Nature News Vol. 4, Issue No.9 (September 2015)

BIRDS

The Pioneer 14 Sept.2015 
WII scientist to attend GIB conservation meet in UAE: The decline of Great Indian Bustards (GIB) in India has caught international attention. A scientist from Wildlife Institute of India (WII) will attend International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Specialist Commissioner Chair’s meeting, which will deliberate on captive breeding of GIB in India.  Read more

CLIMATE CHANGE

South Asia Monitor 8 Sept.2015
Red lines on a green field: What India should do at climate talks: We are only weeks away from the 21st Conference of Parties (COP-21) in Paris, scheduled in December. A preparatory negotiating session ended on September 4 in Bonn without apparent progress. A final negotiating session before the summit itself will also take place in Bonn in the third week of October. Read more

The Hindu 22 Sept. 2015 
Preparing for the climate exiles: The poorest and most vulnerable people, forced to move as result of climate change, will have no legal standing under the United Nations Refugee Convention.  Although firm numbers are not available, reports suggest that more than
4, 00,000 people have arrived at the European Union (EU) border so far this year, driven by wars and Read more

ENVIRONMENT

The Pioneer 9 Sept.2015 
The state versus the foreign NGO: The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010, is vaguely-worded. This gives the state an undesirable discretionary lever. Instead of obsessively regulating the development sector, perhaps, the Government should consider ring-fencing itself from ‘foreign' interference. The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010  Read more

The Hindu 11 Sept.2015 
Old problems mar a new solution: District Mineral Foundations were set up to protect the interests of Adivasi communities who have borne the costs of mining. But they are flawed in their current form. Through 2011-13, dogged investigators from the Justice M. B. Shah Commission on illegal mining toured the rust-red villages  Read more

FORESTS & BIODIVERSITY 

The Pioneer 3 Sept.2015  
Forest conservation key to future development: Conserving India’s green cover is as crucial as setting up new plants and factories, and both deserve equal importance in development processes. Choosing any one over the other is not an option. Issues involving the forests, the environment and the wildlife have become critical in deciding  Read more
 
The Hindu 4 Sept.2015 
Of trees and men: 422 for every human on earth: How many trees are there on earth? The latest estimate by a group of 38 researches across the world, published two weeks ago in the journal Nature, gives the colossal number of 3.04 trillion (or 3,040 billion) trees all across the globe.  That leads to about 422 trees per person (or “a tiny forest for every person on the plant Read more

The Pioneer 8 Sept.2015 
3 desi saviours to coach world in saving forest: It is a moment of rare honour for indigenous conservationists Sukhram Baiga, Ujiyaro Bai and Gopal Mandal, who have been invited to address the 5-day XIV World Forestry Congress in Durban beginning on September 7. Invited by Timber Watch, a South African NGO working on forest conservation Read more
 
The Times of India 14 Sept.2015 
17,340 sq km of Western Ghats in Maharashtra eco-sensitive: The Centre has notified 17,340 sq km of the Western Ghats in Maharashtra as ecologically sensitive area (ESA). The stretch is part of the 56,825 sq km spread over six states Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The gazette notification was issued on September 4. Read more

HUMAN-ANIMAL CONFLICT

The Pioneer 2 Sept.2015 
Brutal idea to cull animals damaging crops: The Environment Ministry has sought the opinion of States on the sensitive issue of allowing hunting of certain wild animals that cause “harm to life, property and crops” by declaring them vermin. According to sources in the Environment Ministry, Chief Wildlife Wardens of States have been asked to identify and prepare a list of  Read more

WETLANDS, RIVERS & WATER

The Times of India 17 Sept.2015 
Of Himalayan blunders & rivers of muck:  Developmental gains will crumble if India follows a model of growth that is resource-and-energy-intensive. As it is, rivers are degraded, pollution is growing, forest cover's thinning. Overhaul of green governance is the need of the hour. Here is a fact that should alarm you: Of 180 cities monitored for air pollutants SO2, NO2 and PM10 in 2010 Read more

The Hindu 22 Sept.2015
A prayer for the river: On Monday morning, a man working with a leading private company was spotted praying on the footpath right outside the National Green Tribunal. All by himself, with his eyes shut, 43 year old Ketan Bajaj, a resident of Sarita Vihar, intended to snap government bodies out of their slumber. Read more 

WILDLIFE & ENDANGERED SPECIES 

The Indian express 7 Sept.2015 
First ever leopard census: India should not feel too smug too soon: The census put the total leopard population of the country at 12,000-14,000. It did not, however, account for 12,000-14,000 leopards in the country. Neither did it survey the entire country. The findings of India’s first ever leopard count have made happy headlines. The numbers, however, deserve Read more

The Hindu 21 Sept.2015  
The sinking ship of the desert: Despite legal strictures on the slaughter of camels for meat, police turn a blind eye as several animals are killed during the festival of Bakrid
The Indian camel, the single humped or Dromedary is the pride of Rajasthan and thousands of poor families are dependent on it for their travel across the desert. Read more

The Times of India 28 Sept.2015 
In the lion's den: The Indian women who answer cat calls: Rasila Vadher was among the first batch of women guards recruited by the forest department in the western state of Gujarat in 2007. The women's unit was set up that year, when then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi now Read more