Sakshi Education
- Sun shines at night in remote Nagaland village bordering Myanmar
Mon District Administration in collaboration with Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) completed the electrification of Shinnyu village under Mon district in Nagaland using solar power.
GHE is a social impact initiative that has been working on sustainable development for remote communities since 2013. Partnering the local administration, it has set up solar energy projects in more than 100 remote villages in Ladakh and 21 villages in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya.
Shinnyu was set up in 1977 and recognised by the State government in 2002 but it has virtually remained cut off in the absence of proper road infrastructure.
The Power Department tried to electrify the village in 2013-14 but the project was abandoned due to logistical problems.
Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) engages travelers and businesses to build resilient communities through sustainable development and climate positive travel.
Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) is one of the world’s first organizations using tourism and technology to bring solar energy to remote communities.
Global Himalayan Expedition conducts “Impact Expeditions” to remote Himalayan villages and uses a portion of the expedition fee to fund the capital cost of the hardware, transportation, installation and training of village-scale solar micro-grids.
Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) works towards providing clean energy access through solar power to remote communities and has also won the United Nation Global Climate Action Award 2020.
- FII bats for subsidy on e-vehicles to combat pollution
The Haryana chapter of Federation of Indian Industry (FII) has demanded focused attention for the promotion of electric vehicles and special allocation to control pollution and provide basic amenities to the industries in the unapproved areas.
In a letter to Haryana Chief Minister, the FII demanded that a special provision be made in the upcoming budget for subsidy to electric vehicles on the pattern of Delhi government that offers a subsidy of Rs.1.5 lakh and has also waived off the registration charges.
The industry body argued that this would not only help reduce pollution but also make Haryana a valuable contributor towards the promotion of electric vehicles.
Special budget should be assigned to control pollution.
Installation of smog towers in polluted areas should be taken up on priority basis as it will help industries to run smoothly.
Also, the installation of gas lines in all industrial areas be expedited and provisions for subsidy on gas-operated gensets be made to further motivate industries to switch to this alternative fuel at the earliest.
Government has set a target of EV making up 30% of new sales of cars and two-wheelers by 2030.
To build a sustainable EV ecosystem, initiatives like National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) and Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) have been launched.
NEMMP was launched in 2013 with an aim to achieve national fuel security by promoting hybrid and EVs in the country. There is an ambitious target to achieve 6-7 million sales of hybrid and EVs year on year from 2020 onwards.
FAME India was launched in 2015 with the objective to support hybrid/EV market development and manufacturing ecosystem.
The scheme has 4 focus areas viz. technology development, demand creation, pilot projects and charging infrastructure.
Organisations like Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Department of Heavy Industry, Automotive Research Association of India are devising design and manufacturing standards of EVs, Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSEs) and charging infrastructure to smoothen the advent of in-house production of EVs.
- Prakash Javadekar inaugurates Atal Paryavaran Bhavan in Lakshadweep
The Minister of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change unveiled the Atal Paryavaran Bhavan in Lakshadweep on February 19, 2021.
Suheli Par is the coral atoll of Lakshadweep. The atoll has an oval shape and is 17 kilometers long. It is surrounded by abundant marine fauna. It is located southwest of Kavaratti, 76 kilometers south of Agatti. It is located 139 kilometers west of Karpeni and 205 kilometers from the NNW of Minikuy Island. The Nine Degrees Strait stretches between these islands. The area is 87.76 square kilometers.
Nine Degrees Channel is a passage in the Indian Ocean between Karpeni and Sukhripal Islands and Mariku Atoll. The channel is about 200 kilometers wide and 2597 meters deep.
Kadmat Island is also called Cardamom Island. This is a coral island, belonging to the Amindivi island subgroup. The total length is 9.3 kilometers. Coral reefs with seagrass and turtles are the marine characteristics of the island.
Lakshadweep group of islands is located 200 to 440 kilometers southwest of India. It is administered as a territory of the United Kingdom and an area of India. Its total surface area is 32 sq.km. It includes 10 subdivisions. The capital of the island is Kavalati. The area is under the jurisdiction of the Kerala High Court.
- Successful hatching for red-eared slider
A red-eared slider was found in Thrissur, Kerala. The Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) has been collaborating with locals to eliminate this invasive species as it may cause harm to the local turtle population. It is also working to prevent pet stores from selling the species and instruct pet owners not to release it into the wild.
The red-eared turtle, also known as the red-eared slider, originally belonged to the Mississippi Valley in North America. These Red – Eared Turtles are one of the most dangerous invasive species.
Due to its small size and color, it is the latest favorite for pet lovers, especially children. But it grows quickly, and once it gets bigger, it stays in nearby water bodies.
Red-eared sliders can easily become effective intruders. They reach sexual maturity at a young age and have a high fertility (the ability to produce a large number of offspring).
The omnivorous red-eared slider competes with native turtle species for food, habitat and other resources.
The red-eared slider is a freshwater turtle native to the Mississippi River Basin in North America. It is a subspecies of pond slider. The red-eared mouse is considered one of the 100 worst invasive species in the world. IUCN-least concern.
