Nature News, Vol. 4, Issue No.3 (March 2015)
BIRDS
The Times of India 8 Mar.2015Bird lovers gear up for count: Over 500 people in NCR will spend their Sunday spotting birds in wetlands and green patches around the capital. They will then upload the list of birds they spotted on an online portal called eBird, as part of one of the largest birding events in the country-the Big Bird Day. Passionate birders look forward to this annual event which is not Read more
The Hindu 8 Mar.14
Windmills spell doom for the Great Indian Bustard: The GIBs have been vanishing over the years due to shrinking habitat. The number of Great Indian Bustards, the State Bird of Rajasthan, is down to less than 50 according to the last official census conducted in 2014. The world population of GIB is said to be 150 with India, particularly Rajasthan, comprising 70 per cent of this species. Read more
Hindustan Times 23 Mar.2015
Every vanishing sparrow leaves Delhi more unlivable: Another World Sparrow Day passed us by on March 20. Ever since it was declared the state bird in 2012, nothing has been done to bolster the depleting sparrow population in Delhi. Not even a study to tell us where and how their habitats are disappearing. Sparrows get many of us nostalgic. When we watched Ek Chidiya Anek Chidiya Read more
ENVIRONMENT
The Pioneer 1 Mar.2015 Environment sees erosion in this budget: Environment seems to slip away as the priority area from the radar of the Centre. The allotment for Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change has been reduced from Rs1764.60 crores in 2014-15 to Rs1681.60 crores in the Budget. While the Government has introduced ‘Carbon Tax’ on most petroleum products Read more
The Times of India 13 Mar.2015
Greenbacks for greening: India needs a finance system that promotes ecologically sustainable industry: As the world journeys towards the Paris conference at the end of this year to build a global climate change architecture post 2020, and to finalise the sustainable development goals that will replace the millennium development goals from 2015 onwards, financing becomes the critical pillar to move towards these global goal posts. Read more
FORESTS & BIODIVERSITY
The Hindu 27 Mar. 2015
Forest rights must be settled in urban areas : Tribals opposed to the formation of Rourkela into a municipal corporation have got a shot in the arm as the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs informed the the Odisha Government of the requirement of mandatory settlement of rights under the Forest Rights Act even in urban areas. Invoking Section 12 of the Forest Rights Act 2006 Read more
WETLANDS, RIVERS & WATER
Business Standard 22 Mar.2015
Yamuna will be brought under Environment Protection Act- Govt: The government has promised to bring the Yamuna river under the the Environment Protection Act within two months to ensure "free flow of the river". Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad gave this assurance to the members of Yamuna Muktikaran Padyatra, Read more
The Times of India 23 Mar.2015
Centre promises ‘flow’ in Yamuna: After assurances from the Centre, thousands of Yamuna Muktikaran Abhiyan (YMA) protesters, who had been camping in Delhi since Friday, were on their way back to Mathura and other parts of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. The Centre has promised that the "ecological flow" in Yamuna downstream of Delhi will be restored. Read more
WILDLIFE & ENDANGERED SPECIES
The Pioneer 5 Mar. 2015
Interpol On trail as poachers go hog wild: Not just the body parts of tigers, elephants and rhinos, but there has been a phenomenal spurt in illegal trade of organs of lesser known species in the country. Alarmed by such reports, Interpol will now partner with Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) to probe the trade of species such as pangolins, sea horses, sea cucumbers Read more
The Hindustan Times 9 Mar.2015
Only 5 out of 47 reserves can sustain tiger population Report: Just five tiger reserves in India can sustain big cat population on their own, says the final tiger estimation report. The preliminary findings of tiger estimation 2014 had recorded 2,226, a 30% increase since 2010, but sources say the final report to be released by end of March will highlight the danger for rising tiger population in India. Read more
The Mint 12 Mar.2015
Wildlife finds CSR funding: According to the WWF, the loss of nesting trees and bamboo in the Eastern Himalayas the location of almost 50% of the red panda’s habitat is causing a decline in their populations; translocation the one-horned rhinoceros from two-source populations (Kaziranga and Pobitara) into protected areas (Manas, Laokhowa, Burachapori) will help increase their population. Read more
The Pioneer 26 Mar.2015
Tigers Outgrow Sanctuaries, NTCA plans new homes: New tiger hubs are on the anvil in the country after the tiger count has gone up by 30 per cent and their population density has surpassed the carrying capacity of many reserves. Squeezed out due to lack of space, many big cats are straying outside forest reserves and becoming easy targets of poachers or getting embroiled in man-animal conflicts. Read more
The Hindu 29 Mar.2015
Number of rhinos up in Kaziranga - Census: The number of world famous one-horned rhinos in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park has increased to over 2,400, according to a latest census released on Saturday. The census, conducted by Assam’s forest department, counted 2,401 rhinos, which indicated increase of 71 rhinos in the park in the past two years. The census, launched on Read more
