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 …
mangrove vegetation along the 30,000 square kilometre coastline of Gujarat has reduced by 33.5 per cent in past two decades, reveals satellite data from the space application centre of the Indian Space and Research Organisation (isro) in Ahmedabad. Though the 1998 cyclone is cited as the main reason, human activities …
While tiger parts, ivory and sandalwood smuggling continue to attract all the public attention, what India is losing is its medicinal wealth to well-organised smuggling networks run by thousands of Veerappans all across the country. Mum's the word on the trade practices, while forests, whether in the north, south, east …
It is a common sight near every forest area to see loaded trucks making their way through the dark cover of the night. The first thought that crosses one’s mind is that they are weighed down with timber. Wrong. Many times, what is being carried out is the herbal treasure …
In April 1999, a director of a reputed environmental organisation in Dehradun was tipped off about 12 trucks waiting at the check-post in Dehradun. They were carrying in various quantities medicinal plants that did not feature in the list of ntfp allowed to be collected in the region comprising Uttaranchal, …
The Indian herbal industry is estimated to have a turnover of Rs 2,300 crore annually. It is also involved in the export of finished products, intermediaries and bulk raw materials. More than 90 per cent of the plant species used by the industry are, however, collected from the wild of …
Considering the shortage of medicinal plants and the need to sustain ism, cultivation and sustainable harvesting of plants from the wild has become absolutely necessary. One way of solving the problem would be to encourage cultivation by small farmers and tribal people and make big manufacturers of herbal products source …
Realising the importance of medicinal plants in the health care system available to the poor people, the department of family welfare of the mohfw started the vanaspati van yojna as part of the reproductive and child health programme in October 1997. In other words, it means converting large areas of …
Three hours from Madurai is Shenbaha Thopu. Rich in forest wealth, the peripheries of the forests are inhabited by 24 families of the Pallyan community who have traditionally been involved in the collection of non-timber forest produce (ntfp). Now something else has become a part and parcel of their lives: …
Their flights to the distant lands turn into flights of death as the white, long-limbed, stately birds make their way from the harsh climes of Siberia to the tropical lands of India. The Siberian crane ( Grus leucogeranus ) is the most endangered of the crane species as these beguiling …
Half the watershed area of the world's freshwater systems is estimated to have been lost in the twentieth century, as land was converted to agriculture and urban use, or levelled to combat diseases such as malaria. Physical alteration, habitat loss and degradation, water withdrawal, overexploitation, pollution, all contribute to declines …
british birds are on the verge of extinction due to intensive farming and use of herbicides and pesticides. This was stated in the Annual Breeding Bird Survey, compiled by the British Trust for Ornithology ( bto ), government advisers, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ( rspb ) and …
EVEN AS human-induced extinction depletes the Earth's biodiversity, frantic efforts are on to minimise this depreciation. Many see the science of genetics as a genie that can be commanded to fabricate extinct creatures out of fossils. This book quells such misconceptions. This compilation of scientific papers exorcises such sensationalistic myths …
A dead male goosebeak whale has been found on the shores of Vieques island. The Caribbean Stranding Network is studying whether there is any correlation between the death of the goosebeak whale and of other Caribbean whales and the bomb training programme of the us navy being conducted on the …
the killing of endangered Olive Ridley turtles continues unabated on the Orissa coast. According to field observers, almost 659 turtles have died on the coastal stretch at Gahirmatha during the last three months. In 1999, at least 20,000 turtles had died while swimming ashore. The number is likely to rise …
gone are the days when scientists used to experiment on animals. Now human beings are the guinea pigs. Led by the Canada-based Rural Advancement Foundation International, a controversial Human Genome Diversity Project ( hgdp ) is now being undertaken by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology ( ccmb ), …
According to the World Conservation Union's listing, the bird is safe and secure. But it appears in India's Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as a Schedule IV species
Breast meat is a delicacy in USA. So much so that a company called Avigenics has decided to genetically modify chicken into one that can give the country's citizens more breast meat per palate and plate. Or to derive some medical benefit for the pharmaceutical industry. That's not all. It …
The first step for the development of a poultry industry in India was taken in 1860 with the founding of the Indian Poultry Club in Lucknow by some British officers. Then in early 20th century foreign missionaries began to import foreign or exotic breeds. One of the first breeds to …
There was a time when a banquet in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh was considered incomplete without kalamansi to eat. Kala or black and masni or meat, literally means bird with black meat. Kadaknath (strong), as the fowl is popularly known, graced every rite and ritual. It is not just …
long before the birth of Christ, a bird, never seen before in the valley of the Blue Nile, reached the court of the pharaohs. Neither the architectural grandeur of the court nor the
