Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 07 Jun 2012 18:18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWasaeR2 ... re=related

National Geographic Wild India Elephant Kingdom.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 14 Jun 2012 05:26

http://flonnet.com/stories/20120629291206400.htm

The Bandhavgarh National Park...

Today, the tiger reserve is spread over 1,514 sq km and includes a buffer of 820 sq km. The 105-sq km Tala Range, the portion initially notified as the Bandhavgarh National Park, is famous for its tigers. It includes the Bandhavgarh fort and the surrounding hills and lowlands covered with dry deciduous forests and grasslands. The Charanganga, which arises from the feet of Sheshshaiya, the statue of a reclining Vishnu, is the most conspicuous perennial stream here.

There are now 13 villages within the core zone of the reserve, with nearly 10,000 people and 10,000 head of cattle. One village from the national park within the reserve has already been shifted out, and there are plans to relocate the 13 villages as well. There are a further 80 villages within one kilometre of the reserve boundary. With thousands of cattle in and around the reserve, Bandhavgarh tigers count livestock among their prey. Every year tigers kill and eat 300-500 cattle. Cattle kills are swiftly and sufficiently compensated for by the government in order to keep enraged villagers from killing tigers in retaliation, often done by poisoning the kills. Up to Rs.10,000 is given to a villager who loses a head of cattle to wild predators. Although man-eating tigers are rare, every year a few people get killed when they venture into the forest to collect minor forest produce. There is now a proposal to fence the core zone, also notified as Critical Tiger Habitat, especially where the park boundary directly touches the villages, to prevent cattle and people from entering the forest and the tigers from straying out. On some days deemed to be auspicious, thousands of local visitors throng the reserve. Between 10,000 and 15,000 people enter the area on Janmashtami in August/September; an estimated 8,000-10,000 people enter it on the occasion of Kabir Yatra on Aghan Poornima, mostly in December; and another 5,000-8,000 people go in on the occasion of Ramanavami in March/April. The pilgirims go to Kabir Gufa (cave) and the Rama temple in the fort.

The Tala Range and the adjacent Magadhi and Khitoli Range (220 sq km) comprise the tourism zone where nearly 90 vehicles carrying tourists from about 50 resorts are driven into the forest every day. The tiger experience is almost guaranteed to the tourists by the remarkable tradition of tracking the tigers down. Every day, even in winter, a few mahouts set out on their elephants just before dawn looking for tigers. When they have located the tigers with the help of pugmarks or prey alarm calls, tourists are taken to see them. A concession is made for the privacy of tigresses with young cubs and tigers at kills – these are not permitted to be displayed. Apart from the entry fee, each Indian tourist pays Rs.200 to see the tiger from elephant back, while a foreign tourist pays Rs.600.

The Forest Department has started attempts to reintroduce the gaur from the Kanha Tiger Reserve. A total of 19 gaurs were translocated to Bandhavgarh from Kanha on January 21, 2011. They were initially kept in a 50-hectare enclosure. One of the adult females even gave birth to a calf in the enclosure. On March 20, 2011, the gate of the enclosure was opened and the animals wandered out in small groups. The gaurs were later found to be moving within the Bandhavgarh forests in two separate herds of 12 and eight animals.

I wish that the re-introduction of the Gaur was video recorded...

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 15 Jun 2012 15:49

Damn

Tiger poached in BRT wildlife sanctuary

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 19 Jun 2012 09:49

Jharkhand forestry project helps fight Maoism

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_jh ... sm_1703752

Proving that Maoism can indeed be won over by developmental work, country’s premier forest research institute has developed a forestry-based enterprise in Maoist-affected villages of Jharkhand, leading to a tenfold increase in income of villagers besides arresting the migration of workers.

The community -based natural resource management project, funded by UND, was started three years ago in ten Maoist-affected forest fringe villages in Khunti district - around 60 km from Ranchi - by a team of 10 scientists of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE).

Under the project, scientists first trained villagers in scientific tenets of lac cultivation, then planted trees and conserved bio-diversity on the common forest land, formed village-level committees and self-help groups for economic activities by providing loan of Rs2,500 to each family for business or alternative livelihood purposes and then took steps for creation of soil and water conservation.

“It showed people’s confidence can be won back through economic progress. This project’s successful implementation has shown that Maoism can be countered through developmental activities focused on forests, community mobilisation, soil and water conservation,” ICFRE’s director general VK Bahuguna told DNA.

“Due to our project one village youth, who was once a Maoist activist, has returned and is now a panchayat head,” he added.
Bahuguna said they are in talks with Jharkhand government to replicate the model in other parts of the state as well.

