Nature News, Vol. 7, Issue No.5 & 6 (May & June 2018)
BIRDS
The Hindu 17 May 2018Cliff habitat needs a vulture safe zone: Official team visits Haryana to study the conservation methods followed there the Long-billed vulture or Indian vulture (gyps indicus) is critically endangered. According to conservationists, the way to conserve its present population and increase it is to step up Read more
CLIMATE CHANGE
The Times of India 5 May 2018Time to end the addiction to throwaway plastics: This is as pressing a problem as climate change: Plastic is of course a miracle material, and the growth of our use of plastics to the current proportions reflects its incredible utility. It’s invaluable in preserving food in our kitchens, the stuff of medical breakthroughs and a key part of the latest renewable energy technology. Read more
ENIVIRONMENT
The Pioneer 4 May 2018Education for change: Environmental education as a separate subject shouldn’t fall victim to the need for reducing the curriculum load. The subject is vital for comprehension of existing global concerns. A major policy issue that has been pending for over two decades now deserves a decision in the context of the formulation Read more
The Hindu 24 May 2018
Natural capital in the 21st century: India must calculate ‘its green GDP’ to factor in the value of the environment in its growth. A few years ago, India suffered a cost of $550 billion, about 8.5% of GDP, due to air pollution, according to a World Bank report; the cost of externalities such as water pollution and land degradation were possibly far higher Read more
The Hindustan Times 5 June 2018
World Environment Day: The Capital says #GiveUp for single-use plastic: You unwrap that sandwich and chuck the Clingfilm. You eat a takeaway pastry, and then toss away the plastic spoon. You’re thirsty and reach for the stack of plastic glasses kept on top of the water dispenser. Then you move on, but the garbage stays in Read more
The Times of India 5 June 2018
Time to end the addiction to throwaway plastics: This is as pressing a problem as climate change: Plastic is of course a miracle material, and the growth of our use of plastics to the current proportions reflects its incredible utility. It’s invaluable in preserving food in our kitchens, the stuff of medical breakthroughs and a key part of the latest renewable energy technology. Read more
The Hindu 6 June 2018
It will be a war on single-use plastic: India leads the charge in battling plastic pollution on World Environment Day. As the global host nation for the 2018 World Environment Day (June 5), and as a country that generates over 25,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day, India led the charge against plastic on Tuesday, with programmes in different parts of the country focused on the theme Read more
FOREST & BIODIVERSITY
The Pioneer 14 June 2018Breathing life back into forests: Poi village adopted a degraded local deciduous forest and turned it into a haven of biodiversity. It has shown how forests can be revived. One does not commonly encounter reports on the environment front, particularly in respect of citizens’ efforts at conservation Read more
WETLANDS, RIVERS & WATER
The Hindustan Times 28 May 2018At least 10 species in the Ganga face extinction: Ministry reports: At least 10 species, including the Ganges river dolphin and the gharial, found in Ganga for centuries, are on the verge of extinction, according to new report released by the ministry of water resources last week. While the dolphin is listed as Read more
The Pioneer 31 May 2018
Water crisis and the depletion of nature: Millions across Asia rely on Himalayan water but this natural source is now being taken for granted as human activities are stressing the Himalayan water system. Thanks to unplanned development, the population explosion and a heavy influx of tourists, the region is in the throes of a crisis Read more
WILDLIFE & ENDANGERED SPECIES
The Pioneer 3 May 2018Staff crunch hits wildlife crime probing agency: While poaching and wildlife crime are on the rise with high-tech criminals posing new threats online, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), a Central wildlife crime investigation agency, is grappling with lack of staff of 109 sanctioned posts, at least 38 are lying vacant. Shockingly, the Bureau, an arm of the Read more
The Pioneer 14 May 2018
Conservation holds valley’s prized Hangul ‘deer’: All is not lost for the Jammu & Kashmir’s prized Hangul deer, the only red deer species found in India. Giving a ray of hope for its conservation, a survey conducted in the Kashmir Valley has found that apart from the Dachigam National Park near Srinagar, which is presently the only declared Read more
The Pioneer 14 May 2018
Don’t get into tusk trouble, says SC: Court settles the law in 20-year-old case that ivory is 'government property'. To whom do tusks of elephants belong? The Supreme Court has ruled that tusks are the property of the government. A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra filled a half-a-century vacuum in law, with its interpretation that there Read more
The Hindu 5 June 2018
Protect the great and small: States should have the final say in what is important for protection in the Schedule lists of the Wildlife Act. As the Centre gathers inputs from the States on proposed amendments to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Act’s clunky Schedule lists, which do not seem to grasp the immensity of the country’s biodiversity Read more
The Hindu 5 June 2018
Protect the great and small: States should have the final say in what is important for protection in the Schedule lists of the Wildlife Act. As the Centre gathers inputs from the States on proposed amendments to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Act’s clunky Schedule lists, which do not seem to grasp the immensity of the country’s biodiversity Read more
