In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
A group of Bhil villagers, living in the dry and parched Aravalli hilts near Udaipur, told the authors, "We have been strictly warned by our local leader never to ask for a pucca (metalled) road to our village, because what will we then make year after year as part of …
India is rich in biodiversity which, if used properly, could fill the country's coffers with pounds and dollars. It could also alleviate the poverty and suffering of the local people who have the knowledge and access to these resources. Sadly, the laws governing biodiversity exclude their participation. In the process, …
A subsidy is levied on a product to reduce its price. This means the state (read taxpayer) is paying for part of the product. This is done to meet a national objective. Diesel was highly subsidised in India to help the poor farmer run his pumpset for the purpose of …
In the early 1980s, Indians were shocked to read media reports that the police of Bhagalpur was deliberately "blinding" criminals. What the media failed to expose was the link between corruption in the management of a unique ecology and a consequent rise in crime. All this resulted in a typical …
The solutions to corruption lie in a complex and comprehensive set of responses. • There is a need to study and spread greater public awareness about how corruption is gnawing away the vitals of society and affecting its governance system. This is particularly important in a situation when corruption is …
The corrupt normally observe a law of silence. The public , too, suffers in silence. Once in a while someone comes across to rock the boat and spill the beans. Anna Hazare of Ralegan Siddhi is one such person. His name is synonymous with ecological regeneration. But he has also …
Corruption can affect the environment in four different ways: • Corruption will encourage the loot of the natural estate. And what is worse is that when the people begin to see corruption around them and begin to realise that state regulations are meaningless, they too will join in the plunder …
SILENCE OF THE SCAMS Corruption is increasingly tightening its grip over the daily lives of Indian citizens. Experts describe it as a form of 'tidal corruption'. It has, therefore, become vital to shift attention from the corrupt to the system which breeds corruption The silence is deafening. The corrupt observe …
A MALAYSIAN national, Keng Liang Wong, was arrested in Mexico for smuggling exotic reptiles into the US and was charged for helping smuggle hundreds of live Komodo dragons, Timor pythons, Chinese alligators, and other endangered species. Wong was first indicted in 1992 for smuggling iguanas, lizards and turtles into Florida. …
Orissa chief minister J B Patnaik announced on May 22 that the Gahirmatha beach stretching up to Hukitola in Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary will soon be declared the "core area' where poaching and entry of mechanised trawlers will be strictly prohibited. Expressing concern over the large-scale death of sea turtles, he …
Of all things, sea turtles have become the substance of trade news these days. In March 1998, the US slapped a ban on the import of shrimp from India on the plea that trawlers which fish for shrimp in Indian waters do not use the turtle excluder device. India challenged …
IN 1975, when she was prime minister, Indira Gandhi had suggested deploying Coast Guards to check illegal trawling with a view to leave the Olive Ridleys unmolested in the Orissa area. Gahirmatha had just been brought to the attention of the world by Bustard. Over the years, however, there was …
Thousands of Olive Ridleys, an endangered species of sea turtles, are being swept up dead on the Gahirmatha coast since the beginning of the year. This has set alarm bells ringing in the environment community and experts the world over have voiced concern over the issue. Gahirmatha has emerged in …
the Union minister for environment and forests, Saifuddin Soz, has sought support from developed countries and non-governmental organisations for strengthening the on-going conservation efforts in the country. Speaking at the Third General Assembly of the Asian Conservation Alliance, he cautioned that human greed can always devise ingenious methods for poaching …
despite the ban on trapping and trade of wild birds in India, illegal traffic flourishes almost all over India, especially in northern India, according to the latest survey by the World Wide Fund for Nature (wwf) and traffic -India. The report, based on 64 surveys in 57 trading establishments/trapping areas …
An ecofascist's last stand at Harare India consistently voted for trade bans in products made from endangered species the denouement was dramatic. The decision of the 10th Conference of Parties ( cop-10 ) on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ( cites ) to allow restricted trade in …
in 1976, when India became a signatory to cites , the Indian tiger, the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros and the Asian elephant were already listed as protected species in the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. All three species have fared badly despite laws against domestic trade in these species and international …
India's stand on the elephant showed how insensitive it is to the problems humans face in countries with a high population of the species. India voted for each proposal to ban trade and against every proposal for restricted trade in endangered species, irrespective of its relevance to India. Voting against …
India's proposals to list Picrorhiza kurrooa (Kutki) and Nardostachys grandiflora (Jatamansi) in Appendix II of CITES provided some relief to tired delegates at Harare. And India made a laughing stock of itself. The proposals had been submitted twice before at previous CITES meets, and rejected both times for want of …