Villages like Bari, Jiwri of Khunti district have around 100 sq km of forest with very less agriculture land, very little irrigation facility and water scarcity. Here traditionally non-timber forest products like lac, karanj, tendu and mahuwa are tribal’s main source of livelihood. “But due to circumstances youth had stared migrating in search of income,” Bahuguna said.

“Our scientists planned integrated land use planning and focused on the regeneration of lac cultivation on palash and Kusum tress and Flemengia shrub. In 37 acres spread over ten villages, the production rose from Rs1,74,920 to Rs21,02,320. People, whose average annual income was around Rs5,000-10,000 only, are now earning on average around Rs one lakh per year,” Bahuguna explained.

How the project worked

Under the project, scientists first trained villagers in scientific tenets of lac cultivation, then planted trees and conserved bio-diversity on the common forest land, formed village-level committees and self-help groups for economic activities by providing loan of Rs2,500 to each family for business or alternative livelihood purposes and then took steps for creation of soil and water conservation.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 20 Jun 2012 19:16

http://www.ndtv.com/album/listing/news/ ... es/slide/1

Leopard rescue pictures from West Bengal...

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 21 Jun 2012 19:12

http://tiger.ndtv.com/videos.aspx?id=235408&pagenum=1

The mismanagement and rebirth of Panna National Park as a Tiger haven...

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 23 Jun 2012 01:41

http://tiger.ndtv.com/videos.aspx?id=227965&pagenum=2

Ranthambore National Park and Valmik Thapar's vision for it going forward...

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 28 Jun 2012 11:24

http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20120713291308800.htm

The Supreme Court strikes a blow for buffer zones around tiger reserves, but the rights of local people, including livelihoods, are also important.

The directive of the Supreme Court in April to identify and declare, in three months, a buffer zone around every national park in a tiger reserve is a welcome step that wildlife conservationists say can lend a strong legal impetus to tiger conservation. Even around 40 years ago, when Project Tiger, now rechristened the National Tiger Conservation Authority, was launched, its guiding principles envisaged that forestry operations and other activities would be reoriented to suit wildlife conservation. As a result, by 1982, there were 11 tiger reserves in the country with either clearly identified or notified buffer zones. These zones had no legal basis and were just backed by a principled stand on how tiger reserve management should be viewed.

At present, there are 42 tiger reserves in India, 15 of which are still without notified buffer zones. The apex court has also directed that the limits of the buffer/peripheral areas have to be determined on the basis of scientific and objective criteria in consultation with village councils and an expert committee constituted for the purpose.

A Herd of gaur, or Indian bison, on its way to a waterhole. The gaur is the largest species of wild cattle in India, and Kanha supports a sizeable population. Around 50 animals have been translocated to the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, also in Madhya Pradesh, under an ambitious reintroduction programme.

I look forward to some detailed account about the relocation of the Gaur to Bandhavgarh... hopefully a video record of the whole process.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 28 Jun 2012 11:31

http://sarathcr.blogspot.com/2011/01/ga ... ne-in.html

The Gaur relocation...

January 20th 2011..the Big Day finally dawns..we have been waiting for this for 5 years! India's first wild-to-wild Gaur relocation becomes a reality!! The M.P Forest Department has taken a bold step to relocate Gaurs to Bandhavgarh NP. Now it has the confidence to undertake such a monumental task, as it is well prepared..years of planning have gone into it. Firstly, they have deployed the best practices and technology in moving wild animals from South Africa, acknowledged as a world leader in this area. Secondly, their Park managers and Vets have been sent to S.Africa on an exposure trip. Thirdly, the Wildlife Institute of India are very much a part of this project and lastly they have involved three of the best experts in the world in the actual operation. Dr.Dave Cooper, a Senior Vet of KZN Wildlife..who has an experience of 35 years and who has handled more then 50,000 wild animals so far! Jeff Cooke, head of Game Capture Unit of KZN Wildlife..15 years of experience and Les Carlisle, Conservation manager for andbeyond with 30 years of experience and who has moved over 40,000 animals in his checkered career! So we are talking about over 80 years of combined experience and a total of over 1,00,000 wild animals moved by these three gentlemen!!

These are only a few pictures i am sharing with you all..i have hundreds of them! I was fortunate enough to be an active participant in the entire operation! These were the most exciting ten days in my life!!

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 28 Jun 2012 11:55

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6180

The translocation of the gaurs made the headlines right from the word go, as the volunteer organisation cried foul over the process in which the Forest Department assigned the task of coverage for the entire shifting operation to a foreign based firm '& Beyond', previously known as CC Africa.

