NatureNews

NatureNews for the week ending October 17, 2008. To subscribe to NatureNews, please write to Library.

Environment - General

Villages around tiger reserves to be shifted
Turning tiger-inhabited forests into inviolate-people free-zones would pick up pace soon. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has requested the Planning Commission for Rs 261.58 crore to relocate more than 40 villages from the core of nine tiger reserves by the end of the financial year. Considering that the government was able to relocate only eight villages in 30 years since the Wildlife Protection Act was implemented, this would be a big leap in a direction that conservationists and wildlife experts have been clamouring for long. The big fillip to the relocation process has come, NTCA officials believe, with the enhanced R&R package approved recently. As compared to the Rs 1 lakh that was earlier available per family for settling forest dwellers, NTCA will now provide Rs 10 lakh per adult to those who agree to relocate. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Tiger_reserves_Villages_to_be
_shifted/articleshow/3538156.cms

Ashok Khosla is IUCN's new president
Indian environmentalist Ashok Khosla has been elected president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), during its World Conservation Congress in Barcelona. Khosla defeated Purificació Canals of Spain and Carlos Manuel Rodríguez from Costa Rica in the presidential run-off, the international NGO said in an e-mailed statment. Khosla is chairman of New Delhi-based NGO Development Alternatives, which promotes commercially-viable, environment-friendly technologies for rural communities in developing countries. He was earlier a director in the United Nations Environment Programme. Khosla will take over from Valli Moosa, who took up the post four years ago. IUCN has over 1,000 governments and NGOs among its members, and some 10,000 volunteer scientists in more than 150 countries. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/Ashok_Khosla_is
_IUCNs_new_president/articleshow/3592660.cms

NTCA gets new logo
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has adopted a brand new flagship logo depicting its task of conserving the endangered big cats in the country, apparently to counter the allegation of wildlife activist Belinda Wright. "The Centre of Environment and Education (CEE) has created the logo for us as the existing one was being temporarily used. Now the new logo can be used in-house," Rajesh Gopal, member-secretary of NTCA, said. He said the new image displaying the profile of the striped cat on a green background has been made keeping with the organisation's image - a protector of the endangered predator. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/_NTCA_gets_new_
logo/articleshow/3590094.cms

Karera wildlife sanctuary on its deathbed
Once known for the endangered Great Indian Bustard's habitat, Karera Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh today has not a single bird species, thanks to apathy and mismanagement of the bureaucracy. But what is concerning wildlife experts now is the fate of the ungulates like black bucks and others species in the sanctuary in Shivpuri who too, they say, face threat of extinction. Citing pressure from villagers as well as absence of bustards, the state government has recently denotified the entire sanctuary sprawled over 202 sq km and is seeking the Centre's approval. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/Karera_wildlife_
sanctuary_on_its_deathbed/articleshow/3569490.cms

Fast growing India faces ecological crunch
As the world grapples with the escalating effects of the financial crisis, ecologists are pointing to another mounting – and unsecured – debt: a growing gap in India between the amount of natural resources the country uses and how much it has. India now demands the biocapacity of two Indias to provide for its consumption and absorb its wastes, according to a report released by Global Footprint Network and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The report, was presented to a conference in Delhi that included top Indian environmental officials and leaders of Indian industry. India’s Ecological Footprint – the amount of productive land and sea area required to produce the resources it consumes and absorb its waste – has doubled since 1961, according to the report. Today, the country’s total demand on biocapacity is exceeded only by the United States and China. “India is depleting its ecological assets in support of its current economic boom and the growth of its population,” says Mr. Jamshyd N. Godrej, Chairman of the CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre. “This suggests that business and government intervention are needed to reverse this risky trend, and ensure a sustainable future in which India remains economically competitive and its people can live satisfying lives.” For more: http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3399 

