti, Mr. Modi handed over ownership rights to 30 tribals in the tribal belt. Documents to the remaining of the 2,204 tribals would be despatched to them soon, he said. The handing over of the “sanands” (ownership rights) was in keeping with the promise Mr. Modi made on Independence Day that his government would go ahead with the plan if the Centre failed to give its approval for it by October 2. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/03/stories/2007100362191600.htm
Land for tribals: court restrains Gujarat
The Supreme Court restrained the Gujarat government from issuing new “pattas” or possession letters, vesting ownership rights over forest land in tribals. Those already given will be subject to further orders. A “Forest Bench,” comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapadia, passed the order after amicus curiae Harish Salve filed an application that ownership rights over forest land were handed over to 30 tribals by Chief Minister Narendra Modi on October 2. The Bench issued notice to the Gujarat government seeking its response to the application. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/06/stories/2007100661790100.htm
New 'forest' definition may hit tribal rights
The environment and forest ministry is set to increase the ambit of its control over the country's land. It has finalised a definition of forests that will extend the forest bureaucracy's powers over large swathes of community-owned land. While the definition will pit one of the largest landholders in India against communities, the definition will allow some plantations - primarily meant for the paper and pulp industry - to escape the purview of the stringent forest regulations. The definition, innocuously short, identifies forests as "an area notified as forest in any Act or recorded as forest in any government record". But the definition goes on to say that such "forests" will include areas having trees, scrub, grassland, wetland, water body, desert, geomorphic or any other features. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/New_forest_definition
_may_hit_tribal_rights_/articleshow/2433582.cms
Project up for carbon credits in Himachal flouts forest laws
The private-sector hydel-power project in Himachal Pradesh that is under a cloud for flouting forest laws is ironically registered with the National Clean Development Authority for the purpose of earning Carbon Credits from the UNFCCC under the Kyoto Protocol. The 192-MW project, being executed by the Allain Duhangan Hydro-Power Company (a unit of Rajasthan’s leading LNJ Bhilwara group), is located close to the tourist destination of Manali. But following detection of serious environmental degradation and blatant violation of the Forest Conservation Act by the company, the Environment Protection Department of the state Government has stopped work at the project. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/224042.html
Marine & Oceans
Turtles unlimited
Kolkata-based Turtle Ltd, the menswear ready-made garments company, has taken up the task of saving turtles in the country, particularly in Orissa and Gujarat. It has joined hands with WWF India and the Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO) to fund projects on turtle conservation. According to Amit Ladsaria, director of Turtle Limited, “We wanted our corporate social responsibility to focus on turtle conservation because that goes with our brand name. We, therefore, joined hands with WWF India and the WSO in 2006 to take the cause forward.” According to Turtle Ltd, a part of the proceeds from the sale of its products goes to these two organisations and is used in undertaking scientific surveys, awareness programmes and conservation projects. “We have dispersed around Rs 18 lakh in the last one year to these organisations,” said Ladsaria. The company funds the salaries of the programme supervisor, field assistant and part time animators, travel expenses of the group, publicity and awareness material, local meetings for turtle conservation, boat charges and other expenses incurred for day-to-day operations. It also sponsors equipment like megaphones, binoculars, camera and life jackets. This attempt by the company to conserve turtles has started showing results. According to Biswajit Mohanty, secretary, WSO, “We have been working around the Mahanadi river area in Orissa for turtle conservation since 2004. In 2004, we covered about 200 km of the river where turtles are found in huge numbers. With the help of Rs 3 lakh provided by Turtle Ltd during the last one year, we were able to cover an additional 400 km area.” For more: http://www.business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?leftnm=3&subLeft=2&chklogin=Y&autono=299962&tab=r
Wildlife & Endangered Species
More species in the red