Volunteer organisation secretary Udai Shehla Masood had dispatched a letter to MoEF, complaining that this was not the first incident where the Wildlife officers of Madhya Pradesh are caught flouting the wildlife norms. The Chief Wild Life Warden of MP HS Pabla / Director Bandhavgarh National Park have given permission of night filming, still photography and filming of the translocation of Bison to '& Beyond' in violation of norms, claimed Masood.

"The process of tendering is also doubtful, how come the friends and near ones of the HS Pabla always get the orders? Pabla's relationship with CC Africa and now '& Beyond' is well known to the whole world, but unfortunately not to the MP Government," alleged the volunteer in the letter.

Dr. H S Pabla is not new to controversy. He is the person who is responsible for the decimation of Panna's tigers. When researchers like Dr. Raghu Chundawat raised their voice, Dr Pabla denied that anything is wrong in Panna. He denied the poaching and didn't take any action. Rather than taking action against the poachers, he tried to create problems for researchers. It is a different story, that he was perhaps rewarded for this by promoting him. For further details check here: Who is responsible for the vanishing of Panna Genes from the face of the earth? - Indiawilds: Land of the Tiger. Conservation, Wildlife Photography, Communities

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_i ... 6999126334

http://www.andbeyond.com/carlisle_on_co ... 2011-2012/

Some more on the Gaur relocation...

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 28 Jun 2012 20:32

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKJUs8YX ... ature=plcp

Video Snippets - The Gaur relocation to Bandhavgarh. I would have liked more video of the Gaur relocation then a seeming "image building exercise for Dr. Pabla".

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 29 Jun 2012 03:33

India to help replicate Project Tiger in Russia, China

Six countries, including Russia and China, have sought India’s help to replicate Project Tiger, one of the most successful conservation programmes running in the country to protect the big cats from extinction.

During the first stock-taking conference held in the Capital in mid-May to review implementation of the Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP), tiger range countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Russia, Vietnam, Myanmar and China approached India to help them in conserving tigers.

Leaving Nepal, none of the countries has done any tiger census and has no idea about the number of tigers present in the wild.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 06 Jul 2012 05:21

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-18718239

Hundred of animals have been found dead in the Kaziranga national park in the north-east Indian state of Assam, which has been hit by severe floods.

Over 440 animals, including the highly endangered one-horned rhino, have been killed in flood-related incidents, forest official D Gogoi told the BBC.

Kaziranga is home to nearly two-thirds of the world's remaining one-horned rhinos.

The majority of the animals killed - 379 - were hog deer, Mr Gogoi said.

Mr Gogoi said the bodies of 441 animals, including seven rhinos and nine swamp deer, have been found in the flooded national park.

He said two rhinos, who may have escaped the rising waters, have been poached in nearby hills.

Park workers have rescued 94 animals stranded in the waterlogged park, Mr Gogoi said.

"The death toll could rise further. We will assess the damage after the waters recede," he said.

Over 80 people have died and almost one million people have been forced to leave their homes by floods in Assam, officials say.

Officials say this is the worst flood in the state since 1998.

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 11 Jul 2012 10:19

Asian Mountains Glaciers Gaining Ice

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... w-ice.html

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 13 Jul 2012 08:06

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home ... 858774.cms

Posting it in full... since the heart and mind are in a state of confluence on this

Well done to all involved!

All tourist operations within 5km of all 600 plus tiger reserves, national parks, sanctuaries and wildlife corridors in the country will soon have to fork out a minimum of 10% of their turnover as " local conservation fee", which will be used not only to protect wildlife areas but also provide financial assistance to communities and people living around these green patches.

The Union environment and forests ministry has cleared ecotourism guidelines containing these provisions and submitted them to the Supreme Court in an ongoing case.

All tourism operations running in core areas of tiger reserves and other critical wildlife habitats will also be phased out in five years. Tourism will also not be allowed in any core area of a tiger reserve, where forest dwellers have been relocated. The oustees will get priority in running tourism operations in these tiger reserves, the guidelines state.

Now, the norms will be looked at by the apex court before which several tour operators have pleaded that they be allowed to run their operations in the breeding grounds of tigers demarcated as core zones under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

No green fee on home stay facilities run by locals

The tiger-tourism business has been in the eye of the storm for earning crores out of 'public property' secured by ousting poor forest dwellers from the wildlife zones and in lieu ploughing back little. Some high-end hotels, located in and around tiger reserves, earn upwards of Rs 40,000 a room per night for providing the 'wild experience'. Questions have also been raised about conservationists running tourism operations adjacent to these parks and making a tidy profit, thanks to their domain expertise and access to these secure zones even as tribals and others are relocated for disturbing tranquility in these pristine areas.

The green ministry had noted that the burgeoning high-end tourist facilities around these wildlife areas in recent years triggered exploitation, degradation, disturbance and misuse of fragile ecosystems, in turn ensuring "further alienation of local people".