Climate Change & Energy

Climate change will destroy penguin colonies
A rise of more than two degrees Celsius in global temperatures will be enough to wipe out many penguin colonies. A new WWF report - 2°C is Too Much - shows that the colonies of 50 percent of the iconic emperor penguins and 75 percent of the Adélie penguins are already under threat. Climate change models forecast that a two degrees Celsius temperature rise above pre-industrial level could be a reality in less than 40 years, producing a strong reduction in the sea ice cover of the Southern Ocean which is an essential nesting and feeding ground for Emperor and Adélie penguins. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/Climate_change
_will_destroy_penguin_colonies/articleshow/3592709.cms

7,000 species susceptible to climate change
More than 7,000 species in the world - 35 per cent of birds, 52 per cent of amphibians and 71 per cent of warm-water reef-building corals - are likely to be particularly susceptible to climate change, the IUCN has said in a study. The IUCN, considered the world's most prestigious organ in assessing the vulnerability of species, said the report marked the first systematic assessment of species susceptibility to climate change. The report said climate change may cause a sharp rise in the risk of extension and rate of extinction of currently threatened species. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/7000_
species_susceptible_to_climate_change/articleshow/3584828.cms

UN sees risks mounting for global warming fight
The struggle against climate change must not follow world trade talks into limbo as risks mount that the credit crisis will sap commitment to the fight, the U.N. climate chief said. Yvo de Boer said he was worried about the impact of the credit crisis on international action to fight climate change, as U.S. and European governments pour cash into keeping commercial banks afloat. "You can only spend a dollar or a euro once," he said. "I certainly think it's a worrying development. It's more a matter of the past couple of days than the past couple of weeks," de Boer told Reuters, referring to a call by European automakers for money to help them cope with emissions curbs. For more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Developmental_Issues/UN_sees_
risks_mounting_for_global_warming_fight/articleshow/3568508.cms

Forest & Biodiversity

Forest CO₂ storage plans should aid poor
Forest protection can help fight climate change but any UN-led projects must also ease poverty and safeguard rights of indigenous peoples, an international alliance said. The group, spanning 250 representatives of business, trade unions, forestry companies, governments and local and indigenous peoples, laid down guidelines for an international drive to tap forests to help soak up heat-trapping carbon dioxide. Deforestation, with trees burned to clear land for farming from the Amazon to the Congo, accounts for 20 percent of world emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. Trees store carbon dioxide as they grow and release it when they die. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/Forest_CO2_
storage_plans_should_aid_poor/articleshow/3576345.cms

'Settle forest rights first, industry can wait'
The bone of contention between wildlife and tribal lobbies could now turn into a headache for project developers, especially mining and power sectors. The Congress general secretary Kishore Chandra Deo has pointed out to PM Manmohan Singh that the diversion of forest land for industrial and infrastructural projects before the implementation of Forest Rights Act (FRA) was illegal. Deo, who has been pitching for the FRA in the face of in-house resistance, has noted that UPA's celebrated pro-tribal law stops the government from removing the forest dwellers till their claims for land rights were settled. The 2006 Act is meant to legally recognize the rights of dwellers who have been traditionally living in the forests but without any legal right to the land. The process for dwellers to file claims for land rights and a verification by the state is in early stages and could take upto six months to be clinched across the country. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Settle_forest_rights_first_industry_
can_wait/articleshow/3564045.cms

Marine & Oceans

Large population of endangered dolphins found in Bangladesh
The world's largest population of vulnerable Irrawaddy dolphins -- famed as aquarium attractions -- has been found in Bangladesh's waters, according to a five-year wildlife study. Until now, it was believed the small light-grey mammal was threatened and the International Union of Conservation of Nature had put five of its Southeast Asian populations on its list of critically endangered animals. But the study, launched in 2003 by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society and the Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project, has counted 5,832 Irrawaddy dolphins along Bangladesh's coast and estuaries. For more:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/Large_population_
of_endangered_dolphins_found_in_Bangladesh/articleshow/3584832.cms