- Rare birds sighted on varsity campus during count
Rare birds which includes Yellow-Billed Babbler, Green Sandpiper, and Grey-Necked Bunting were discovered at Mangalore University.
The bird watching team which was managing the Campus Bird Count (CBC), 108 species of birds were spotted at Mangalore University.
The campus bird count is part of the large backyard bird count organized by the Indian Bird Counting Organization.
The bird count is from February 12 to February 15, 2021. The Birds Yellow-Billed Babbler, Green Sandpiper, and Grey-Necked Bunting are found to be new on campus.
So far, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has recorded a total of 146 species on the campus in six years.
Other birds recorded this year are Black Drongo, Black Kite, Plum-Headed Parakeets, Brahminy Kite, Common Iora, Jungle Babbler, Purple-RumpedSunbird,Red-Whiskered Bulbul and White-Cheeked Barbet.
Mangalore University’s campus bird population recorded 77 species in 2016. In 2017, 95 species were recorded, in 2018, 110 species were recorded, and in 2020, in addition to 103 species, 107 species were discovered in 2019.
The Bird Count of India is an organization and is an informal partnership of organizations and groups that work together to increase collective knowledge about the distribution of birds and their populations. The organization worked with them to record the range and number of birds in India.
Yellow-Billed Babbler: It belongs to the Leiothrichidae family. The Yellow-Billed Babbler bird is endemic to southern India and Sri Lanka. Shrubs, farms and gardens are all bird habitats. This bird is not a migratory bird.
Grey-Necked Bunting: Its scientific name is Emberizabuchanani. It is also called the gray hooded bunting. This species belongs to the Emberizidae family. It breeds from the Caspian Sea to the Altai Mountains in Central Asia, and also breeds in parts of South Asia in winter.
- Mass migration of blue earthworms in Meghalaya
The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has compiled a report on the two-way spread of the blue earthworms in Meghalaya.
The 1.6-foot-long blue earth migrates up or down to 300 meters on the East Cassie Hills in the state.
April’s uphill migration started from April to May. As the monsoon erupts, they emerge from rivers and streams.
Downhill migration occurs from September to October, when vegetation begins to dry out and temperature and humidity drop.
Locals in the state beat them while observing these earths because they play an important role in enhancing soil fertility.
In addition, it helps to enable local people to switch to ecologically sustainable organic agriculture.
In some areas of the state, unsustainable land use practices have greatly reduced the number of the earthworms. The damage was mainly caused by quarrying and heavy soil logging.
Various factors including development activities, unstable weather patterns, predation and climate change have led to the large-scale migration.
The scientific name of blue earth is Perionyx. It is also called Compost Worm, Blues or Indian Blues. This species is known for being able to make high-quality worm castings so quickly.
This species has recently become popular in North America for composting. Scientists believe that its origin is in the Himalayas. It is also suitable for vermi composting in tropical and subtropical regions.
- Black-footed ferret cloned to help preserve endangered species
Scientists have successfully cloned an endangered black-footed ferret using frozen cells from along-dead wild animal, the first time any native endangered species has been cloned in the United States.
The species is North America’s only native ferret.
The species was considered extinct until seven were found in 1981.
- Which Country becomes First Country to ban painkiller ketoprofen?
Bangladesh has become the first country to ban the painkiller ketoprofen. This painkiller is widely used to treat cattle. But this painkiller is poisonous to vultures.
As early as ten years ago, veterinarians had banned diclofenac. This is a landmark move aimed at saving the remaining global threatened vultures.
Experts say that India, Pakistan, Nepal and Cambodia also need to take similar steps to save the bald eagle population.
The SAVE report of the Condor from Extinction in Asia states that ketoprofen is now widely used as a major anti-inflammatory drug by veterinarians in Bangladesh.
However, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as diclofenac and ketoprofen are the main threats to South Asian condors. These drugs caused a catastrophic decline of 99.9% in the area.
The Indian government banned the use of diclofenac for veterinary purposes in 2006. However, due to the use of other toxic drugs, this step is not effective. In December 2020, Oman became the first country on the Arabian Peninsula to ban the use of diclofenac in the animal kingdom to protect endangered species such as baldness.
- New alpine plant species discovered in Arunachal Pradesh
A group of scientists from three research institutes discovered a new alpine plant in the Tawan area of Arunachal Pradesh. Detailed information is published in Biodiversity: The Journal of Biodiversity.
The new species of plant belongs to the Himalayan sunflower family. It has been named Cremanthodium indicum. This plant usually blooms from July to August. It is unique to Penga-Teng Tso Lake in Tawang District.
According to the IUCN guidelines, this alpine plant species has been listed as a critically endangered species.
Plants that grow in alpine climates. Many plant species and taxa grow as plant communities on such alpine tundra, including perennial grasses, Forbs, sedges, mosses, cushion plants, and lichens.
These plants are adapted to harsh alpine climatic conditions such as dryness, low temperature, wind, drought, ultraviolet rays, poorly-nourished soil and short growing seasons.