The norms were developed by a panel that included the member secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority Rajesh Gopal and director general of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Sunita Narain.

However, the guidelines, accepted by the environment minister Jayanti Natarajan, suggest that small home-stay facilities run by local residents under approved ecotourism plans won't be required to share their revenues.

The state governments would be required to set up local advisory committees that would oversee the implementation of state-level ecotourism strategy in each of the national parks and sanctuaries and monitor the tourist facilities within 5km of the wildlife areas for adhering to the norms.

In the interim period of five years — even as tourism facilities are to be shifted out of the core areas of tiger reserves — the guidelines stipulate state governments to give special space to community-based tourism in certain parts. In large wildlife areas, which are over 500 square km, about 20% of its territory would be allowed to be used for community-based tourism. For smaller parks and sanctuaries, 10% of the area can be used for tourism for the interim five years.

The pilgrimages inside national parks and sanctuaries too will be regulated, and the zones will remain open only on specific days — to be decided by an agreement between wildlife and temple authorities.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 13 Jul 2012 08:20

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/ ... will-flout

India being India, there can be no point without a counterpoint... Sad!!

The Prime Minister has spoken. His chosen lieutenants, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and C Rangarajan, have their job cut out to fight the economic slowdown. The brief is simple: revive investor sentiment by disarming taxmen and throwing environmental rules out of the window.

So the Centre is tracking the progress of every investment above Rs 1,000 crore to ensure that these projects go through. The National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council has asked all ministries to provide details of public sector projects above Rs 1,000 crore, prompting them ‘to indicate whether there are any sector specific issues such as environment and forest clearances which may be causing delays’.

From Kamal Nath (Road and Surface Transport) to Sriprakash Jaiswal (Coal), Dr Singh’s ministers have been up in arms against the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) during the UPA’s second stint in power. The Planning Commission has slashed the budget of the green ministry twice since 2011. The Reserve Bank singled out ‘environmentalism’ to blame for a one-third dip in foreign direct investment (FDI) last year. The Prime Minister himself cautioned that green regulatory standards might bring back the dreaded licence-permit-quota raj. The build-up is finally complete. Now that the economy’s animal instincts have sensed a second round of reforms, Team Manmohan has bared its claws.

But sarkari environmentalism is a myth perpetuated by Jairam Ramesh’s relentless media posturing. During his tenure in the MoEF, the ministry cleared 99 per cent of the projects referred to it. His high-profile clash with Jaiswal over ‘go’ and ‘no-go’ areas for mining ended in Ramesh conceding 85 per cent areas to the go list. Since 1982, the MoEF approved 94 per cent of coal mining projects. Between 1982 and 1999, the average delay in project clearance was five years. During BJP rule, it came down to three years. The UPA-I further reduced it to 17 months. The UPA-II takes 11 months to decide on a project and its rejection rate has been just 1 per cent. Yet, the Government blames environmentalism for the sagging economy.

Beyond the reform-or-perish frenzy whipped up by the media, lie a few home truths. Yes, the stock market is sluggish but not more than 7 per cent of Indians hold any equity. The Prime Minister must worry because falling stock prices wiped out about a fifth of the total value of his country’s 100 wealthiest citizens last year. But if his reforms jeopardise the already-compromised ecological security of the country, the livelihood and food security of hundreds of millions of Indians will be further at stake. If more people now go hungry after two decades of liberalisation, which is a grim fact, the economy cannot hardsell the trickle-down benefits of reforms.

Posco, for example, wants to invest Rs 52,000 crore in its Odisha plant. The Prime Minister himself has expressed strong commitment to see the project through. The 2005 MoU allowed the MNC to extract 600 million tonnes of iron ore over 30 years, and ship out 30 per cent of it. The MoU also conceded that Posco would source an additional 400 million tonnes of iron ore from India for its plants in South Korea through supply arrangements from the open market. There is a fat margin between the domestic open market (average Rs 4,400 per tonne) and the international price (average Rs 7,400 per tonne) of iron ore. For 400 million tonnes, it adds up to Rs 120,000 crore, more than double the proposed investment.

Forget about the ravaged forests and displaced communities, such a deal will also weaken our resource security. India is the world’s largest iron ore exporter after Australia and Brazil. But in terms of per capita reserves, India has only 21 tonnes against Brazil’s 333 and Australia’s 2,000 tonnes. Business-as-usual will exhaust India’s iron ore reserves anytime between 2025 and 2040. But we are desperate to open our reserve for a few thousand crore.

A set of green laws—environment pollution, forest and wildlife protection—and the Forest Rights Act obstruct the free run that industry thinks it deserves. Ironically, it is the Congress that enacted these legislations. The green laws are the legacy of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The Forest Rights Act was a prime achievement of the UPA-I.