The 2007 Red List of endangered plants, animals, birds, and sea life released by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) offers a gloomy forecast for many species that make the earth unique. If unrelenting pressure from human activity continues, these evolutionary marvels, like others before them, will become extinct sooner rather than later at least in the wild. Global populations of several species have declined so dramatically that the IUCN has added 188 species to last year’s tally of 16,118 that may be wiped out in the wild. The animals facing serious threat include the Western lowland gorilla in Africa, the Sumatran and Bornean orangutans, and India’s gharial, a reptile belonging to the crocodile order. The gharial population has come down as a result of net fishing and irreversible loss of habitat. Their numbers have plunged by about 60 per cent in the last decade and their habitat has shrunk in the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mahanadi rivers in India and Nepal. The gharial is now critically endangered — just a step away from extinction in the wild. The rescue of the gharial now depends on whether the damagingly huge impact of human activity — the construction of dams, barrages, and irrigation canals — on habitats is recognised. The absence of far-sighted action is resulting in species that evolved over millions of years vanishing owing to pressure from a single species, our own. This tragedy has been described by naturalist E.O.Wilson as the silent haemorrhaging of the world’s biodiversity. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/29/stories/2007092955281200.htm
UAE's rare tahr goats and mountain fauna face extinction
Unprecedented economic growth, massive population increase and rapid infrastructure expansion, are having some unfortunate environmental consequences for the UAE. Not only are areas where developments occur directly impacted, but so are distant places as well: the country's mountain habitats for instance. Although many concerns have been expressed about coastal habitats degrading on account of the explosion of sea side properties it is, more often than not, forgotten that building materials for these constructions are being sourced from mountains. Extensive mining to acquire these is destroying habitats that host some of the rarest species in the world. One of these is the Arabian tahr, a goat look-alike, which is endemic to the UAE's (and Oman's) arid highlands. What this means is that the species is found nowhere else on earth. If its habitat goes, so does tahr in the wild. For more: http://www.ameinfo.com/134368.html
Implanting of microchips on domestic elephants begins
The Forest Department started implanting microchips on domesticated elephants in temples and private holdings. The concept, mooted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, to provide the elephants with unique identification numbers will help prevent manipulation of records, and illegal trading of elephants and further domestication of wild animals. The numbers will also help the authorities in periodical assessment of the status of the elephants, and evolving policies for the protection of domesticated elephants. R. Kannan, Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, and I. Anwardeen, District Forest Officer, Coimbatore, had deputed a team of Forest Department employees, led by veterinarian N.S. Manoharan, to carry out this exercise. These microchips, with registration numbers encased in glass shells, can be recognised by a reader to be carried by the officials. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/09/stories/2007100955330500.htm
Projects to save Jharkhand elephants in limbo
Delays in launching projects to save Jharkhand's elephants have resulted in a steep decline in their numbers in the state. Two years ago, 772 elephants roamed the jungles of Jharkhand. But a census in May 2007 found that only 622 elephants are left in the state. While most of the tuskers fall prey to poachers, some get killed when they stray out of the jungles and are run over by trains or electrocuted. Sometimes irate villagers kill the animals after they destroy houses and crops. For more: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1363286.php/
Projects_to_save_Jharkhand_elephants_in_limbo
Blueprint ready for critical wildlife habitats
A blueprint to create inviolate critical wildlife habitats (CWHs) across the country has been finalised by the environment and forests ministry. Unlike the existing protected areas — national parks and sanctuaries — the ministry has suggested a set of guidelines based on scientific criteria to establish the habitats. This is an important step to provide an exclusive space to wildlife when the Forest Rights Act gets operationalised. Under the Act, which is meant to formally recognise rights of forest dwellers, only areas declared as CWHs can be granted inviolate status — sans human presence. Even existing protected areas will have to be re-evaluated under these norms to declare them inviolate if they fall within the set criteria. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Blueprint_ready_for_critical
_wildlife_habitats/articleshow/2413080.cms
NGOs, corporates give lions wall cover
Over 8,000 open wells in Gir forest that claimed the lives of 24 Asiatic lions during the past six years, will finally have parapet walls, courtesy corporates and NGOs. An MoU for this purpose has been signed with Rajkot-based NGO Wild Life Conservation Trust (WLCT) for construction of parapets on 100 wells during the current fiscal, said Bharat Pathak, conservator of forest (Gir). He added that parapets on 1,500 wells will be constructed this fiscal itself. Corporates, including Reliance, Ambuja Cement, Tatas and Shell, besides leading wildlife conservation NGOs, have evinced interest in the exercise, which is likely to be finished in three years. As per a survey carried out by the forest department, 8,778 open wells are situated in 158 villages surrounding Gir forest, which pose a grave threat to wild animals. Around 700 wells, located in Gir forest range, have already been covered by the forest department. The most vulnerable for wild animals are wells in Kotda, Paniya, Chanchai and Dalkhania villages where construction of parapets on wells will be taken up on a priority basis. During the past six years 47 lions had fallen into the wells. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/NGOs_corporates