Wildlife & Endangered Species

Increasing tiger, panther population noticed in TN
The wildlife population in Sathyamangalam forests in this district has started increasing, thanks to the efforts taken by officials to provide sufficient water to animals and control poaching in the area. Due to sufficient water available inside the forests, migration of animals like elephants, bison and other animals to other places from Satyamangalam areas during summer season have reduced to a minimum, district forest officer, Rama Subramaniam said. It was revealed in a recent census taken by the officials that there were 10 tigers and 25 panthers in Sathyamangalam forest area alone. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/Increasing_tiger_
panther_population_noticed_in_TN/articleshow/3573330.cms

Protecting the snow leopard
As a big cat native to the icy trans-Himalayan ranges, the snow leopard is an elusive and intriguing species. Uncia uncia is a graceful golden-eyed animal with thick fur, padded paws that help it move noiselessly on rocky slopes, and a gloriously long tail that provides balance on the tricky terrain. Like the tiger, the snow leopard is a keystone carnivore species whose future is clouded by conflicts with people — in this case, high-altitude pastor al communities. Although these peaceable folk have historically co-existed with the snow leopard in a dozen range countries, the increase in livestock numbers in recent times has resulted in depredation and retaliatory killing of the animal. Poaching to supply markets for fur and body parts presents another challenge. Fortunately, in India, conservation initiatives for the snow leopard look quite promising. Communities have been encouraged, with excellent results, to work for its survival in places such as Spiti valley (Himachal Pradesh) and Ladakh. For more: http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/02/stories/2008100255771000.htm

Large number of Kerala animals, plants in Red List
From Myristica malabarica, a tree found in swamp forests, to birds such as painted stork and black-headed ibis and mammals such as Malabar civet and Nilgiri tahr, a large number of plants and animals endemic to Kerala are there in the latest Red List of Threatened Species brought out by the IUCN. The list “provides taxonomic, conservation status and distribution information on plants and animals that have been globally evaluated using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.” The list is drawn up to determine the “relative risk of extinction” and to “catalogue and highlight those plants and animals that are facing a higher risk of global extinction.” For more: http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/13/stories/2008101357040100.htm
Red List of endangered species - thousands of species at risk of disappearing
The survival of at least one in four land mammals is in doubt but it could be as high as one in three, according to the latest Red List of endangered species. In the world's oceans and seas the situation is even worse with one in three marine mammals under threat. Amphibians are also in severe trouble with 366 species added to the 2008 Red List. There are now 2,030 species - one in three - either threatened or extinct. And a representative sample of reptiles shows that over one in five face a battle to survive. Life on Earth is disappearing fast with man inflicting most of the damage, according to the most comprehensive report of its kind drawn up by the IUCN. On land more species face oblivion because of loss of habitat, hunting and climate change while in the oceans pollution and the side effects of fishing are taking a huge toll. An international research team made up of more than 1,700 experts in 130 countries compiled data for the world's 5,487 mammalian species including for the first time marine mammals. All the world's birds and amphibians were also assessed. For more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/06/earedlist106.xml

Extinct rat rediscovered in Australia
The desert rat, a small mammal classified as "presumed extinct" since 1857, has been spotted in New South Wales' (NSW) Sturt National Park. University of North South Wales (UNSW) student Ulrike Kloecker described the discovery as exciting. "After all this time I have worked here, I believed I knew all the species that occurred in the area. I never thought I would actually have to get the mammal identification book out again," she said. Ulrike works at the Sturt National Park, under the department of environment and climate change (DECC), which supported the PhD project investigating the ecology of the small mammal and reptile communities. For more: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200810150931.htm

Insects

Indian spiders in IUCN Red List
Indian tarantulas, hairy and large spiders, are now in the Red List of species threatened with extinction, according to a leading global environmental network as it unveiled its latest global study of threatened species. Highly prized by collectors and threatened by international pet trade, tarantulas are also facing habitat loss due to new roads and settlements, according to the report of the IUCN. The report was released at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona. The Rameshwaram parachute spider has also been listed as critically endangered as its natural habitat has been almost completely destroyed, the report said. The fishing cat, found in India, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java also moved from vulnerable to endangered due to habitat loss in wetlands. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/Indian_spiders_in_
IUCN_Red_List/articleshow/3568763.cms