If India’s green laws were applied fairly, a bulk of the projects would’ve been summarily rejected. But since the establishment wants to get every project cleared, it drags the clearance process on by instituting panel after panel until the facts get lost in a maze of referrals and finally a go-ahead is obtained. Most projects take off without due diligence, trusting the establishment to clear those as fait accompli after a suitably long clearance drama.

Parliamentarian Naveen Jindal’s Jindal Steel and Power started construction at its Angul plant in Odisha without obtaining clearance for the forest land and was served a notice by a divisional forest officer in July 2009. In February 2011, the MoEF absolved the Congress MP. The national highway expansion drive felled thousands of trees across the country without even bothering to obtain statutory permissions. But asked to construct a few flyovers to protect the integrity of India’s last few viable forest landscapes, the NHAI drags its feet and complains of delays in forest clearances.

If the Prime Minister wants to fast-track the clearance process, he should insist that every project factor in the environmental costs at the conception stage instead of resisting legally binding green safeguards later. At the same time, both government and private developers should stop pushing projects in ecologically sensitive areas that add up to less than 5 per cent of the country’s land area.

Under pressure, successive green ministries have diluted several rules, from the norms for coastal regulation zones to restrictions on industrial pollution. If there is a policy compulsion, the reform agenda should now include abolition of India’s green laws in Parliament. It will save the Government the hypocrisy of enacting laws only to sidestep them.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 13 Jul 2012 08:27

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/ ... e-a-forest

... back to being happy again!

How to Make a Forest
...with minimum fuss and maximum effect
It is possible to make the most adverse circumstances bend to extraordinary will. The story of one such green warrior in the Doodhatoli mountains of Uttarakhand

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 13 Jul 2012 10:44

Indians have least eco impact, most sustainable behaviour

http://www.firstpost.com/india/indians- ... 76365.html

According to new global analysis by the National Geographic Society, India topped a list of 17 nations on best sustainable behaviour, with consumers in the US last on the list.

Ironically, people in developing countries like India, China and Brazil — in that order — were making the most sustainable choices, while consumers in the rich nations had the least sustainable lifestyles.

India accounted for a Greendex score of 58.9, followed by China at 57.8 and Brazil at 55.5, while the US was ranked the lowest at a score of 44.7.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 25 Jul 2012 06:31

http://asiatic-lion.blogspot.com/

Gir lions are nation’s property, concedes Gujarat govt
24-07-2012
Gir lions are nation's property, concedes Gujarat govt
DNA By JUmana Shah
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_gi ... vt_1719077

The six-year-long battle in the Supreme Court over shifting of the Asiatic Lions from Gir sanctuary to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno Palpur Sanctuary saw an interesting twist on Monday. During the hearing on a plea related to the relocation of Asiatic Lions to Kuno-Palpur Sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh from Gir National Park, the Gujarat government agreed that wildlife is not the 'property' of any state but belongs to the country.

Senior counsel for the petitioner in the case, Raj Panjwani says, "This, in effect means that the state has agreed for the translocation of the lions out of Gujarat, if wildlife experts confirm that Kuno is prepared to receive the big cats. The state's counsel said that if the security and prey base measures are fulfilled, we have not objection."

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior forest officer from Gujarat informed DNA, "The lions should be relocated scientifically. We can move them if it is affirmed that Kuno has sufficient prey base, it is secure; there shouldn't be other pathogens, etc. We believe that the materials presented before the courts are not enough to take an informed decision on the subject."

Panjwani adds that the whole issue was 'whether' the lions can be translocated or not.That has been resolved today, as the government's counsel conceded that lions are not the property of the state of Gujarat. "So the question whether Gujarat can say 'no' to relocation is settled. It cannot. So the issue is now about when and how the lions should be moved. That is an administrative issue that can be dealt with by wildlife experts," he said.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » 31 Jul 2012 16:35

Absolutely no tourism should be allowed in the core areas. Strictly controlled tourism in the tourism areas. No hotels in the buffer zone absolutely. No hotels in the RF absolutely. Kick out those already there and to hell with people employed there (not many locals except in menial positions). This is the bare minimum that should be done if we don't want the mockery that is eco-tourism to continue.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 06 Aug 2012 10:24

a sad slide show in The Hindu today....

Photo File: Stork realities

Guwahati’s garbage dumps now have the largest concentration of Greater Adjutant Storks in the world, thanks to the ongoing destruction of the surrounding wetlands.

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 13 Sep 2012 21:22

India’s forest area in doubt

Reliance on satellite data blamed for over-optimistic estimates of forest cover.

