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 …
• 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
researchers have known since the 1960s that nitrogenous fertilisers run-off severely affects lakes and rivers. Recently published studies show a bleaker picture. Polluting waterways of the world and displacing mineral nutrients from forest soils will result in wide-scale destruction of both forest and marine ecosystems. Nitrogenous compounds such as ammonia …
Phytotech, a company based in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, USA, has come out with a technique to purify water contaminated with radiation. Interestingly, the technique uses sunflowers. It works by soaking up uranium from streams and other water sources near derelict nuclear sites. Phytotech tested the effectiveness of sunflowers in …
the existence of flora and fauna at Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (ndbr), one of the 14 biosphere reserves in the country, is threatened. The biosphere reserve, situated in the northern part of the western Himalayas, is home to a number of rare and endangered species, both flora (Aconitum balfourii, Podophyllum …
a major demonstration was held in the second week of October in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka. The rallyists were protesting against mega development projects and tourism, which are hurting the ecologically sensitive area. The rally was led by members of the Uttara Kannada Parisara Sanrakshana Samiti and Medha Patkar of …
FROM the state of Gujarat comes one of the more recent examples of innovation in desert reclamation. A private industrial house (the Benzer group) has successfully reclaimed a large chunk of saline wasteland in Bhachau district of Kutch using halophytes, flora which grow in saline habitats. ,The word 'Indian desert' …
even as the Laotian government held a public discussion on the merits of a proposed us $1.5-billion dam in end-January, logging trucks roared through the village of Nakai Neua at the project site. The Nakai plateau in central Laos, home to 23 poor ethnic villages spread over an area of …
The effects of a rise in temperatures are becoming increasingly evident in the Antarctic region, and the worst sufferers seem to be the local fauna. With mean temperatures having risen by 1
rare species of plants in China came under legal protection recently. The wild plants protection regulations, which had been ratified by the country in September 1996, took effect from January 1 this year. Calestous Juma, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said that this move was an important …
PLANTS can be cultivated in test-tubes that contain the appropriate nutrient medium. Any part of the plant can be inoculated into the medium to produce a large number of plants. This system is far more efficient and cost-effective as compared to conventional methods of multiplication. Tissue culture, to begin with, …