Typical weather in the area above the forest line. Also called mountain climate or plateau climate.
The tree line is the edge of the habitat where trees can grow. Tree lines can be found at high altitudes and high latitudes. Trees cannot tolerate environmental conditions beyond this range, such as extreme snow, low temperature, or lack of moisture.
Tawang District is the smallest district among the 16 administrative districts in Arunachal Pradesh. Its population is 49,977, making the state the eighth least populated region in India. This area is where the Mongpa people live.
- Buddhist monks oppose fresh push for power plants in Arunachal
A group of monks in Thawang District opposed the new promotion of hydropower projects by the Arunachal Pradesh government.
The proposed project will not only affect the nesting sites of the endangered black-necked cranes, but also threaten some pilgrimage sites in the area.
The gender of Black Necked Crane is almost the same, but the male is slightly larger than the female. The upper long neck, head, primary and secondary flying feathers and tail are completely black, while the plumage is light grey/light.
The head is decorated with a striking red crown. The head and neck of juveniles are brown, and their feathers are paler than those of adults.
The Monpas (the main Buddhist ethnic group in Arunachal Pradesh) regarded the bird as the incarnation of the sixth Dalai Lama (Tsangyang Gyatso).
The Monpas people live in the West KamengandTawang areas and are essentially Buddhists who follow the Mahayana sect.
Habitat and Breeding: The high-altitude wetlands of the Tibet Plateau, Sichuan(China) and eastern Ladakh (India) are the main breeding grounds for this species, and birds spend the winter at lower altitudes.
In Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, it only appears in winter. In Arunachal Pradesh, it can be seen in three areas: Sante Valley in Sikamon. Zemithang in Tawang District. Chug is in Tawang District.
The World-Wide Fund for Nature in India (WWF-India), in cooperation with Jammu and the Kashmir Wildlife Conservation Department, has been committed to protecting high-altitude wetlands. Black-necked cranes are a priority species in Ladakh. In Arunachal Pradesh, WWF is working to protect the wintering population.
- Which Duck Spotted in Wetland in Assam after 100 years?
Nearly 118 years later, the duck was found in Assam, which is a colourful duck from East Asia. The discovery of Mandarin gave people hope for this wetland, which will be affected by natural gas blowouts and hell in 2020.
The Mandarin Duck was found in the Maguri-MotapungBeel in Tinsukia region of eastern Assam by the team of avian specialists.
Duck is a habitat in eastern China and southern Japan. It also accidentally landed in Assam. Ducks come to India from time to time. But some ducks may merge with other migratory birds and follow their migration routes.
Spotted ducks are accompanied by a group of Indian spotted ducks, which are migrated to China or Japan. In 1902, the last Mandarin was found in Assam.
The scientific name of the duck is Aix galericulata. It is a duck species that inhabit the Eastern Paleo-North Atlantic. The duck is of medium size, 41-49 cm long and 65-75 cm wingspan.
Ducks are closely related to North American wood ducks. Ducks were once common in East Asia. But they were exported on a large scale, so the population of eastern Russia and China decreased.
In addition, the destruction of its forest habitat has further accelerated the population decline, so that the population of Russia and China has dropped to less than 1,000 pairs. The population of Japan is estimated to be about 5,000 pairs.
Ducks usually like dense breeding grounds. It usually breeds on the edges of dense forests of rivers and lakes in low-lying areas. It can also breed in valleys at an altitude of 1500 m.
In winter, it also breeds in swamps, flooded land and open rivers. Ducks like freshwater, but winter can also be seen in coastal lagoons and estuaries.
- Birds use massive magnetic maps to migrate—some could cover the whole world
Every year, billions of songbirds migrate thousands of miles between Europe and Africa — and then repeat that same journey again, year after year, to nest in exactly the same place that they chose on their first great journey.
The remarkable navigational precision displayed by these tiny birds — as they travel alone over stormy seas, across vast deserts, and through extremes in weather and temperature — has been one of the enduring mysteries of behavioural biology.
Birds buffeted by winds so much that they’re significantly displaced from their migratory route are able to realign their course if they’ve already performed one migration.
This has suggested that birds’ navigational abilities, some of which is built around a sense of compass direction, includes a mechanism for finding their way back home from parts of the world they’ve never before visited.
New study of Eurasian reed warblers has found that this remarkable ability involves a “magnetic map” that works like our human system of coordinates.
Surprisingly, the study found that these birds understand the magnetic field of places thousands of miles into territory they’ve never before visited — suggesting some birds could possess a “global GPS system” that can tell them how to get home from anywhere on Earth.
It’s long been known that adult birds develop some sort of navigational map to help them migrate.
How they do this has remained controversial. Several cues have been proposed as guides for migratory birds — including odours, infra-sound, and even variations in gravity.
However, a gathering body of evidence has indicated that the Earth’s magnetic field is one of the likeliest solutions to this mystery.
It has been suggested that different parameters of the Earth’s magnetic field could form a grid, which birds follow, of north-south and east-west lines.
