Affidavit filed by the Chief Wildlife Warden, Assam in the matter of news item titled "the last feral horses in India" appearing in Mongabay, November 5, 2024. The matter relates to the critically endangered status of feral horses in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park as well as of smuggling of these …
Silent Valley, one of the few remaining tracts of undisturbed tropical evergreen forests in India, is once again testing the resolve of environmentalists and the never-say-die dam builders of Kerala. The war is not over, after all. Silent Valley, one of the few remaining tracts of undisturbed tropical evergreen forests …
Twenty-eight year old Preetum Singh of Kharongcha village in Tirthan valley has been going into the park since he was 14 to collect herbs and graze his cattle. I found him about 500 metres inside the park. Initially reticent (he thought I was from the Forest Department), he then opened …
the world's biggest unexploited stretch of grasslands faces the risk of being ravaged by mining activities. Vast reserves of minerals like coal, zinc, uranium, oil and gold are hidden beneath the prairie ocean of the Eastern Steppes in Mongolia. Mining companies, already operating in other parts of the country, are …
more than 15 proposals to de-notify protected forests across the country were put on hold when the standing committee of the National Wildlife Board (nwb) requested for detailed information on each of them during its second meeting on December 25, 2003, at Delhi. The standing committee rejected two proposals outright, …
function openmap(){ var popurl="image/20040115/15-map.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=550,height=500,scrollbars=yes") } the biggest threat protected areas across the country face right now is from their purported protector
The Ministry of of Environment and Forests had been bringing out forest statistics based on the data received from the States/UTs. Efforts have been made in the Ministry in obtaining and compiling the data from the States/UTs on important parameters relating to forestry and wildlife and bringing it out in …
function opentab() { var popurl="image/20031130/25-table.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=500,height=500,scrollbars=yes") } some amphibian species are fast disappearing from Assam, according to a recent study. Around half of the species studied showed a decrease of more than 50 per cent in their population density. Observations were made over a five-year period (1998-2002) in Garbhanga reserve …
Conservationists are up in arms at the Nepal government's new policy of handing over management of some national parks, as well as other protected areas, to non-governmental organisations and private institutions. The forestland in question comprises 79 per cent of the country's total protected area. The perception is that only …
Will African wild land be colonised again? Moves by Dutch tycoon Paul van Vlissingen to buy some national parks of Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya and Mozambique have split the continent's polity down the middle. A debate that many thought had been buried along with apartheid has thus been rekindled. Vlissingen …
How can one conserve a wildlife sanctuary better? By flagrantly trespassing on one part of it. Then picking up the tab for planting trees on another in recompense. This is precisely the logic underlying a petition filed by Essar Oil Limited in the Supreme Court (sc). The case, scheduled to …
Why are we, as a nation, so non-serious about following through on actions? Is it the curse of a foreign language in which we act, but not think, that we pick up words and so believe the deed, too, is done? Take any major challenge that has confronted decision-making in …
the Union ministry of environment and forests (moef) has taken Karnataka to task over the implementation of an administrative reorganisation plan by the state forest department (fd) in May. In a sternly worded letter to the chief secretary of Karnataka, the moef reprimanded the state fd for placing two protected …
The alarming rise in poaching in Nepal's national parks is threatening to derail the country's success in rhinoceros conservation. A total of 48 rhinos have died since April 2002, according to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC). While most of the pachyderms fell prey to poachers, some …
april 2003 saw two diverse regions in India take a similar decision. Both partially opened the door to tourism in hitherto protected belts. One is a high altitude state; the other
it was a festival with a difference - the spotlight was on elephants. The venue was Kaziranga National Park (knp), Assam. Besides being a huge hit with tourists, the three-day festival from January 11 to 13, 2003, also augured well for the turmoil-ridden human-elephant relationship in the state. The Assam …
The Wildlife (Protection) Act Amendment Bill 2002 (the Bill) makes for interesting reading. For one, there is recognition of the increasing incidence of wildlife crime and stringent provisions to deal with it. On the other hand, for the first time in wildlife protection law, there is mention of people's participation …
Canada has embarked on a major wildlife conservation campaign. The country is planning to create 10 new national parks, spread over 100,000 square kilometres, and five marine conservation areas over the next five years. Announcing this, Prime Minister Jean Chretien gave an assurance that Ottawa would also do more to …
Bis Hazari lake in the buffer zone of Nepal's Royal Chitawan National Park (RCNP) is getting a facelift. Efforts are on to sanitise and beautify the picturesque waterbody. The district development committee (DDC), district tourism development committee and RCNP's buffer zone area management council have joined hands to conserve the …
Gabon is finally waking up to the significance of protecting its wildlife habitat. This African country, which did not have a single national park till now, has decided to leave aside a full 10 per cent of its land mass for establishing some 13 national parks spread over more than …
