More than a fifth of the world's migrating species are at risk of going extinct as a result of climate change and human encroachment, according to this report by the United Nations. Migratory species globally are facing critical challenges, with nearly half in decline and over 20 per cent threatened …
High levels of ‘ecological poverty’ – defined as the lack of a healthy natural resource which is essential for human society’s survival and development – are a key cause of the economic poverty of the world’s rural poor. Conversely, healthy lands and ecosystems, when used sustainably, can provide all the …
Memories are interactive. As the country debates over the selling of the public sector Bharat Aluminium Company ( balco ) to a private company, memories bring the Gandhamardan hills in western Orissa into national imagination. Fifteen years ago, the Gandhamardan hills, rich in biodiversity and bauxite equally, were the platform …
over the past 50 years the population of Antarctic emperor penguins has declined by 50 per cent. And, global warming could be to blame. Christophe Barbraud and Henri Weimerskirch, researchers at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Villers en Bois, France, have shown that an abnormally long warm …
The magic of the Himalaya is heady. It has led many researchers and travelers to record their impression of this mountain range. Himalaya : Life on the edge of the world, is one such labour of love by David Zurick and PP Karan both professors of geography at the Eastern …
Illegal mining of Coltan is threatening the protected areas of Congo Kinshasa ( drc ) town. Coltan is a hardening agent for metal used by a number of industries. According to the World Conservation Union ( iucn ), the mining activities are damaging the ecosystem of two important world heritage …
A delegation of New Yorkers headed by George Pataki, the city's governor, recently visited the Puerto Rican island of Vieques to witness the harmful effects of the us navy's combat training programme being conducted on the island. The delegation met local residents and community leaders on Vieques, who are striving …
This book was initiated in 1989 and went into incubation for 11 long years. Over all, the book is good but has its share of imperfections. It successfully highlights the important relationship of birds and plants, but has many flaws. These, I hope will be removed in the next edition. …
located at altitudes of 4,000-5,000 metres, the wetlands in the Changtang area of eastern Ladakh attract a large variety of wildlife as well as humans with their livestock. This area covering thousand of square kilometres lies within the boundaries of the Changtang Wilderness Area or the proposed High Altitude Cold …
leather that weathers,' is a catchline of a well-known shoe brand. What is not mentioned is that it also decays and contaminates the soil and water. In the process of making leather products
At least 10 people died and a few were seriously injured when the world's largest oilrig (located 130 km off the northeastern coast of Brazil) sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Petrobrasthe state-owned oil groupmanages the oilrig. An explosion rocked one of the piles that supported the rig …
Its generally assumed that species diversity helps a disturbed ecology to be nurtured back to health. But a recent study has shown otherwise. M Sankaran of Syracuse Universityusahas conducted a study on the disturbance of grasslands in southern Western Ghats. The responses of grasslands to fire and simulated grazing in …
The Ramsar Convention of IUCN held in 1971 in Iran raised global awareness of the conservation and management of wetlands. Wetlands, the transitional zones that occupy an intermediate position between dryland and open water, regulate the flow of water and nutrients, thereby facilitating optimum functioning of the physical and biological …
massive flash floods in the Sutlej river have left a trail of destruction in the Shimla, Kullu, Mandi and Kinnaur districts of Himachal Pradesh. At least 150 people are reported to have been killed and several crore of rupees worth of property damaged in what is being seen as the …
This report is the outcome of the South Asian Regional Review of Community Involvement in Wildlife Management. This was conducted as part of a global series of regional reviews for the IIED's project "Evaluation Eden: Assessing the Impacts of Community Wildlife Management". This report provides an ecological and socio-economic profile …
the governor of New York has called for the creation of an institute on the Hudson River to conduct research that would be applicable to rivers and estuaries around the world. Governor George Pataki said that he will urge legislators to authorise the formation of an international centre for studying …
How did the idea of ecological restoration (ER) originate? The concept of er has been around for more than a century. The earliest published call for restoration, that one can recall, was made in India by the famous theosophist Helena Blavatsky in 1879. Madame Blavatsky, as she was known, predicted …