That’s because magnetic intensity (the strength of the magnetic field) and magnetic inclination (the angle formed between the magnetic field lines and the surface of the Earth, also called the “dip” angle) both run approximately north to south.
Magnetic declination – the difference between the direction to the magnetic north pole and the geographical north pole — provides the east-west axis.
Despite largely agreeing that certain birds navigate via the Earth’s magnetic field, scientists haven’t worked out precisely what sensory apparatus they use to detect it – or whether multiple systems are used to detect different parameters of the field.
Other animals, like turtles, can also sense the magnetic field, but the same uncertainties apply.
Regardless, if birds have learned that magnetic intensity increases as they go north, they should be able to detect their position on the north-south axis wherever they happen to be.
Similarly, if they experience a declination value that is greater than anything they’ve previously experienced, they should know they’re further east.
On this basis, the theory is that they can calculate their position on the grid and correct their orientation.
This would mean that birds essentially navigate using a system similar to our Cartesian coordinates – the basis of modern GPS navigation.
If this coordinates theory is accurate, it would mean that birds should be able to use their knowledge of magnetic field parameters to estimate their location anywhere on Earth – through the extrapolation or extension of their navigational rules.
To date, however, there has been no clear evidence that birds can use the magnetic field in this way.
- Leatherback nesting sites could be overrun by Andamans project
Proposals for tourism and port development in the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands have conservationists worried over the fate of some of the most important nesting populations of the Giant Leatherback turtle in this part of the Indian Ocean.
The largest of the seven species of sea turtles on the planet and also the most long-ranging, Leatherbacks are found in all oceans except the Arctic and the Antarctic.
Within the Indian Ocean, they nest only in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and are also listed in Schedule I of India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, according it the highest legal protection.
Surveys conducted in the A&N Islands over the past three decades have shown that the populations here could be among the most important colonies of the Leatherback globally.
There is concern now, however, that at least three key nesting beaches — two on Little Andaman Island and one on Great Nicobar Island — are under threat due to mega “development” plans announced in recent months.
These include NITI Aayog’s ambitious tourism vision for Little Andaman and the proposal for a mega-shipment port at Galathea Bay on Great Nicobar Island.
The Little Andaman plan, which proposes phased growth of tourism on this virtually untouched island, has sought the de-reservation of over 200 sq km of pristine rainforest and also of about 140 sq km of the Onge Tribal Reserve.
Two sites where key components of the tourism plan are to be implemented are both Leatherback nesting sites — South Bay along the southern coast of the island and West Bay along its western coast.
South Bay is proposed to be part of the “Leisure Zone” where a film city, a residential district and a tourism special economic zone are to come up.
West Bay is to be part of West Bay Nature Retreat with theme resorts, underwater resorts, beach hotels and high-end residential villas.
The roughly 7-km-long beach at West Bay has been the site of ongoing marine turtle research projects.
Set up post-2004 by the Andaman and Nicobar Environment Team (ANET), Dakshin Foundation, the Indian Institute of Science and the A&N Forest Department to monitor how turtle populations have responded after the devastating earthquake and tsunami, it has thrown up new information on turtles and their behaviour.
Not only are the numbers of females nesting here significant, satellite telemetry has revealed hitherto unknown migration patterns.
Satellite-tagged female turtles have been tracked swimming up to 13,000 km after nesting on West Bay, towards the western coast of Australia and southwest towards the eastern coast of Africa.
One of the tagged turtles travelled to Madagascar, covering 12,328 km in 395 days while another travelled 13,237 km in 266 days to the Mozambique coast.
For the Leatherback, perhaps even more important is Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost of the A&N group.
Large numbers have been recorded nesting here — mainly on the long and wide beaches at the mouth of the Dagmar and Alexandria rivers on the west coast and at the mouth of the Galathea river along its south eastern coast.
Galathea Bay was, in fact, proposed as a wildlife sanctuary in 1997 for the protection of turtles and was also the site of a long-term monitoring programme.
The monitoring was stopped after the tsunami devastation of 2004, but it provided the first systematic evidence of numbers and importance of these beaches.
- Leopard population tracking gets new approach
Wildlife specialists have for long faced challenges estimating the density of leopards in areas where some of the spotted cats are melanistic or black.
Experts from three organisations, one of them Assam-based Aaranyak, have come up with a system that helps in properly estimating the leopard population in areas sustaining a mix of rosette and melanistic individuals.
Rosettes are jagged black circular marks on the tawny coat of a leopard. Like the tiger’s stripes, the rosettes of each leopard are unique in shape and size, making the species identifiable individually.
But melanistic leopards — commonly called black leopards or black panthers or ghongs (Assamese) — have been difficult to estimate as their rosettes are invisible.
The Spatial Mark-Resight (SMR) models applied by the scientists of Aaranyak, Panthera and World Wide Fund for Nature-India have provided a way of counting the melanistic leopards too. The new model has been written about in the Animal Conservation journal.