But a senior official responsible for assessing the health of the nation’s forests says that recent surveys have overestimated the extent of the remaining forests. Ranjit Gill of the Forest Survey of India (FSI) claims that illegal felling of valuable teak and sal trees has devastated supposedly protected forests in the northeast of the country. He and other experts also say that an over-reliance on inadequate imaging by an Indian satellite system is making such destruction easy to overlook.

In February, the FSI, part of the government’s Ministry of Environment and Forests, released the India State of Forest Report 2011. This biennial survey used images from India’s remote-sensing satellite system and estimated that forest covered 692,027 square kilometres of the country — roughly 23% of India’s land area — a decline of just 367 km2 on the tally reported in 2009, and a much smaller loss than in Brazil, for example, where more than 13,000 km2 of forest was cleared over the same period. But Gill, a joint director of the FSI, is openly critical of the FSI’s assessment.

We have to accept the grave reality that the current figure of forest cover in India is way over the top and based on facile assumptions,” Gill argues. To bring these allegations to light, he has mounted a legal case for consideration by India’s Central Empowered Committee (CEC), a panel of experts appointed by the nation’s Supreme Court to rule on issues concerning forests and wildlife.

On a field survey last year, Gill and three FSI colleagues saw that parts of the Dibru Hills protected forest in Meghalaya had been illegally felled. He confirmed his field observations with 2006 data from the LANDSAT Earth-observing satellites operated by NASA and the US Geological Survey. The satellite data showed that roughly 150,000 trees in the area had been cut down in the preceding years, across an area of about 10 km2.

But another state government report obtained by Gill documents similar illegal deforestation in the nearby Rongrenggre protected forest, where 60–70% of the tree cover has been lost. The report also found evidence that local forest rangers were involved in the illegal timber trade, and that illegal coal mining in the area was taking place in “full knowledge” of the rangers. Gill is concerned that similar lapses are happening, and not being reported, in other parts of the country.

Other tropical-forest researchers share Gill’s fears about India’s forests. “The ongoing loss and attrition of native forest in India is quite widespread, although it isn’t being captured by the government’s satellite data on forest cover,” says William Laurance, a conservation biologist at James Cook University in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. “Much of this forest disruption is illegal, and encroachment into protected areas and reserves is not uncommon, in my experienceThis is the eveidence

Anil Kumar Wahal, the director of the FSI, denies that forest cover has been overestimated. The FSI team that conducted the field visit in May 2011, of which Gill was part, “reported a few sporadic patches of felling, and old stumps in the field, but nothing as glaring as felling of vast swathes of forest”, he says. But Wahal admits that the “selective” cutting of trees “would not register in the satellite imagery due to the technological limitation of the medium-resolution sensor used for the purpose of forest-cover mapping”.

Gill notes that the instrument, which flies on an Indian remote-sensing satellite, produces images with a resolution of 23.5 metres per pixel, too coarse to unequivocally identify small-scale deforestation. Instead, he says, the forest survey should use a newer instrument, already operating on an Indian satellite, that provides a resolution of 5.8 metres per pixel.

The FSI uses the lower-resolution instrument for its national survey because it offers continuous coverage of very large areas, explains Wahal. “Gap-free data are really essential,” he says. “Using high-resolution data would also entail much more manpower and time, so a balance has to be struck.” The FSI is, however, using the higher-resolution instrument for some small-scale surveys, he adds.

Gill argues that the FSI still needs to conduct more on-the-ground surveys to corroborate its satellite estimates of forest cover. Without this reality check, it can be difficult to tell the difference between native forests and, for example, bamboo. He is calling on the CEC to order a visit to the forests to investigate the extent of the destruction. A verdict is expected from the CEC by the end of the year.

whatever the matter hope the end result is accurate and good.
the other researchers appear to be non Indians

with no evidence.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 28 Sep 2012 07:24

http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=776493

Absolutely Barbaric...

Four rhinoceros have been brutally killed by poachers in flood-hit Kaziranga National Park (KNP) since Tuesday, including one today, prompting an alarmed Assam government to ask for a CBI inquiry into it and post army in the fringe areas.

KNP director Sanjay Bora said poachers killed one female rhino at Dolamara range along the Karbi hills in the early hours of the day and removed its horn, considered an aphrodisiac and also used in traditional medicine.

A male rhino, who had strayed from the flooded park, was found shot inside Jagadamba tea estate bordering Bagori range of the Park with its horn removed, Bora said adding the animal is struggling for its life and a veterinary team has rushed to the spot to treat it.

Another female rhino left bleeding yesterday by poachers, who shot it, sawed off its horn and cut off a part of its right ear, died during the day.

