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 …
THE JUNGLES of Vietnam hide a hitherto undescribed mammal. Basing their claim on remains such as skins, skulls and teeth recovered from local hunters, zoologists reckon an adult specimen of the mysterious mammal -- named Pseudoryx nghetnhensis -- weighs about 100 kg, is 80-90 cm high at the shoulder and …
THE POPULAR fish, Palla, or Ilish as it is known in Bangladesh, is an endangered species, says a Panos Features report quoting Mirza Arshad Beg, former chairperson of the Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Beg says dams have restricted the fish's movement in the last few decades and, …
WITH ITS long, angular body, supple spine and cleat-like claws, the cheetah can chase down a car, speeding at over 115 km an hour. But its specialised aerodynamics are also precipitating its extinction. Take, for example, Namibia, which has the world's largest cheetah population, but where the species has declined …
IN US President Bill Clinton's nightmares, an endangered owl species must play a starring role, for he is trapped in the dilemma of protecting it or the jobs of thousands of loggers. The spotted owl once haunted his predecessor, George Bush, but Bush decided in favour of the timber interests …
"MARBLE, no; water, yes," shouted demonstrators at a recent rally in Kathmandu, demanding an immediate end to quarrying in the Godavari hills of the picturesque valley in which the capital nestles. The rally organised by Kathmandu Upatyaka Batabaran Bachau Andolan, warned the agitation would intensify if the government did not …
UNCONTROLLED commercial exploitation is threatening the extinction of about 50 Indian orchid species, including such popular ones as jewel orchids and lady slipper orchids (Current Science, Vol 63, No 12). Though orchids have vast commercial potential, mass multiplication techniques have not been implemented in India. This has resulted in rapid …
DUGONGS, a marine mammal that inspired the mermaid legends of ancient seafarers, may soon vanish from Indian waters if their large-scale slaughter is not stopped in Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar. Sea cows, as they are also known, are believed to number a mere 100 now. Despite the …
PAMPERING APPLES Subsidies for apple growers in Himachal Pradesh, 1985-86 to 1990-91. Rs (in crores) HORTICULTURE DEPARTMENT Medicines against scab disease Foot sprayers Power sprayers Insecticides Transport of timber from outside the state 4.06 0.18 0.41 0.17 1.05 FOREST DEPARTMENT Concessional timber for packing crates 47.32 HPMC Concessions on cartons …
CRATES for one hectare of tomatoes, which is grown as an off-season crop in Himachal Pradesh, require wood from 10 ha of chir pine forest, says R V Singh, former director general of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education. Tomatoes -- as well as peas and beans -- …
BANANAS are thirsty plants, and farmers in the Jalgaon area of Maharashtra -- who produce 10,00,000 tonnes of the state"s annual banana output of 17,00,000 tonnes -- have literally begun mining for water. Groundwater levels in the area have fallen from 22 m in 1970 to 60 m. Baliram Borawale, …
FARMERS in the orange-growing regions of Warud and Morshi in Amravati district of Maharashtra refer to the area as "the California of Vidarbha." According to the directorate of horticulture, of the 36,800 ha under orange cultivation in the state in 1989-90, 29,000 were in Amravati and Nagpur districts. To keep …
GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD Areas earmarked in the Five-Year Plans Mango Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Goa Citrus Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Assam, other NE states Litchi Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh Guava Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, …
WHEN GOD forbade Adam and Eve from eating the apples from the Tree of Knowledgehe probably had environmental interests in mind. But Eve couldn"t resist the temptationand neither could Adam. Too bad. The price for their folly is still being paid. The Indian governmenttooit seemscan"t fight temptation. Encouraged by successes …
Conservationists in Kerala want to ban an arrack shop located in the heart of the Chinnar wildlife sanctuary because it endangers the grizzled giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura dandolena). The Idukki district sanctuary is one of only two places in India where the giant squirrel exists. Wildlife lovers contend the land …
ILL-CONCEIVED human intervention can all but destroy a wild animal's habitat and this has been amply illustrated at the Keoladeo National Park (KNP) in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. Successive years of worsening food and water scarcity are blamed for the lessening number of rare Siberian white cranes visiting the park. This year, …
CLIMATE change brought about by the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could lead to mass extinction of wildlife in isolated habitats (Conservation Biology, Vol 6 No 3). Global warming is expected to raise temperatures in the northern temperate latitudes by 2o to 6oC by …
Information on the African rainforest elephant, whose survival is threatened, is trickling in now via satellite, thanks to a new technology. Wildlife biologists of the New York Zoological Society have put collars that emit ultra-high-frequency signals on a forest elephant in Korup National Park, Cameroon, and on a savannah elephant …
Increasing instances of theft of plant species from Asian countries led delegates at a recent symposium of botanists in New Delhi to stress the need to recognise the importance of taxonomy - the science of classifying organisms. The UNESCO-sponsored meet was organised by Botany 2000-Asia, a network of Asian botanists. …
IN A RECENT article, entitled Decline and Fall of Amphibians in the New Scientist dated June 27, mention is made of the declining population of the common Indian bullfrog, Rana tigerina, attributed primarily to the harvesting of frogs to meet the Western culinary demand for frog-legs. How the New Scientist …
THE GRANT of fishing rights on Haleji Lake, Pakistan, to a contractor has stirred up a hornet's nest and a group of environmentalists gone to court wanting the award to be invalidated. The group says organised, large-scale fishing in the lake will disturb the large number of migratory water fowl …
