Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Nayar river is vanishing - a yatra reveals conservation goes beyond science and policy" appearing in ‘The Down To Earth’ dated 03.06.2025. The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Nayar …
according to a new report released by BirdLife International, a global wildlife group, one in eight of the world's bird species faces extinction in the next millennium because of damage to the environment. BirdLife International, representing 2.2 million people in 105 countries, said that 1,200 bird species could become extinct …
Led by the Worldwide Fund for Nature ( wwf ), conservationists have warned that if the growing trade in shahtoosh wool does not stop, the Tibetan antelope, known as chiru , will become extinct. There is a ban on the nefarious trade since 1979 under the Convention on International Trade …
The South Korean environment ministry announced recently that it has discovered several near-extinct species of plants and animals along the Tong River in Kangwon province and also in the coastal regions of the country, according to a report published in the Korea Herald . The ministry said these endangered species …
imprints of a bygone era left on rocks indicate that life on Earth was disturbed five times. They also suggest that all was well and then, suddenly, half or more of the species that were around simply vanished. However, after a million years or two, new creatures evolved to fill …
THE fossil record of Neanderthals abruptly ends about 30,000 years ago. Why Neanderthals suddenly went extinct is a topic of much debate even today. Some experts suggest that they may have lost a "fight" with the more tech nologically- advanced Homo sapiens sapiens, while others say interbreeding with them diluted …
WE HAVE met the enemy, and he is us." This line, from the well-known 1960s US comic strip Pogo by Walt Kelly, still retains its topicality today as a comment on our contribution to environmental degradation. Our insatiable appetite for 'progress' has ensured the extinction of countless life forms, and …
IN A major discovery, paleontologists have found a vast dinosaur nesting site in Argentina. Thousands of fossil eggs were found at the site. Inside the egg fragments, the scientists found the first embryo remains from a major class of large dinosaurs, and first definite fossils of embryo skin from any …
SCIENTISTS in Bolivia have found the world's largest group of dinosaur foot-prints. The footprints up to one metre long were found near the town of Sucre, 700 kilometre southeast of the capital La Paz. Christian Meyer, a Swiss palaeontologist and his colleagues have studied the site and analysed the prints …
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 …
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 …
rainforests are one of the most severely threatened ecosystems on Earth today. Every passing year sees ambitious plans drawn up to prevent them from further degradation or preserve whatever little of them might be left. A new study, however, says that small patches of these forests may not be worth …
thanks to hairdresser Phillip McCrory from Alabama, usa, we now have a potential weapon against oil spills - those hair-raising environmental nightmares. Inspired by the media coverage of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, McCrory asked himself a very interesting question: if oil can coat animal fur readily, why not …
cycads are, perhaps, some of the oldest, rarest and most endangered plants in the world right now. As their habitats have been destroyed through the years, these plants have acquired the status of collector's items, leading to an unprecedented rise in the demand for rare species. The recent outcry against …