The carcass of another rhino with its horn removed was found at the Kaziranga National Park

member_23677 · Post by **member_23677** » 04 Oct 2012 12:04

Bihar's drive to conserve India's National Aquatic Animal

Patna: After UP CM Akhilesh Yadav's remarks to conserve the Gangetic dolphins, now Bihar plans to develop a dolphin watch centre along the Ganga river here as a major tourist attraction as well as to raise conservation awareness about the endangered mammal declared as India's National Aquatic Animal.

"It (dolphin watch centre) will be developed as a tourist attraction on the lines of whale and dolphin watching centres in Canada and Japan," Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told on Wednesday.

"The government's initiative would link the conservation of Gangetic river dolphin with tourism," he said. The proposed centre will come up along the Ganga river near Patna, where dolphins are still sighted, Modi informed. "Of the over 2,000 Gangetic dolphins left in India, nearly 1,300 are in Bihar," Modi added.

The deputy chief minister said that Bihar would celebrate Oct 5 as 'Dolphin Day' to create awareness about the endangered species. "Dolphin Day is a part of the Wildlife Week being observed from October 2-8," he said.

The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary, India's only such sanctuary spread over 50 km along the Ganga river, is located in Bhagalpur district, around 235 km from here.

Gangetic dolphins are being killed at an alarming rate by poachers for their flesh as well as oil, which is used as an ointment and aphrodisiac. Their carcasses are regularly found on the river's banks.

The Gangetic river dolphin is one of the four freshwater dolphin species in the world. The other three are found in the Yangtze river in China, the Indus river in Pakistan and the Amazon river in South America.

The mammal is covered under the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act and has been declared an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Last year, the Bihar government decided to set up a task force for the conservation of the endangered animal. Earlier this year, a Gangetic dolphin research centre, the first such centre in the country, was set up in the Bihar capital.

The Gangetic river species - found in India, Bangladesh and Nepal - is blind and finds its way and prey in the river waters through echoes.

http://www.pardaphash.com/news/bihars-d ... 97763.html
Let's see how this turns out...

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 04 Oct 2012 12:07

the biggest help to ganga dolphins will be if we stop polluting the river

member_23677 · Post by **member_23677** » 04 Oct 2012 12:14

Lalmohan wrote:the biggest help to ganga dolphins will be if we stop polluting the river

That is pretty obvious, and I believe the report says that efforts are being made to clean up the river, ofocurse the results won't be visible in just weeks or years. Several decades would be needed to clean the river.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 04 Oct 2012 12:15

efforts have to be made all along the river, and in every river in india

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 04 Dec 2012 07:25

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgR0b1ucG9A

The Last Lions of India - Full version. Enjoy!

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 05 Dec 2012 09:19

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPlwMo4aac4

Machli - Queen of Tigers @Ranthambhore NP

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 07 Dec 2012 09:41

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8W5_xSK62k

The Tigers' Fortress - Narrated by Valmik Thapar

I'm curious!! Check this documentary and the one i posted above - (Machli - Queen of Tigers) - Some of the footage is the same!! Different narrative built around the same footage by two different narrators!!

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 11 Dec 2012 06:04

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw7f_9Hu9n8

Danger in Tiger Paradise ... Valmik Thapar

... and once again - some of the same footage as the other two i posted above - with a different narrative (again around Machli). Wonder who shot the original footage!!

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 16 Dec 2012 21:07

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHfSTt1tcj0

The Last Maneater (Killer Tigers of India)

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 17 Dec 2012 22:41

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twGFxc6XObs

The Real Jungle Book Bear - (Sloth Bear).

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 17 Dec 2012 23:47

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20661661

A new species of blind cat fish has been discovered by scientists working in south India.

This, along with other new animals, were identified in an old deep well in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

The new blind cat fish, which is blood red in colour, has an elongated body measuring about 3.8cm in length.

The scientists say the find sheds light on hitherto unexplored subterranean habitats in India.

The new species of blind cat fish has been named Horaglanis abdulkalami after former Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

It was meant as a tribute to his contributions to science and science education, the discoverers said.

The unique character of H. abdulkalami is it's red blood colour. The scientists say the fish are able to feed on minute organic matter in the soil.

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 20 Dec 2012 04:42

Indian villagers help in tiger rescue

A wildlife conservation group says people in an Indian village deserve praise for their actions in saving an injured tiger that became entangled in barbed wire.

The Wildlife Conservation Society has commended the village of Nidugumba in Karnataka State in southwest India for their swift response to the plight of the animal now being cared for at the Mysore Zoo.

The female adult tiger was discovered on a coffee plantation Dec. 4 with its left paw caught in the barbed wire fence.

The coffee planter and other community members prevented the tiger from being harassed until forest rangers and veterinarians arrived and tranquilized the cat so it could be freed from the barbed wire, a WCS release said Wednesday.