Birds

Coastal Nicobar bird species need more conservation efforts
The tsunami 2004 has wiped away a significant 70 per cent population of the Nicobar megapode, an endemic coastal living bird species in Nicobar and Andaman island. However, as the birds are regenerating in the villages evacuated by the locals, there is no cause for immediate worry, if conservation steps are taken with the participation of locals, says the study. "It is estimated about 800 breeding pairs of the Nicobar megapode occur on the coastal habitat of the Nicobar islands after tsunami killer waves swept the island. It is nearly 70 per cent less than what was reported before the tsunami," says findings of the study done the last two years. The study was jointly conducted by R Sankaran, director of Coimbatore-based Salim Ali Centre for Orinthology and Natural History (SACONH) and K Sivakumar of Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII). For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/Coastal_Nicobar_
bird_species_need_more_conservation_efforts/articleshow/3594300.cms

Birds' decline shows wider damage to nature
Dwindling numbers of birds worldwide are a sign that governments are failing to keep promises to slow damage to nature by 2010, an international report said. Rising human populations and clearance of forests for farming or biofuels were wrecking natural habitats, according to the study by Birdlife International, which groups experts in more than 100 conservation bodies worldwide. Even common birds, such as doves or skylarks in Europe, were becoming scarcer in a worrying sign of wider upsets to nature. Birds are among the best researched of all wildlife and are a barometer of the environment. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/Birds_decline_
shows_wider_damage_to_nature/articleshow/3578875.cms

Dilawar Mohammed fights for sparrows
Dilawar Mohammed, one of the winners of Time magazine's Heroes of the Environment-2008, is a crusader for the almost ignored bird - the common sparrow. He is almost single-handedly struggling to raise awareness about conserving the common sparrow, which he feels is facing a severe threat from humans. Based in the heart of India's wine country, Nashik, north-west Maharashtra, Dilawar, 28, tends to over 150 sparrows daily, giving them food and water to enable them survive, since he says the bird's natural food resources are being eaten away by massive urbanization. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/Dilawar_Mohammed_
fights_for_sparrows/articleshow/3572490.cms

Radiation from mobile towers wipes out birds
Set a bird song as your mobile ringtone. For that may soon be the only way you get to hear from our winged friends — studies show that the increasing number of cell phone towers in cities is bringing down bird population. While studies in Spain and Belgium have established the ill-effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitted by cell phone masts on birds, a study by a team in Punjab University has found that EMR can damage bird eggs and embryos. The study, conducted in Chandigarh, is applicable to all Indian cities where cell phone masts are proliferating. Chennai has 4,000 cell phone towers, compared to about 200 in Chandigarh. For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Flora__Fauna/Radiation_from_
mobile_towers_wipes_out_birds/articleshow/3554713.cms

EVENTS

Twentieth Meeting Of The Parties To The Montreal Protocol (MOP-20); 16 - 20 November 2008; Doha, Qatar; http://ozone.unep.org/

International Conference On The Environmentally Sound Management Of Wastes Generated At Sea; 24 - 26 November 2008; Marseille, France; http://www.we2c.org/content/Anglais/conference-internationale_1008_english_0208.pdf

Fourteenth Conference Of The Parties To The UNFCC And Fourth Meeting Of The Parties To The Kyoto Protocol: 1 - 12 December 2008. Poznan, Poland; http://unfccc.int/meetings/unfccc_calendar/items/2655.php?year=2008

FAO High-Level Conference On Water For Agriculture And Energy In Africa: The Challenges Of Climate Change; 15 - 17 December 2008; Sirte, Libya; http://www.fao.org/nr/water/events.html

International Scientific Congress On Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges And Decisions; 10 - 12 March 2009; Copenhagen, Denmark; http://climatecongress.ku.dk/