This publication presents the key findings from a preliminary assessment of the policies of African countries relevant to charcoal value chains. The main objective of this study is to assess the extent to which national energy and environmental policies and strategies in Africa have the potential to provide enabling conditions …
People who have never smoked, but who live in areas with higher air pollution levels, are roughly 20 percent more likely to die from lung cancer than people who live with cleaner air, researchers conclude in a new study. "It's another argument for why the regulatory levels (for air pollutants) …
Environmental hazards sicken or kill millions of people — soot or smog in the air, for example, or pollutants in drinking water. But the most dangerous stuff happens where the food is made — in peoples' kitchens. That's according to the World Health Organization, which says that the smoke and …
Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL) plans to set up 1.5 lakh biogas plants by 2016 to ensure access to clean fuel for cooking, said a senior official of the company. The non-bank financial company installed 20,000 plants till June. It helped save 40,000 tonnes of firewood worth around $1.02 million …
Rising global demand for cleaner energy from biomass could drive more land acquisition in poorer nations where food security and land rights are weak, an International Institute for Environment and Development report said on Tuesday. "If left unchecked, the growing pressure on land access could undermine livelihoods and food security …
Gujarat’s environment and forest department is aiming to bring an additional area of 120 sq km along the state’s coastline under mangrove cover by the end of the financial year 2011-12. “We aim to carry out plantation of mangroves in 120 sq km area by the end of this year. …
Floods in North Korea triggered by torrential rain late last month killed 30 people and destroyed more than 6,750 houses, state media said on Friday. More than 15,800 people were left homeless by the floods which also inundated more than 48,000 hectares (120,000 acres) of farmland, "seriously affecting this year's …
Over six lakh trees and some 1,800 betel vines will have to be sacrificed to set up Posco’s Rs 52,000-crore mega steel project in Orissa’s coastal Jagatsinghpur district. The trees to make way for the greenfield project include about three lakh casuarina and as many horticultural plants, official sources said. …
The Langtang National Park & Buffer Zone Area Support Project (LNPBZ SP) works to fulfill the Sacred Himalayan Landscape’s vision of preserving water resource, forest, pasture land, land and flora and fauna through integrated management, enhancing livelihood opportunities for local people, and the conservation of cultural diversity. The Project has …
Forest dependency as a means of livelihood has dropped perceptibly in villages particularly near wet zone forests during the past few decades. The rate is much more after end the decades long conflict. Researchers believe this may be due to a shift towards cultivation of cash crops, despite many villagers …
Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is situated in the Southeast of Bangladesh covering about 10 per cent of the total land. It is the native hoe of 13 tribal communities and these communities have their own traditional knowledge for natural resource managements. This paper provides 8 traditional knowledge namely, folk classification …
Livelihood pattern of the people of an area is directly influenced by the local biodiversity. Biodiversity is essential for human survival and economic well-being, and for the ecosystem function and stability. Over exploitation and biodiversity loss affects livelihood and food security of the local. People change their livelihood strategies as …
A month before the chariot festival of Jagannath in Odisha’s Puri town, newspapers in the state published a government advertisement: “Donate phasi timber for chariot construction.” It promised a felicitation certificate to anyone donating timber for making three gigantic chariots. The appeal soon made headlines. With thousands of devotees set …
Experts at a roundtable here on Monday said the government should promote alternative fuels in rural areas and formulate new laws for effective forest management so that the communities continue to benefit from the resources and contribute towards its regeneration. They also demanded revision of forest laws, addressing landownership and …
Community forestry has been rewarded with US$ 95,000 (approximately Rs 6.8 million) for reducing emissions in the atmosphere causing climate change through enhancement of carbon stocks and sustainable management of forests. Representatives of three community forest users
The Republic of Congo will plant 1 million hectares of trees by 2020 to restore degraded forest and provide wood for paper and fuel, the president said on Friday. President Denis Sassou N'Guesso made the announcement on the final day of a weeklong summit in the Congolese capital, aimed at …
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today took exception to diesel subsidy being "enjoyed" by mobile companies and owners of luxury vehicles and suggested that the measure be instead extended to people in the forest areas in the form of cooking gas rebate to help save the trees. "Diesel subsidy was meant …
Investing an additional $40 billion annually in the forestry sector can halve deforestation rates by 2030, increase rates of tree planting by about 140 per cent by the year 2050, and catalyse the creation of millions of new jobs, according to a report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Backed …
The present study was undertaken to determine the ambient air quality with respect to suspended particulate matter (TSPM), respirable suspended particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) at Sonamarg- a tourist hill station in Kashmir valley. The ambient air quality at three different station namely Sonamarg town, …
This study provides the review of two World Bank experts on the 19 household projects supported by the Bank. The study provides eight lessons, namely: (1) holistic approach to household fuels is needed: the fuel-wood supply has to be sustainable; improved stoves and alternative fuels are needed; and institutions must …
Wood fuel, one of the oldest energy sources on the planet, could become the newest commodity market if it can overcome supply limits and green concerns as demand grows for renewable energy. Supply constraints are starting to put wood fuel into competition with the paper industry, experts say, in an …
