Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of R.D. Singh Bandral Vs Union of India & Others dated 17/04/2023. The matter related to protecting the flora and fauna of the Kailash Kund-Seoz Dhar region by declaring the same as protected area and not to allow construction of the …
MANY plant species the world over are on the verge of extinction. And the rate of extinction of species in India is perhaps the highest in the world. About 150 species, which were collected a 100 years ago, have not been spotted in the recent past. Around 600 to 700 …
Fuel made from plants may soon provide cheap energy to the rural areas in developing countries. The alternative is a result of the research which has found a method to generate concentrated gas from farm waste. Robert Brown of the Center for Coal and Environment at the Iowa State University …
Sunflowers and spinach could be used to clean up spillage of radioactivity from around nuclear plants if an experiment by the British nuclear industry proves successful. British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) is growing dwarf sunflowers, spinach, sugar beet and Indian mustard on an 80-metre-stretch of land contaminated by leaks from the …
SAND dunes extending till the land meets the sky. That is what we expect a desert scene to be like, right? Wrong. Give geneticists and plant biologists some more time and they promise to make the deserts green. Researchers in Japan have found ways to help plants beat the desert …
The draft of the PVP Act is hanging fire since 1994. It was to be tabled in Parliament earlier this year. What happened? The PVP involves several angles and several ministries ministry of environment and forests (MEF), foreign affairs, commerce and the department of science and technology. All of them …
NAVASSA Island, one of the most isolated places off the coast of Haiti, have been found with more than 800 species of plants and animals. The tip of a sub-merged mountain, Navassa is located about 65 km west of Haiti and nearly 320 km from the mainland of the us. …
SINCE February 1998, four villages in Tumkur district, Karnataka, arc using oil from the Pongamia pinnata seed to fuel alternator engines in biogas plants. Though efficiency of this oil is about 20 per cent lower than that of diesel, countries such as Australia and Fiji are switching over to it …
The giant staghorn fern, one of the endangered plants in the Philippines can now be saved from extinction. Professors at the Central Mindanao University ( cmu ) in Musuan, Bukidnon, have developed a technique that can help save endangered species. The giant staghorn fern ( Platycerium grande ), endemic in …
• The minsitry of environment and forests is all set to issue a notification banning the use of plastic bags for packing items such as meat, fish and cooked food. • Flood waters have forced hundreds of endangered wild animals to flee from Kaziranga National Park in India's north eastern …
PERHAPS no other geographical location attracts researchers, non-governmental organisations and social workers like the Indian Himalaya does. Yet, despite all the effort and finances that have gone towards sustainable development of the Himalaya, gaps exist. The information available is skewed with rampant duplication on one hand and blissful ignorance on …
Toshi, a little girl in Gangtok, wakes up everyday to see a montage of pictures of wild animals - the golden langur, red panda, blue sheep and others she cannot recognise - on the wall. Looking out of the window, she can see the mountain ranges with Kangchendzonga peak standing …
A major factor accounting for the decline in species in Sikkim is lack of study of the ecosystem and inadequate conservation. As A R K Sastry, director, Biodiversity 'Hotspots' Conservation Programme (bhcp) of the Worldwide Fund for Nature says: "Studies conducted on the biodiversity of Sikkim are not enough to …
The first patch of virgin forest was cleared in Sikkim at Nathula Pass, after the king invited the Indian Army to protect the kingdom in 1962. Remote areas were connected by roads to facilitate movement of the army. But development activity began in right earnest after 1975, when Sikkim merged …
Sikkim has three types of forests: temperate broad-leaved (1,829-2,730 m), mixed coniferous (2,730-3,650 m), and alpine scrub and grasslands (above 3,650 m). These forests support a wide range of vegetation. Temperate broad-leaved forests in the state are dominated by oak species like Quercus lineata and Q lamellosa. There are 11 …
Sikkim has a number of rare animal species. Poor conservation practices have resulted in decimation of their populations. Of the 144 mammals known to exist in the state, 39 are regarded as endangered or rare. These include the red panda, east Himalayan tahr, musk deer, snow leopard, jungle cat, marbled …
The 'shapi' or east Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus schaeferi) is a very rare animal inhabiting the alpine region and considered sacred by the Lepchas. Shapi was discovered by Ernst Schaefer, a German doctor, on an expedition in 1938 in Fimphu. It was sighted after a gap of 39 years in …
Sikkim is known for its orchids. The state is home to about 600 species of orchids, including the famous 'lost orchid' - Paphiopedilum fairaeanum (Asian lady's slipper orchid). There are about 80 species considered important by botanists. These are classified into five groups - Cymbidium, Pleione, Coelogynes and Dendrobium species, …
Unplanned domestic - rather than international - tourism is largely to blame for degradation of the environment, as the case of Sikkim shows. According to observers, while foreign tourists - accounting for only 6-7 per cent of the arrivals - are usually highly environmentally conscious, domestic tourists behave irresponsibly. They …
in the South Wales Vale of Tory, uk , the crumbling neglected landscaped garden's of the 18th century, Middleton estate is being transformed into the world's largest single span greenhouse. According to authorities, the elegant structure of steel and glass will be the centre for the new National Botanical Gardens …