U.S.-based Panthera is the only organisation in the world devoted exclusively to the conservation of the world’s 40 wild cat species and their ecosystems. Melanism has been documented in 14 of these species, including the leopard.
When a population has only rosette leopard, estimating their population size becomes easy because all the individuals can be identified.
Unlike rosette leopards, a black leopard can often not be reliably identified individually, although special cases exist.
Therefore it is difficult to completely estimate population sizes of leopards, a metric that is very critical for their conservation.
This problem is acute in the tropical and subtropical moist forests of South and Southeast Asia where the frequency of melanistic leopards is high and leopards also face the greatest threat.
No precise estimates of leopard population could thus be done in protected areas and non-protected areas in India except on some occasions.
Expert at the Aaranyak’s tiger research and conservation division, said the team used three years of camera trapping data between 2017 and 2019 obtained from Manas National Park to establish the SMR approach.
The population density of leopards in Manas is 3.37 per 100 sq km. In the study, about 22.6% images of the leopards were of the melanistic kind.
In the SMR models, they borrow the capture history of the rosette leopards and apply the information on the melanistic leopards to estimate the entire population size of leopards.
This is a significant analytical development that can help assess the population of leopards across a great part of the species range from where population estimates are scant.
The SMR method is expected to make it easier to assess the population status of leopards for informed conservation measures by applying the conventional camera trapping field method.
It can also be widely applied for other species that exhibit similar colour variation in nature.
- Massive coal use in Mumbai's industrial clusters worsening city's air quality
Mumbai is gradually losing its coastal city trait of enjoying clean air through the year and the massive use of coal by its industries could be a major culprit, found a new study by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based non-profit.
The factories in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) burn two million tonnes coal every year, the report released recently said.
Out of the 13 industrial areas bordering Mumbai, CSE has done an in-depth assessment of four: Trans-Thane Creek (TTC), Taloja, Ambernath and Dombivali. They cover about 70 per cent of the industries operating in MMR.
The study has analysed and estimated the air pollution load from various industrial sectors.
An indicative ambient air quality monitoring for particulate matter was also conducted to calculate exposure of locals to the pollutants.
TTC was the most polluting, contributing about 44 per cent of the total load from the studied areas. It was followed by Taloja Industrial Area with a contribution of about 26 per cent.
CSE attributed the high pollution levels to rampant use of solid, dirty fuels like coal and agro-based fuels, and furnace oil.
TTC has the highest consumption of coal- and agro-based fuels, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the coal and 70 per cent of agro-residues consumed in the areas studied.
Mumbai is a coastal region and so, is not expected to have very high levels of pollution. But with rapid industrial and infrastructural development, air quality of the region has started deteriorating.
The city needs to wake up and take corrective actions, to avoid turning into a pollution pressure-cooker like Delhi.
The chemical sector, which uses about 3.1 million tonnes of fuels every year, was found to be a major polluter. It contributed close 72 per cent of the total load in the region, the study said.
Medium and small enterprises (MSME) were found to be bigger contributors to air pollution, observed the study.
Dombivali residents were the most exposed to pollution, as analysed by CSE’s indicative monitoring of particulate matter (PM). Poor road infrastructure and high, uncontrolled pollution from surrounding industries could be the reasons for the high PM content.
Patalganga industrial area in Navi Mumbai (near Panvel) had the least exposure.
- Communities use DNA tool to keep tabs on freshwater quality
Canada is the country which is described as a water-rich nation, and it is, with seven per cent of the world’s renewable freshwater supply. However, freshwater sources are far from endless.
Many of Canada’s 25 watersheds are under threat from pollution, habitat degradation, water overuse and invasive species.
For example, more than half of Canada’s population lives within the Great Lakes watershed, Ottawa basin and St. Lawrence basin, which face multiple threats that degrade water quality and undermine the ability of freshwater ecosystems to keep functioning?
Rivers are full of all kinds of small creatures that are highly sensitive to environmental threats.
The worms fly larvae and snails — collectively called macroinvertebrates — that live in the sediment at the bottom of a river (the “benthos”) can serve as biological monitors for water quality.
The presence of biological monitor species that are less tolerant of poor water quality is suggestive of a healthy river.
But it can be challenging to sample and identify these macroinvertebrates. Even when there is some data on them, the quality of the data may not be good enough to determine the health of the watershed.
To date, 64 per cent of sub-watersheds in Canada lack data on these species.
Gathering data on these species is challenging: Many watersheds are remote and difficult to access, and the cost of flying to them limits the amount of data that can be collected.
Experts partnered with local community groups to collect river samples so that we could understand river health by identifying macroinvertebrates from their DNA.
DNA technologies have revolutionised the amount of data we can generate from a single river sample.
For example, one technique called “environmental DNA metabarcoding,” or eDNA for short, involves taking samples of soil or water and searching for fragments of DNA specific to certain species.
This method eliminates the time-consuming process of sorting individual samples and enables us to identify the different species present in a river system.
Experts taught this technique to people involved in a community-based monitoring network called CABIN to create a new biomonitoring project: STREAM (Sequencing the Rivers for Environmental Assessment and Monitoring).