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 04 Jan 2013 09:56

Tigers Making a Comeback in Parts of Asia

Tigers are making a comeback, thanks to strong government initiatives in India, Thailand, and Russia, scientists announced this week.

In India's Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks, for example, a combination of strict antipoaching patrols, surveillance, voluntary relocation of people away from tiger habitats, and scientific monitoring have helped the big cats rebound to the point where they have saturated the two national parks.

This success is only possible because the Indian state of Karnataka is dedicated to conserving tigers, Walston said.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 11 Jan 2013 15:20

krisna wrote:This success is only possible because the Indian state of Karnataka is dedicated to conserving tigers, Walston said.

Hope this recognition help the state continue its correct approach to protect wild life. The "commie heaven land" next door is now taking exactly the opposite path. Kerala has done nothing to stop encroachment of forest land. In many areas, wild animals have started popping up in populated area. Elephant herds now come to the fields, estates etc. Recently a tiger attacked a few domesticated animals. The sad fact is that the tigers or elephants are not doing any wrong. These were all forest lands once upon a time. The people made a hue and cry, and finally the tiger was shot dead.

Forest Officers who had to protect this animal shot it down. And now many environmentalists say that the whole operation to nab this tiger was a flawed one. Instead of a small team going actively to tranquilise the animal the whole village went along. The first dart hit its mark, but the tiger took time to get sedated. In the mean while the war mongering crowd started hollering and the animal charged at them. This was taken as an excuse of "Tiger attacked the men" and was shot dead. Where as a small team doing a carefully planned & silent job, would have saved this tiger. The tiger's autopsy showed that it was pretty much starving.

Kerala have been consistent in one thing. In showing total disregard to any thing which is not a human being. The state has done nothing to stop encroachment of forest lands. It is desperately trying to get the night travel ban on Bandipore forest lifted. In one route which did allow night time road traffic for some time, a Kerala based truck driven by a Mallu driver hit a baby elephant. The baby died, and the driver went along driving as if nothing was wrong. Karnataka forest officials later detained him. And night road traffic on that road was also blocked for good. Now the state is begging Karnataka to make the Hunsur->Kutta->Gonikoppal road to be made wider and allow traffic on that road. Kerala have again come up with a railway line in which the train line goes right through the forest land. Again the people find nothing wrong, after all it is a forest land. The same gang have stalled another railway line from being laid, because it effects 22 homes.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 09 Feb 2013 03:35

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/ ... the-tracks

Blood on the Tracks

11 elephants died on our railway tracks in two weeks. Is there a way to stop this?

Last week, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways met to discuss how to stop elephant deaths on railway tracks. Between 30 December and 13 January, 11 elephants were killed on railway tracks in three corners of India. Each site has long been designated an elephant zone, where locomotive drivers are supposed to follow real-time inputs from forest staff on elephant movements, watch out and go slow.

The stretch close to Berhampur in Odisha, where the Coromandel Express ran over six jumbos on 30 December, between two warning signs of elephant movement put up by the Railways itself, has seen many more wild animals killed in the past, including an elephant last May. The tracks between north Bengal’s Alipurduar and Siliguri, which claimed three jumbos inside Buxa tiger reserve this month, was responsible for three dozen elephant deaths in the last decade. The third accident took place between Haridwar and Dehradun, where a high-profile protocol to avoid elephant deaths on tracks tripped after 12 years.

What matched these deaths in their unpredictability was the official blame game that followed. In Odisha, the Railways claimed that the input on elephant movement had reached it too late. In Bengal, it said the locomotive driver was well within rights to go at 100 kmph in the dark because it was still half an hour to 7 pm when speed restrictions come into force. At Haridwar, where a speeding Shatabdi hit the herd under a clear morning sky, it was blamed on the sudden emergence of the animals on the track. The Odisha forest authorities complained that the trains were not following speed restrictions along vulnerable elephant zones across four districts. In Bengal, the department increased the length of the go-slow zone along the 163 km stretch between Alipurduar and Siliguri from 17.4 km to 97 km. It also woke up to the fact that the 7 pm-5 am low-speed window did not cover the extended dark hours during winter and imposed a sunset-sunrise schedule.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 11 Feb 2013 09:08

Friends,

Hyderabad zoo park is now offering a scheme to adopt the animals there. The prices range from Rs5000 to Rs100,000 per annum based on type of animal. You can adopt them for a week or two also.

Based on your amount you can get free access for your family members.

Please do help these animals based on your interst and capacity

I will post more details tomorrow.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 21 Feb 2013 06:53

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?283984

Leopards in Bombay's Sanjay Gandhi National Park...