The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
Ahad Miah has come a long way from his tree felling days. He is now one of the custodians of the Lauachhara protected forest, working shoulder to shoulder with government appointed forest guards. "Now we can sleep in peace. The police and forest gaurds are not after us,' says the …
Yala, January 25, 2007: Sri Lanka's only known crossed-tusk elephant in the wild, known locally as Dalaputtuwa dies of paralysis caused by gunshot wounds in the periphery of a highly protected national park. The tusker, a rare sight in Sri Lankan jungles, was shot by 35-year old Punchi Banda Samarathunge …
Precedent for activities allowed inside protected areas >> Supreme Court (SC) permitted Power Grid Corporation of India to lay a transmission line in Rajaji National Park, Uttaranchal. The order passed on October 29, 2002, allowed felling of 14,739 trees as against 66,427 trees approved by the Union ministry of environment …
Praveen Bhargav The Western Ghats is recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot. In the past, many large development projects including highways, railway lines, mega dams, nuclear plants and mines have intruded into this biodiversity treasure trove. Lack of knowledge and absence of effective watchdogs contributed to the ad-hoc manner in …
Documentary: Haritham Director: Rajendra Prasad Producer: Jaycee Foundation and Gothrabhumi films Mangala Vanam is a bird sanctuary in the heart of Cochin. Ostensibly so. But migratory birds have stopped visiting this mangrove since the last few seasons. Declared a protected area in 1972, this green lung in Kerala's coastal city …
Botswana's autochthonous Bushmen (or the San people) have won legal rights to return to their ancestral homeland in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, after the High Court of Botswana ruled against their eviction by the government. Following the eviction, the Bushmen had been living in resettlement camps just outside the …
Kenya's Ogiek tribal people, one of the last hunter-gatherer communities in east Africa, have joined Botswana's San people (or Bushmen) in their fight against the government to allow them return to their ancestral land. Originally, the San people lived in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (ckgr). In 1997, they were …
Tracking the snow leopard: The life and habits of the elusive snow leopard will no longer be a mystery. For the first time, a team has fitted a snow leopard with a global positioning system (GPS) collar to track its movements. The 35 kg female was captured on the Purdum …
The issue of displacement and rehabilitation of people from wildlife areas is a recurrent and central theme in the context of crises in nature conservation in India. India is one of the countries where the issue of relocation has lately acquired centre-stage in debates on biodiversity conservation.
in march 2006, Himachal Pradesh gave the go-ahead to proposals denotifying four sanctuaries and redrawing boundaries of 15 areas, including protected areas. Not surprisingly, the areas are required for either mining or hydro-electric projects or roads. Ridden by controversy The Majathal Wildlife Sanctuary in Shimla district is still caught up …
lankan fuel crisis: Sri Lanka recently reached a settlement with the Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation, to resolve a fuel crisis in the country. LIOC was unable to import any fuel from India unless the Lankan government paid at least Rs 1 billion …
Displacement resulting from the establishment and enforcement of protected areas has troubled relationships between conservationists and rural groups in many parts of the world. This paper examines one aspect of displacement: eviction from protected areas. The authors examine divergent opinions about the quality of information available in the literature. They …
The Tanzanian government recently began evicting pastoralists from the Ihefu basin in the country's Mbeya city claiming they were causing environmental degradation. Ihefu, a catchment basin of Rufiji river in the Mbeya city, is also known as the Usangu wetland. Around 1,000 pastoralists, who collectively own two million heads of …
When it comes to saving biodiversity, India leaves no stones unturned to present a positive image at international forums like the Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd). India protects its biodiverse areas and maintains sanctuaries and national parks. It makes extensive 10-year management plans for each protected area and implements them …
the Himachal Pradesh forest department plans to denotify four sanctuaries in the state and redraw the boundaries of 15 others. Authorities say the move will rationalise protected areas in Himachal Pradesh. The sanctuaries to be denotified are Norgu in Chuhar valley, Darlaghat and Sili in Solan district, and Naina Devi …
As envisaged in the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, Critical Wildlife Habitats are to be declared by the Central Government in the Ministry of Environment and Forests after a process of consultation by Expert Committees. In this regard, these guidelines are issued, …
Secondary succession in tropical areas following recent human disturbances is becoming more common. This is particularly evident in regions of tropical rainforests, long valued by conservationists for their remarkable species diversity. In Southeast Asia, as in the neotropics, central Africa and South Asia, tropical forests have been logged for timber, …