Since 2019, STREAM scientists have trained more than 100 community members who have gone on to collect almost 1,000 samples across 10 watersheds.
We’re close to our goal of 1,500 samples in 15 watersheds in Canada. Yet we’re already beginning to see how the STREAM project is filling in the blanks for freshwater health across Canada.
- Nesting of Olive Ridleys picks up
The large-scale nesting of olive Ridley turtles has finally begun on the Puducherry coastline. However, the traditional sea turtle migration season may be delayed due to climate change or changes in climatic conditions due to the impact of hurricanes Nivar and Burevi.
Now, female Olive Ridley tortoises are leaving hundreds of eggs in their nests. So far, the team has collected more than 4,000 eggs.
The Puducherry coastline is one of the migration routes of these turtles to Orissa. Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 lists coastlines.
The scientific name of the tortoise is Lepidochelys olivacea. It is commonly referred to as the Pacific Ridley turtle. This species belongs to the Che family.
Among all sea turtles found in the world, it is the second smallest and the most abundant. Generally, Sea turtles are found in warm and tropical waters. It mainly exists in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is also found in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
These turtles are known for their unique large-scale nesting. Large nesting is called arribada. During this process, large numbers of female turtles gather on the same beach and lay their eggs. They lay their eggs in a cone-shaped nest 1.5 feet deep.
The turtles used their back flippers to dig their nests. These turtles are carnivorous. They feed on jellyfish, sea urchins, capsules, snails, moss, bivalves, crabs and shrimps.
In the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), these turtles are classified as vulnerable species. It is also listed in CITES Appendix I. These lists stopped large-scale commercial development and trade in sea turtle skins.
- Black storks sighted in the Sigur plateau
The black stork was found on the Sigur Plateau in Nilgris. Researchers say that black storks are extremely rare in the area.
They are found on many continents, but in winter in the northern hemisphere, they mainly migrate to India and South Africa.
They settle in an ancient quiet forest, and the nest is placed on a large tree, usually close to open spaces (slope, clear forest), which makes them easy to enter. Their hunting grounds include streams and creeks, swamp ponds and grasslands with low vegetation.
Most of their threats are due to habitat destruction and hunting.
The IUCN Red List lists the black stork as the species of least concern. But their population is decreasing, mainly due to deforestation and habitat destruction. The black stork was also hunted. During the migration, many storks died when they collided with electric wires.
- Arvind Kejriwal launches 'Switch Delhi' campaign to promote electric vehicles
The Chief Minister of Delhi Mr Arvind Kejriwal launched the "Switch Delhi" campaign on 4th February, 2021.
The campaign was initiated to promote the use of electric vehicles.
The Chief Minister further asked citizens to purchase electric vehicles because it will play a key role in combating Delhi’s pollution.
The Chief Minister also emphasized that the state government will rent electric cars for various purposes within six weeks.
Kejriwal also called on big companies, market associations, delivery chains, shopping malls and cinemas, and residents' welfare associations to promote the use of electric vehicles.
He further called on them to establish charging stations in their respective premises.
The "Switch Delhi" campaign was launched to raise awareness of the benefits of using electric vehicles.
It will also raise awareness of how to help eliminate Delhi’s air pollution and make Delhi clean and pollution-free.
The Chief Minister emphasized that the Delhi government’s electric vehicle policy is one of the best in the world.
According to this policy, the Delhi government plans to provide extensive subsidies for the purchase of electric two-wheelers and four-wheelers. It also plans to abolish registration fees and road taxes for electric vehicles.
The government also issued a tender for the establishment of 100 charging stations in the city.
The government’s goal is that by 2024, electric vehicle registrations will account for 25% of total car registrations. Since the introduction of the electric vehicle policy, more than 6,000 electric vehicles have been sold out.
- Uttarakhand glacier burst | Experts point to climate change impact
A deluge that resulted from a glacial melt on Nanda Devi flooded Rishi Ganga River in Uttarakhand and washed away at least two hydroelectric power projects.
The 13.2 MW Rishiganga hydroelectric power project and the Tapovan project on Dhauligangariver, a tributary of the Alakananda.
The India Meteorological Department (said that no rain is forecast) and the Central Water Commission, also failed to predict the flooding from the glacial burst, arrases the question mark on his (both) works.
Environmental experts attributed the Nanda Devi glacial melt to global warming. Glacier retreat and permafrost thaw are projected to decrease the stability of the mountain slopes and increase the number and area of glacier lakes, according to the latest assessment reports of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth's local, regional and global climates. These changes have a broad range of observed effects that are synonymous with the term.
Climate change has driven erratic weather patterns like increased snowfall and rainfall, and warmer winters had led to the melting of a lot of snow.
The thermal profile of ice, it was increasing. Earlier the temperature of ice ranged from -6 to -20 degree Celsius; it is now -2 making it more susceptible to melting.
Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more.
In the time since the industrial revolution, the climate has increasingly been affected by human activities that are causing global warming and climate change.
