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Friday, July 30, 2010

IN NEWS

Despite PM push, MoEF looks to block tribal rights in parks-India

Posted by Climate Himalaya under Biodiversity and Climate Change in Himalaya 
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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh might have talked of the importance of implementing the Forest Rights Act in its letter and spirit in the Naxal-effected tribal areas but the Union environment and forests ministry is instead trying to curtail the Act’s provisions. The MoEF has pitched for an amendment of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1976, that will, contrary to the provisions of FRA, ensure that the rights of forest dwellers and tribals are denied in the existing 661 national parks and sanctuaries.
The FRA provides for handing back the rights over forests to people who have traditionally lived or depended on them — mostly tribals. The legislation was passed by the UPA in its last tenure recognizing that successive governments since independence had usurped forest lands and turned them into forest department’s property without recognizing that people had been living in these forests. The Indian Forest Service largely remained opposed to the Act till the last possible moment and retired forest officials even tried to block the legislation in different courts across the country.......................................................
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Barker puts low carbon growth at the heart of UK-India relationship

Low carbon growth should be at the centre of the UK’s special partnership with India, Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said today as he addressed Indian and British companies.
Mr Barker was speaking in New Delhi as he accompanied Prime Minister David Cameron on his first official trip to the country.
Both countries have today agreed to work together to help the Indian economy grow in a more energy efficient way, cutting emissions and helping businesses reduce their reliance on energy. The energy intensity of India’s economy improved by a third between 1990 and 2007, making it more efficient than the US or China.
India has pledged to further reduce the emissions intensity of its economy by 20-25% by 2020 and already boosts some of the world’s most energy efficient factories ………………………………….
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Wildlife beyond boundaries: The clue lies in corridors

M D Madhusudan & Pavithra Sankaran, TNN, Jul 30, 2010, 08.51am IST
The elephants stood at the stream's edge. As the adults drank in measured trunkfuls, calves gambolled in the water. Just above them, on the slope, a large sambar stag emerged silently from the undergrowth. From a cluster of trees above came the scolding call of a giant squirrel, as a troop of Nilgiri langur foraged in the canopy. 

Just as we were slipping into a reverie, imagining ourselves in pristine wilderness, a woman called loudly to her children playing nearby as she washed clothes outside a neat row of houses, a mere hundred metres upslope of the elephants. 

This vignette, from the Anamalai Hills of southern India, is not all that unusual. Across large parts of our country, a wide range of species still occur outside the confines of wildlife reserves…………………………………………………..

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Dhaka, Delhi join global move to save tigers

2010-07-30 15:00:00

Bangladesh and India, home to the famous Royal Bengal tiger, will attend the 13-nation Tiger Conservation Summit in St. Petersburg in September to plan out urgent measures to save the species.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina may attend the meeting of the Tiger Range Countries (TRC) - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India,Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam, The Daily Star reported Friday.
Currently, half of the entire Royal Bengal tiger population of over 2,000 is in 56 forest areas in India.

The tiger is treated as one of the most critically endangered animals fast disappearing from the world. If all the six sub-species are taken togther, there are estimated to be just about 3,200 tigers left…………………………………………..

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Sniffer dogs to curb wildlife crime

2010-07-30 16:20:00

Dogs, specially trained to sniff out illegal wildlife products like tiger skins and bones, joined the forest departments of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand Friday.
The dogs and their 10 handlers have completed a nine-month training programme which culminated Friday at a passing out ceremony held in the Dog Training Centre at the Special Armed Forces Academy, Bhopal.
The dogs have been trained to detect hidden wildlife articles like bones and skins of tigers and leopards and bear bile. Their procurement and training was funded and facilitated by TRAFFIC India, a joint programme of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
This is the second phase of TRAFFIC India's sniffer dog training programme. Earlier, two dogs were deployed by the forest departments of Haryana and Uttarakhand.

'In order to curb the growing menace of wildlife crimes, it is necessary to deploy the best enforcement practices available including the use of sniffer dogs, which have a proven track record in detecting crime and serving as a long-term deterrent,' said Samir Sinha, head, TRAFFIC India here.

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