_give_lions_wall_cover/articleshow/2410033.cms
Soon, forensic vans in Gir to bolster police probe
Recent poaching incidents in Gir have now forced the Gujarat Government to improve police investigations into wildlife crime. The government now wants the Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS) at Gandhinagar to provide special round-the-clock forensic van services in the only natural habitat of Asiatic Lions in the world. The step comes close on the heels of a special wildlife cell that was set up at CID headquarters a few months ago. The state Forest department is preparing the proposal of the project — which aims at stepping up security and vigilance at the sanctuary and bolstering investigations of wildlife crime — with the help of experts from DFS and Precision Operation System (India) Private Ltd in Ahmedabad. For more: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Soon-forensic-vans-in-Gir-to-bolster-police-probe/225556/
Rare tiger reappears after gap of 20 years
The Penthern tiger (South China Tiger), a species unique to China, has reappeared in the wild after a gap of two decades in the Qinling Mountains of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. "We made a breakthrough after more than one year of investigation," said Zhu Julong, deputy director of Shaanxi Forestry Administration Bureau. According to Zhu, Zhou Zhenglong, a farmer in Wencai, a village in Zhenping County, took photos of the animal on the mountain on October 3. "After the careful examination, experts confirmed the authenticity of the photos," he said. "That means the tiger has been found again after more than 20 years." In recent years, the provincial forestry bureau received a number of reports from local farmers saying that they saw big animals like tigers living in the mountains near their villages, prompting the bureau to launch its investigation in June 2006, said Zhu. For more: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-10/13/content_6171865.htm
Dudhwa tiger count by year-end
With the tiger (Panthera Tigris) disappearing from Sariska and precariously placed in Ranthambhore and Bandhavgarh, forest officials are tight-lipped on their numbers in the Dudhwa tiger reserve in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh. This year’s biennial census of the big cat was not conducted by the State Forest Department as the onus for conducting the count, through the camera trap technique, was taken over by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehra Dun, in 2006. In 2005, there were 273 tigers in Uttar Pradesh. Of these, 247 tigers were in the Terai region, including 164 in the Dudhwa reserve. According to the State wildlife officials, the figures of the tiger population in the Terai region and the reserve would be released by the WII at the October 8 meeting of the Indian Wildlife Board/ National Board for Wildlife. For more: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/08/stories/2007100857282000.htm
Experts worried over fall in tiger population
Conservationists have warned against the present status of tigers in India, terming their population now as the “lowest ever” in the past hundred years. Their number, when Project Tiger was launched some 34 years back, was slightly less than 1,800 while at present it is anywhere between 1,350 and 1,500. This is against an estimated 25,000 tigers in the country at the turn of the previous century, they pointed out. Yet the fact remains that India accounts for 65 per cent of the world’s tigers in the wild! The health of tiger habitats and the mountains in the difficult times of wanton commercialisation and growing biotic pressure came up for discussion during a seminar on wildlife and environment protection held to mark the Wildlife Week ahead (October 1 to 7). The Siddharth Singh Natural History Trust organised the seminar. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/03/stories/2007100353680800.htm
Handling of ivory stocks in dark
Ivory or white gold, the most sought after asset of a tusker, is not burnt in India after its death. It becomes government property and is stocked in godowns run by state wildlife departments. About 400 elephants die ever year and 20 are poached, according to estimates of the ministry of environment and forests. These include natural and accidental deaths and those caused by revenge killings. The Wildlife Protection Act, in place for 35 years, is silent on the eventual management of ivory. In case an elephant dies a natural death or in an accident, the ivory is kept in government godowns. Barring the state wildlife authorities, nobody knows what happens to the ivory—whether it remains in tact, given its huge demand in the domestic and the international market. The Act prohibits the sale and purchase of ivory. While a kilogram of ivory fetches Rs 20,000 in the domestic market, its value increases manifold in the international market. For more: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071007/main2.htm
Human-animal conflict in J&K.