The largest driver of warming is the emission of greenhouse gases, of which more than 90% are carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane.
Fossil fuel burning (coal, oil, and gas) for energy consumption is the main source of these emissions, with additional contributions from agriculture, deforestation, and industrial processes.
- Srivilliputhur–Megamalai Tiger Reserve in TN approved
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has approved the establishment of a fifth tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu.
The tiger sanctuary will surround the Meghamalai and Srivilliputhur Grizzly Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary. The approval was made at the request of environmentalists.
The activists demanded the establishment of a tiger reserve to link the two reserves in adjacent areas of the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala.
They also called for linking the Tiger Reserve with Tirunelveli Wildlife Reserve and KalakkadMundanthurai Tiger Reserve. Environmentalists tried to create a continuous corridor for tigers to move.
The tiger reserve will be expanded to 148,000 hectares of land, including Srivilliputhur Grey Squirrel Wildlife Reserve, Meghamalai Wildlife Reserve and Tirunelveli Wildlife Reserve.
The establishment of the tiger sanctuary will help protect wildlife and revitalize the Waigai River by protecting the origin of the river in the tiger sanctuary.
Srivilliputhur Wildlife Sanctuary is also known as the Grey Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary (GSWS). The sanctuary was established in 1988 to protect grey squirrels that are endangered at close range. It borders the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the southwest. This reserve is also known as one of the best-preserved forests south of the Palghat Gap
The National Tiger Protection Authority (NTCA) was established in December 2005. The organization was established on the recommendation of the Tiger Task Force formed by the Prime Minister of India to protect tigers.
It was established under Section 38 L (1) of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The authority obtained power from section 38 O (1) of the 1972 Act.
Tiny chameleon Brookesia nana in the running to be the world's smallest reptile
A chameleon discovered in the island country of Madagascar by scientists from Germany and Madagascar may be the world’s smallest adult reptile.
The chameleon species Brookesia micra was thought to be the smallest. The average length of adults of this species is 16 mm (29 mm with tail), while the smallest adult male has been recorded at 15.3 mm
The male has a length (snout to vent) of 13.5 mm and a total length of 21.6 mm when the tail is included. a six-inch ruler (150 mm) would accommodate almost seven of these males in a row, tails outstretched. The female is slightly longer at 28.9 mm.
Reptiles come in a wide size range. The longest, the reticulated python, at 6.25 m is almost as long as 289 Brookesia nanas.
The gharial is more than 200 Brookesia nanas long, while the king cobra can measure up to nearly 180 Brookesia nanas.
The smaller size, the gecko Sphaerodactylus ariasae of the Caribbean is almost as small as the Brookesia micra, or about 20-25% longer than the Brookesia nana.
The gopher tortoise is equivalent to 12 Brookesia nanas, and the veiled chameleon to about 18 specimens of the newly reported Madagascar species.
Brookesia micra is a species of chameleons from the islet of Nosy Hara in Antsiranana, Madagascar.
It was the smallest known chameleon and among the smallest reptiles, until the discovery in 2021 of the even-smaller B. nana.
Madagascar is home to tiny lizards:and also the smallest species of snakes. One possible reason for such small species is the so-called “island effect” that causes species on small islands to get smaller.
The new chameleon occurs in a rainforest. “These forests are quite well connected (for the time being) with others across northern Madagascar, and so this tiny new chameleon violates the pattern of the smallest species being found on small islands
The Brookesia micra, together with three other species, were found in north Madagascar sometime between 2003 and 2007.
This species was discovered on a small, uninhabited island in the Nosy Hara archipelago off the coast of Madagascar.
They typically reside in leaf litter during the day, and climb up into tree branches as high as 10 cm (3.9 in) at night to sleep.
The micra lives in an area subject to illegal logging, which may make the species "sensitive to habitat destruction".
Over 1 lakh migratory water birds visited Himachal Pradesh’s Pong dam lake sanctuary this winter
In the winter of 2020-21, more than 100,000 migrating waterfowl will arrive at the Pong Dam Lake Wildlife Reserve in Himachal Pradesh. Pong Dam Lake Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh.
In 1975, the Pang Dam was built on the opposite bank of the Bis River. It is also called Pong Reservoir or Maharana Pratap Sagar.
In 1983, the entire reservoir was declared a wildlife sanctuary by the Himalayas government.
In 1994, the Indian government declared it a "wetland of national importance". In November 2002, Pong Lake was declared a Ramsar wetland.
The sanctuary can accommodate 220 species of birds of about 54 species. Throughout the winter, migratory birds from the Hindu Kush Himalayas to Siberia come here.
The lake is fed by the Beas River and its perennial tributaries such as Gaj, Neogal, Binwa, Uhl, Bangana and Baner. There are about 22 species of fish in the lake, including rare fish such as Sal and Gad.
There are about 22 species of fish in the lake, including rare fish such as Sal and Gad. The abundant water level of the lake makes it an ideal destination for indulging in water sports. The reserve is covered with tropical and subtropical forests, where many Indian wild animals live.
