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 …
it is believed when invasive species are introduced in an area they inhibit the growth of local plants by producing chemicals. There is another recent theory that suggests that invasives work by changing the kinds of microbes in the soil. This phenomenon has been seen in the Western Ghats where …
US farmers appeal for commercial hemp farming Two farmers in the US state of North Dakota are appealing against a lower court's decision over commercial hemp farming. The lawsuit aims to end the US Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA's) ban on state-regulated commercial hemp farming. Those advocating the ban on hemp …
Twenty-six years ago, people displaced by the Supa dam were resettled in Karnataka's Uttara Kannada district. The better irrigation facilities promised to them after they were relocated in the district's Ramnagar panchayat haven't materialized. They still face an uncertain future. The people are not allowed to use water from the …
Mining is generally followed by a revegetation programme carried by the Forest Department. In such programmes, often exotic plant species are also used along with native tree species. Since the last one and half decades an exotic tree species, Prosopis juliflora has gained tremendous popularity among forest officials due to …
Butterflies in the Andaman archipelago have been facing colonisation. The carrier of the colonists was the 2004 tsunami which brought three foreign species of butterflies to the islands, threatening its fragile ecology. Of the three species, two, Danias melanipus camorta and Anitilope anomala, are endemic subspecies from the Nicobar group …
Climate is a major driver of forest species distributions and the growth rate and structure of forests. Thus, climate change can potentially have significant effects on mountain forest hydrology, particularly the amount of water available downstream. However, many other factors influence forest biomass and mountain hydrology, and climate change effects …
Despite widespread concerns, the New Zealand government has again okayed aerial spraying of poison 1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate). The country uses about 80 per cent of the world's production of poison 1080. With around 70 million possums munching trees and spreading bovine tuberculosis, the country has no option but to continue …
The first place to become a World Heritage site, the Galapagos Islands, was recently declared under threat from "invasive species' by the UN. Experts say the 19-island archipalego and its surrounding ocean were threatened by increasing tourism and growing immigration. The islands, off Ecuador's coast, are home to unique plant …
Invasion of alien vegetation is troubling the Swaziland government. In the second week of June, the government doled out Real 10 million (us $1.4 million) in its annual budget to combat proliferation of invasive species, particularly the triffid weed (Chromolaena odorata), which is also called sandanezwe in the Swazi language. …
A giant cane toad (Bufo marinus), the size of a small dog, has been caught in Australia's Northern Territory. The specimen, weighing 861 grammes, twice the normal weight, has startled environmentalists who are working to contain this poisonous amphibian across the country. It is the biggest ever found, says Frog …
The Mexican government has launched an emergency plan to contain the invasion of a moth (Cactoblastis cactorium), which is threatening the country's national symbol
Scientists and policy-makers at a 10-day Antarctic Treaty consultative meeting, held in Edinburgh, have agreed upon new measures to reduce the risk of non-native species being introduced into both marine and terrestrial ecosystems in Antarctica. The meeting, which ended on June 23, decided not to allow ships operating in the …
This paper considers key issues in plant invasion ecology, where findings published since 1990 have significantly improved our understanding of many aspects of invasions. The review focuses on vascular plants invading natural and semi-natural ecosystems, and on fundamental ecological issues relating to species invasiveness and community invasibility. Three big questions …
The Terai-Duar Savanna Ecoregion is spread over the southern slopes of the Himalayas in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) lies within this ecoregion covering an area of approximately 49,500 sq km in India and Nepal stretching from the Bagmati River in the East to the …
The ability of many introduced fish species to thrive in degraded aquatic habitats and their potential to impact on aquatic ecosystem structure and function suggest that introduced fish may represent both a symptom and a cause of decline in river health and the integrity of native aquatic communities. The varying …
70 years ago, a species called the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes) turned up at the Christmas Islands off Australia, perhaps stuck to a piece of timber. For a long time, it remained dormant. Then in the mid 1990s, its population began to explode. Yellow crazy ants began to form …
What are the various methods of managing invasive weeds? The government generally comes to know about invasive weeds 10-15 years after they are introduced. By then, they are already spread over wide areas and their extinction becomes impossible. The only thing that can make a difference is the people's awareness. …
How easy is it to predict the potential of a plant to become invasive in a new habitat? When an alien species, be it a pest or a weed gets into another habitat, there is generally a time lag before it becomes invasive. Its introduction, as such is sudden and …
What are the modes of successful invasiveness? There have been some studies on recruitment of pollinators by lantana. When lantana invades as an invasive species into a native ecosystemit proliferates and increases its density and biomass. Consequently, there is a chance that it usurps the native pollinators from the native …
function alien2() { var popurl="image/20040229/30-illus.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=475,height=450,scrollbars=yes") } "A successful invasion is a rare event,' says Suresh Babu, a researcher at the School of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi. An accepted thumbrule is that only one in 10 introduced species become naturalised, and only one in 10 among the latter actually …
