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 …
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' …
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
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 …
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, …
LIVING in conjunction with nature and not in opposition to it, is what the people of Masvingo province in southern Zimbabwe are doing. They are using indigenous methods to manage the natural resources of the region. A grass roots organisation, the Association of Zimbabwean Traditional Environ- mental Conservationists (AZTREC), formed …
CONTRADICTIONs abound in the Thar, the Indian desert. Referred to as Maru pradesh or Marusthali (land of death) in the local dialect, the Thar's abiding features are the seemingly unending bouts of famines and droughts which afflict its inhabitants. In fact, the locals have an apt saying for the phenomenon: …
Genetic diversity refers to the variation of genes within a species.Each variety within a species contains unique genes, and the diversity of genes within a species increases its ability to adopt to pollution diseases and other environmental changes.When these varieties are destroyed, the genetic diversity within the species diminishes. The …
A NEW discovery has challenged the age- old belief that flowers came before bees. While the earliest angiosperms, or flowering plants, came into existence about 120 million years ago, the oldest known fossil of a bee is a specimen nearly 80 million years old, found trapped in amber from what …
BOTANISTS will now have easy access to information on Chinise flora. An English version of the Chinise Florae Republic Popularis Sinicae,documenting about 30,000 Chinise plant species, has been jointly published by the Science Press in Beijing and the Missouri Botanical Garden. It will also be available on floppies, tapes and …
RESEARCH at the Delhi-based Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) have developed an ecofriendly and biodegradable insecticide from marigold flowers. Scientists have found that 2 compounds present in the flower -- alphateriophene, or alpha-T, and erythrosin-B -- are effective against the larvae of the malaria-causing Anopheles mosquito as …
THE Sri Lankan economy is being threatened by the evils of privatisation, according to environmentalists. They maintain that this has resulted in large-scale deforestation in several tea and rubber estates in the country, especially in the Horton plains and Namunukula in the south. The wanton destruction not only threatens the …
THE Bellanwila-Attitdiaya marsh, near Colombo in Sri Lanka, is in deep trouble, reports Mallika Wanigasundara. Despite being declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1990, its survival is threatened by the dumping of wastes, water pollution caused by the discharge of industrial effluents from nearby factories, and the reckless exploitation of its …
MECHANICAL mining rights are being considered on the flood-prone Kalu Ganga south of Colombo for the South African gem trading company, Colombo Sapphire Ltd. According to Panos Features, this will increase the threat of floods as dredging by CSL might weaken the banks and cause them to collapse. Besides, siltation …
IRKSOME mosquitoes? Forget mosquito repellant mats, grow a geranium instead, and have the odour of citronella waft the annoying creatures away. An Australian company has developed a new plant -- Mozzie Buster -- a cross between an African geranium and citronella grass, which they say is an extremely effective mosquito …
BANGLADESH'S second largest waterbody, Beel Dakatia, once a 31,566-ha tract of flourishing agricultural land and balanced ecology, has been flooded with brackish water for the past decade. A dyke built to contain the 24-km-long and 16-km-wide waterbody, as part of an ambitious coastal embankment project, is to blame for choking …