A unique version of the classic conflict between wildlife and a prosperous human population is taking place in Jammu and Kashmir. But while the conflict generally centres around ever-precious lands, here the victims of conservation are the traditional and famous furriers of the region. Their livelihood has become endangered. Ever since the ceasefire along the Line of Control fell into place four years ago, there have been signs of a resurgence of wildlife. Animals which had been scared away from their natural habitats by the routine artillery barrage and fire assaults, and were dwindling in numbers, have welcomed the silencing of the guns by returning to their homes. A key element of the counter-insurgency operations has been the ban on carrying firearms in public. While this may not have hindered the militants, it did make things tough for the poachers, particularly after the closure of the small factories in the Jammu region which once produced hunting weapons and ammunition. When it comes to the woes of the furriers, most of them are legislation-related. History would suggest that J&K has actually preceded the rest of the country in terms of wildlife legislation. It had its own enactment way back in 1926, while the national Wildlife Protection Act was passed in 1972 and amended six years later. Yet the major difference was that the fur trade was legal under the 1926 Act. It was only in 1982 that a total ban was enforced. One of the factors is that the skins of animals poached anywhere in the country were taken to J&K where they were cured, converted into garments and passed off as being Kashmiri, hence legitimate. For more: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?date=2007-10-07&usrsess=1&clid=2&id=199845
U.P. new nerve centre of illegal wildlife trade
With wildlife trade emerging as a global multi-billion dollar industry with an estimated turnover of around 20 billion US dollars, next only to narcotics trade, and India being used as a “super market”, several animal species have been pushed towards extinction. Notably the majestic tiger (Panthera Tigris), whose parts remain the most sought after commodity in the international market, particularly in China. The Big Cat has already vanished from Sariska and is on way to disappearing from Ranthambore and Bandhavgarh, largely on account of depredations of poachers and organised wildlife crime syndicates. However, the illegal wildlife trade is not limited to tiger parts. Leopard and otter skins, mongoose hair, elephant tusks, turtles, crocodiles and even snakes figure in the consignment of wildlife crime traffickers. Even as India figures prominently in the route map of organised wildlife crime, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the nerve centre of the illegal trade in wild animals. At a seminar on “Wildlife Crime Detection and Prevention” organised by the U.P. Forest Department in collaboration with Wildlife SOS Uttar Pradesh was described as a haven for organised crime syndicates. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/30/stories/2007093054260600.htm
Birds
Spoon-billed sandpiper on brink of extinction
Conservationists warned that one of the rarest birds in the world was on the brink of extinction. The population of spoon-billed sandpiper decreased dramatically at a key breeding site in Russia. Experts from the Britain-based conservation group BirdLife International blamed the decline of breeding pairs in the remote Russian province of Chukotka on loss of key feeding sites during their migration from Russia to its wintering grounds in South Asia. The bird is also fighting a losing battle at its Russian breeding grounds against foxes and dogs that eat the eggs, the group said. For more: http://newsfromrussia.com/news/russia/11-10-2007/98648-sandpiper-0
Vulture culture
In 1990 the Indian vulture population was estimated at between 20m and 40m, divided between three species. Now it is about 10,000, and falling by 50% a year. Indeed, one species, the slender-billed vulture, numbers a mere 400. The birds are victims of a drug called diclofenac. This is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory that was developed to treat people but adopted for cattle in the 1980s. Unfortunately, it causes kidney failure in vultures—and vultures eat a lot of dead cattle. Hence the establishment of the Bombay Natural History Society's vulture-breeding centre at Pinjore, in Haryana. The centre is intended to create a secure breeding-stock of vultures that may eventually be released into a diclofenac-free wild. It consists of three giant concrete-and-wire aviaries, and is designed to house 75 pairs of each of the three stricken species. At the moment it has 124 vultures, most of them trapped as nestlings in the past two years. For more: http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9898312
Back on the radar
