The National Biodiversity Authority has released a new set of rules to manage sharing of benefits generated through the use of biological resources. The Biological Diversity (Access to biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulation 2025 was approved by the Central government and …
The microbial communities of mangroves which form important links in elemental cycling and bioremediation have not been elucidated in most parts of the world. Due to urbanization and deforestation mangroves are also under threat. In the present study, high throughput next generation sequencing technology, based on 16S rRNA amplicon analysis …
In a last-minute move, the government is attempting a new strategy to push through a coal mine in a formally protected Mpumalanga wetland area. This week, the Pretoria High Court was to have heard an application to review the government's hush-hush 2016 approval of a coal mine in the Mabola …
The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), an autonomous council under the Environment Ministry, signed two pacts Monday to spread awareness about forests, and environment among the youths of the country, a government statement said. The first pact was signed between ICFRE, Dehradun, and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), …
At a time when global warming and high pollution levels have emerged as major challenges for policy planners worldwide, a number of community Durga Puja organisers in and around Kolkata have come up with green themes to spread awareness about a clean environment among the public. Children and adults alike …
This report examines three overlapping crises: climate change, biodiversity loss and the growing land and other rights abuses against Indigenous Peoples and local communities. It challenges the assumption that need to look to geoengineering solutions such as Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) to deal with the climate crisis and …
Scientists say that more than 100 thousand varieties of rice have been safeguarded for the future. Samples in the world's largest rice gene bank in the Philippines are being used to help farmers develop rice crops that can survive drought and flooding. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) gene bank …
The Cordillera region occupies a mountainous and forested area in the northern most part of the Philippines. With a favorable temperate climatic regime, the region is endowed with a rich and diverse flora and fauna. Moreover, the region is inhabited by local communities with a diverse culture. With an intimate …
NAMIBIA needs about N$3 billion to fully achieve the second national biodiversity strategy and action plan of 2013 to 2022. Speaking at the resource mobilisation for biodiversity conservation project stakeholders' dialogue in Windhoek yesterday, deputy minister of environment and tourism Bernadette Jagger said the current expenditure is slightly more than …
In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, hundreds of feet underwater, the Greek goddess of love lives on—in the form of a dazzling reef fish. In a new study published on Tuesday in ZooKeys, researchers from the California Academy of Sciences describe a new species of anthias, a common type …
Research published in Nature last week finds that “hydraulically diverse” forests are particularly resilient in the face of drought, which could help inform strategies for restoring forests after they’ve been degraded by wildfires or logging. Hydraulic traits are essentially the mechanisms by which a tree moves water through itself, which …
The present study was carried out to assess floristic diversity, community composition and regeneration status of different forests in Nanda Devi National Park after prohibition of human activities in 1983 with a view to understand the impact of ban, and provide a basis for assessing subsequent changes on plant diversity …
A landmark 13-year study published in Nature Climate Change has provided the first evidence that climate change is affecting terrestrial ecosystems in East Antarctica. While West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula are among the most rapidly warming places on the planet, East Antarctica has not warmed in the same way …
One morning in May, David Kisang, 50, sat outside his tiny dome-shaped hut, with its walls made of sticks and black polythene for a roof, sipping tea. His two red calves grazed behind the hut while his cattle and merino sheep grazed further afield, outside the bamboo-stick enclosure surrounding his …
The world’s most used weedkiller damages the beneficial bacteria in the guts of honeybees and makes them more prone to deadly infections, new research has found. Previous studies have shown that pesticides such as neonicotinoids cause harm to bees, whose pollination is vital to about three-quarters of all food crops. …
In 2013, the remote Tubbataha Reef UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the western Philippines, experienced two ship groundings within four months: the USS Guardian (USSG), a US military vessel, and the Min Ping Yu (MPY), an illegal Chinese fishing vessel. Here, we present the results of coral disease assessments completed …
The Regional Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for Asia and the Pacific produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) provides a critical analysis of the state of knowledge regarding the importance, status, and trends of biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. The assessment …
Govt initiates steps for rapid assessment of biodiversity loss The intense rainfall that unleashed widespread devastation throughout Kerala earlier this month could have extracted a heavy toll on the rich biodiversity and ecology of the Western Ghats region, according to experts. The government has initiated steps for a rapid assessment …
A new legless amphibian known as the caecilian has been discovered on the Seychelles’ main island of Mahe by scientists from the UK, according to an article published by the University of Wolverhampton last week. The new species called montane Mahé (Hypogeophis montanus) was discovered through an ongoing study led …
Endangered monkeys and apes will almost certainly face new risks if Africa becomes a big player in the palm oil industry. That is the message of a study looking at how large-scale expansion of the oil crop in Africa might affect the continent's rich diversity of wildlife. Most areas suitable …
NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Kenya’s leading property developers are staring at an uncertain future as the government intensifies implementation of a regeneration plan for the capital of Nairobi that has resorted to demolition of structures on riparian land and other sensitive biodiversity hotspots. President Uhuru Kenyatta in December last year launched …
