<p>Order of the Madras High Court (W.P.No.28257 of 2022) regarding plea for fixing the carrying capacity of Adhi Karuvannarayar temple located in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, Erode district, Tamil
Thanks to the importance given to forests and wildlife, a congenial atmosphere has been generated in the state for forest conservation.
Endangered sea turtles such as the Olive Ridley have inspired campaigns to save the seas, sandy beaches, and dunes. To save turtles is to save an entire ecosystem. But this protected mascot species faces a rising threat from avoidable coastal development, the planting of exotic trees, and the illumination of beachfront dwellings. The building of coastal structures, including groynes and walls, blocks off access and exacerbates erosion; the planting of casuarina trees preve nts nesting; and lights along the coast confuse turtle hatchlings, fatally attracting them inland. Unless these threats are addressed quickly and scientifically, the Olive Ridley may lose its nesting habitats in the Indian subcontinent and suffer a sharp decline. For many years now, Olive Ridley deaths traceable to human interference have been high. Despite high levels of awareness, recent reports speak of a continuing tragedy. Indian Institute of Science ecologists fear that about 10,000 turtles die annually in Orissa, where they nest en masse. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh provide low or medium density habitats but they are vital to the health of the species. The planting of casuarina trees on the coast, particularly along the high tideline, is a man-made stressor for the Olive Ridley. Although the intention is to protect habitations from cyclones using a tree belt (as in Tamil Nadu), using an exotic species to create a barrier is at best naive. The outcome of massive tree planting on the high tideline on the basis of shaky evidence threatens to deprive the Olive Ridley of its nesting habitat, and many other species of their general habitat. Scientists at a conference organised in Tamil Nadu in 2006 by the Forest Department, the UNDP, and the Nature Conservation Foundation outlined such negative outcomes of poorly conceived interventions. Clearly, it is futile to attempt engineering solutions to make coastlines resilient to natural events such as cyclones and tsunamis: the ecological costs are just too high and the benefits uncertain. There is little merit in creating coastal casuarina plantations (which many fishermen do not favour around their habitations) and concrete groynes and walls (which accelerate coastal erosion elsewhere). The substantial funds available for such projects from multilateral and official agencies can instead be used to mitigate fundamental problems that affect ecosystem health: pollution, saltpans, aquaculture, and inappropriate constructions. A healthy future for the Olive Ridley and the rest of the ecosystem depends on providing active protection on the coast and allowing coastal ecosystems to regenerate naturally.
A Wildlife Institute of India (WII) report has stressed the need for a scientific evaluation of the effects of eco-tourism on a particular area. Presenting a paper on
Only 720 mountain gorillas remain in the wild, all of them in the misty hills of central Africa. Efforts to protect the critically endangered mountain gorilla received a big boost on Wednesday when Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo agreed to cooperate on a 10-year conservation plan for the animals. Only 720 mountain gorillas remain in the wild, all of them in the misty hills of central Africa where the three countries' borders meet. In the past 14 months, at least 10 gorillas have been killed in Congo's Virunga park by rebel fighters and people involved in the illegal charcoal trade. Despite the apes' vulnerability, conflict and mistrust among the countries has previously prevented formal cooperative efforts to stop the poaching and stem human encroachment. But in a joint statement on Wednesday, wildlife officials said their park authorities would work together "to ensure the conservation of the mountain gorillas and their Afromontane forest habitat.' Moses Mapesa, head of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, told a news conference in Kampala: "For the first time, the three countries have decided to protect the great apes which are threatened with extinction and insecurity in the region.' More than a decade of human conflict has damaged tourism in eastern Congo, but for Uganda and Rwanda the gorillas are still a prime attraction, with visitors paying
The Jorhat Forest Division has begun an elephant count in the district from today. Assistant Conservator of Forests Gunin Saikia said that the exercise would continue for five days and would cover three forest reserves
in the
The notification of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (forest rights act) and rules brings a long process to close. But the real
Bears have been rehabilitated in several countries of the world. However, it is surprising that in India rehabilitation of bears has not been practiced before. One of the limitations must surely be the very few areas left in the country where carnivores can be put back.
The document on Project Snow Leopard launched by MoEF recently. It stresses on the landscape approach to wildlife conservation in the Himalayan high altitudes and is based on principles of robust science and community involvement in conservation.
This document addresses the hunting of tropical forest wildlife for food (known as