These may be difficult times for tigers, elephants and many other wildlife species, but for birds, there seems to be a lot to cheer about in India. Many of the documented 1,300 bird species are increasingly being spotted in the country. Bird watchers here can now hope to see quite a few rare species. Nearly 10 birds, considered extinct, have been re-discovered recently. In April this year, a rare warbler known as the large-billed reed warbler was spotted after 140 years. Birder Sumit Sen of Kolkata sighted the warbler near Chintamani Kar Bird Sanctuary, Narendrapur, 10 kms South of Kolkata. A single specimen of this specie was collected in the Sutlej Valley near Rampur, Himachal Pradesh, way back in November, 1867. Recounts Sen, “While bird watching, we found this warbler flitting from one tree to another and chased it for 45 minutes. It displayed a rare behaviour — while feeding it constantly fanned its tail and opened and closed its tail every time it hopped from one tree to another. The movement of the bird was fantail (a bird specie), the bird seemed to slide/glide from one feeding point to another. It did not call even once in 12 minutes. This bird was difficult to identify. I took visuals and rotated them around various bird clubs. It was promptly identified as the reed warbler.” Sen says, “I am convinced that there are yet-to-be-discovered birds lurking in the Eastern Ghats and the North-East.” For more: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2007/10/04/stories/2007100450900100.htm
Owl adds new twist to smuggling
This is a problem which is keeping the state forest officials in Nadia district of West Bengal awake at nights. The reason is an unusual spurt in cross border smuggling of owls. Out of 33 species of owls available in India, the barn owl (white owl), an endangered species protected under Wildlife Protection act, 1972 is high on demand. The nocturnal birds are hunted for their eyeballs which are supposed to have high medicinal value. Interestingly, some time ago it was human hair that was in great demand among the smugglers for the making of wigs. However, with the increase in the demand for owls, smuggling along the Indo-Bangladesh border in bordering districts of West Bengal has reached a new high. With the lure for lucre, the villagers residing in bordering Karimpur and Chapra in Nadia district and Jalangi in adjacent Murshidabad district have been hunting for these precious birds at night. The villagers have also been prowling old abandoned houses where owls usually hide during the day. The owl trade came to light recently when the BSF official seized one such consignment in Murshidabad. Sources said people in Kacharipara, Sarkarpara and Gopalpur ghat areas in Nadia and Jalangi in Murshidabad owl-trapping has become a cottage industry. For more: http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/asian-age-plus/ideas-plus/owl-adds-new-twist-to-smuggling.aspx
Wetlands, Rivers & Water
Warning bells in Kole
A decade ago, the Kole wetlands had everything the 85,000 avian residents needed. Now a long battle with chemical pesticides and fertilizers, changing agricultural practices, poaching and proliferating real estate has left it shattered. Today this beautiful reserve in Kerala is left with only 35,000 birds, including seven endangered species. With an area of 13,632 hectares, the Kole wetlands is spread over Thrissur and Malappuram districts and extend from the northern bank of the Chalakudy in the South to the southern bank of the Bharathapuzha in the North. The name, Kole, refers to the peculiar cultivation method from December to May. ‘Kole’, a Malayalam word, indicates a bumper yield when floods do not damage the crop. According to ecologists, the Kole wetlands is the third largest in India, after Chilika Lake (Orissa) and Amipur Tank (Gujarat), in terms of the number of birds. Ornithologists say that 241 species of birds, including passerines, have been recorded in these wetlands, of which 30 per cent are migrants; 70 species of water birds and four migratory raptors have so far been recorded. For more: http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/10/14/stories/2007101450020200.htm
Reptiles & Amphibians
Another Golden Gecko ‘discovered’
In what could be termed as gold rush of sorts, another Golden Gecko, the “severely endangered lizard” has been found in the State this time in the equally threatened Papikonda hills of the northern Eastern Ghats abutting Godavari river. “It was discovered by a team of WWF- India during one of its nature camps at the Papikonda hills ”, said Farida Tampal, director of WWF- India, Andhra Pradesh Chapter. The primitive living lizard protected by the Schedule I Part II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 was sighted a few months ago but not highlighted till it was published in a research journal recently. For wildlife enthusiasts it is big news coming as it were close on the heels of its sighting in Seshachalam hill ranges by young researcher, M. Rajasekhar of Sri Venkateswara University. Its sighting in northern Eastern Ghats is significant as it was earlier thought to be endemic to Seshachalam hill ranges in the south, the WWF team said. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/04/stories/2007100453740600.htm
Gharials critically endangered: report
Gharial, the Indian crocodile, has been declared critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In its 2007 Red List of Threatened Species, which was released recently, the IUCN has included 188 new species and the gharial. The IUCN Red List has put the number of breeding adult gharials in Nepal and India at 182 in 2006. This is a decline of 58 per cent as only a decade ago, the number of gharials stood at 436. Between 2006 and 2007, gharials have slipped from the endangered to the critically endangered list of the IUCN. The IUCN report says these fish-eaters are restricted to the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Mahanadi river. In fact, gharials were once the prized possession of the Mahanadi river system. However, the Orissa Forest Department has managed to sight only three gharials in the river recently. For more: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/224084.html
Smallest Indian frog found
The latest issue of Current Science, the international science journal, reports the finding of the smallest known land vertebrate in India, a miniature frog, from Kurichiyarmala in Kerala’s Wayanad district on the Western Ghats of peninsular India. The finding was reported by Delhi University Systematics Biologist S.D. Biju and his colleagues. This new species of frog, measuring only between 10 and 14 millimetres in size in adult males, belongs to the Nyctibatrachidae family and they have named it Nyctibatrachus minimus. The frog compares in smallness to the smallest reported from any other part of the world, including Cuba, the Amazon and Borneo. There are only 12 recognised species currently in Nyctibatrachidae family. The scientists found the frog in the Shola forests of Kurichiyarmala, at an altitude of 1,200 metres above mean sea level. The frog usually rests under leaf litter or rocks and turns active during the night, with the males starting their calls inflating their subgular external vocal sacs on either side of their neck immediately after sunset. It is most vociferousduring the nights of the monsoon season, the best time for reproduction. Nyctibatrachus means night-frog. For more: http://www.hindu.com/seta/2007/10/04/stories/2007100450021500.htm
Education
Nature Trail a big hit with children
Nearly 200 children from 15 schools took part in the first foundation day function of the Nature Trail set up at the 3 Motilal Nehru Place residence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit here. A street-corner play was staged to highlight the need for wildlife protection. A film on animal rights was screened and well-known environmentalist and Green Oscar winner Mike Pandey interacted with the children. It was mentioned that in its first year the Nature Trail, that has a green canopy and an activity room, was visited by over 2,000 students from 90 schools. An exciting outdoor classroom, the Nature Trail was set up to allow children to have a look at the nature from close quarters. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/06/stories/2007100657830400.htm
AWARDS
Honour for nature film-maker
The Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award has come a bit too late for Mike Pandey, internationally renowned nature film-maker. Much before he was chosen for India’s highest award for conservation and protection of wildlife, Pandey was decorated with Green Oscar, becoming, thereby, the first-ever Asian to receive the world’s most prestigious award. Nevertheless, it was an apt occasion to honour India’s most accomplished and iconic nature film-maker as the nation observed World Wildlife Week (October 1 to 7). Pandey’s comment was: “I am humbled and honoured by the Rajiv Gandhi Award. It is heartening to see the awareness that has come about nature and environment, but this is just a beginning”. For more: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071007/edit.htm#2
An honour for IPCC scientists, says Pachauri
“Humbled” by the honour bestowed on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with the former American Vice-President Al Gore, IPCC chairperson R.K. Pachauri said it was an honour that went to all the scientists and authors who had contributed to the work of the IPCC. “I am only symbolic of the hundreds of scientists and authors who have worked extremely hard that alone has resulted in enormous prestige for this organisation and the remarkable effectiveness of the message that it contains,” he said at a press conference here soon after the Nobel Prize was announced. Dr. Pachauri said the award for the IPCC and Mr. Gore highlighted the importance of climate change and the need for action to meet the challenge that it presented. He appreciated the steps taken by India in reducing emissions. Thanking the governments who have supported the IPCC, Dr. Pachauri, who is also the Director-General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), said the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC contained a major advance in knowledge over previous reports and had not only shown the strong physical science basis for climate change that had taken place since industrialisation, but what was even more noteworthy was the considerably detailed assessment of the impacts of climate change in different parts of the world. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/13/stories/2007101362280300.htm
EVENTS
Thirteenth Conference Of The Parties To The UNFCCC And Third Meeting Of The Parties To The Kyoto Protocol; 3 - 14 December 2007; Bali, Indonesia; http://www.unfccc.int
CMS Meeting To Identify And Elaborate An Option For International Cooperation On Migratory Sharks:; 11 - 13 December 2007; Mahé, the Seychelles; http://www.cms.int/news/events.htm
Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) 2008: Sustainable Development And Climate Change; 7 - 9 February 2008; New Delhi, India; http://www.linux.teriin.org/dsds/2008/index.htm
The Future Of The Carbon Market; 26 - 27 February 2008; London, UK; http://www.marketforce.eu.com/carbon/
17th Meeting Of The CITES Plants Committee; 15 - 18 April 2008; Geneva, Switzerland; http://www.cites.org/eng/news/calendar.shtml
International GEF Workshop On Evaluating Climate Change And Development: Results, Methods And Capacities; 10 - 13 May 2008. Alexandria, Egypt; http://www.esdevaluation.org
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