- Lahaul-Spiti residents want hydro projects scrapped
In the wake of the Uttarakhand avalanche, there is increased anxiety among the people in the Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh who have been up in arms against the hydropower projects proposed in this tribal region.
Among the projects proposed in Lahul-Spiti are Tandi (104 Mega Watt), Rashil (102 MW), Bardang (126 MW), Miyar (90 MW) and Jispa (300 MW).
Noted environmentalist Kulbhushan Upmanyu said various independent studies published over the last two decades had pointed out vulnerabilities of construction of hydro power projects in Himalayan region.
There exists growing risks of lake formations and glacial lake outbursts but it was a matter of concern that the findings of these studies had not been converted into policy.
The state government should consider the fragile ecology of the tribal belt of Himachal and accordingly prepare a plan for sustainable development rather than focusing on monetary benefits from hydro power projects.
The government should rethink its strategy on exploiting hydro power potential in the state and take corrective measures accordingly.
The governments so far had not learnt lessons from Kedarnath tragedy and it was the reason that the projects were being constructed in Uttarakhand.
Ravi Chopra Committee had earlier pointed out the role of hydropower in exacerbating the impact of the Kedarnath flash floods.
In the joint statement, the 13 NGOs and civil rights groups stated that lack of concern for the environment was the reason that the dam building agenda continues unabated and unabashed in the Himalayas.
In Himachal, hydro power projects worth 10,000 MW have already been built by changing land use that have gobbled forests, farms, caused landslides, soil erosion and impacted the river ecosystems at an enormous scale.
According to the State Disaster Management Authority, most of Himachal’s hydropower projects in operation or under construction fall in areas highly vulnerable to various hazards like landslides and floods.
In fact, the Avay Shukla Committee report which was submitted to HP High Court has recommended a moratorium on new hydropower projects in the state for this reason. But the state government has ignored the report completely.
Most of the planned projects that were yet to come up in Himachal were in the climate vulnerable and ecologically fragile regions of Kinnaur and LahaulSpiti.
These were located in the upper Satluj valley and Lahaul on Chandrabhaga River, also known as Chenab, where tribal communities were resisting these projects.
These are also geologically unstable terrains prone to earthquakes and avalanches.
A study by researchers from the University of Potsdam, Germany that analysed 273 hydropower projects in the Himalayas in India, Nepal and Bhutan found that about 25% of them were likely to face severe damage from quake-triggered landslides.
- On fastest highway, wildlife gets safe passage with bridges, passes
On India’s fastest highway — the under-construction Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway, which is designed for a top speed of 150 kmph — the focus is on co-existence, with five “wildlife bridges” and a network of underpasses being built.
The 701-km-long and 120-m-broad highway, which will be partly commissioned this May, cuts across three sanctuaries — Tansa (Thane), Katepurna (Akola-Washim border) and Karanja-Sohol (Washim) — and 35 wildlife focus areas (WFAs) – 16 in Vidharbha, 16 in the North Western Ghats, 3 in Marathwada — stretched over 118 km across the route. And there is a lot more at stake than a roadkill.
A high-speed corridor cutting across wildlife habitat can severely restrict the movement of animals, altering their behaviour and dispersal patterns.
Mindful of this, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), that is building the highway, joined forces with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) to engineer safe wildlife crossings.
The idea is to give native animals a way to get across the road without endangering themselves.
The good thing about this highway is that it is the first one where wildlife mitigation has been considered, even as it does not cut across any of the protected areas of a forest.
While animal underpasses are not new, the five “wildlife bridges” — three overpasses in the wildlife focus areas of the project in Vidarbha and two in the highlands of Aurangabad — are the first of their kind in India.
This stretch of the highway is located in the middle of a functional corridor between the Bor Tiger Reserve and the Umred-Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary.
Besides tigers, the area is also home to the nilgai, sambar, chinkara, wild boar, Indian hare, porcupine, striped hyena and golden jackal.
“Fragmentation of such patches can lead to destruction of habitat, and also affect the animal density and movement,” the WII had said in a report which advocated the overpass to avoid a man-animal conflict.
The wildlife bridge will also be covered with native flora. The art is to make it look as natural as possible. An animal should be happy to use the crossing.
- Nitin Gadkari to launch India's first CNG tractor today (Feb 12th)
India is going to launch its first-ever diesel tractor that has been converted to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) on February 12, 2021.
The CNG Tractor will be formally launched by Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways.
The conversion of the Diesel tractor into the CNG tractor was carried out jointly by Rawmatt Techno Solutions and Tomasetto Achille India.
The conversion of the diesel to CNG will help the farmers to increase their income.
It will lower the costs and help to create job opportunities for the people living in rural India.
The CNG tractor will also help the farmer to save more than one lakh rupees on the costs of fuel annually.
This in turn will help the farmers to improve their livelihood.
- Scientist warns of water build-up near Uttarakhand disaster zone
A fresh pool of water may be building up in the Rishiganga River that could tip over a mass of rock and debris, thereby impeding ongoing rescue operations in Uttarakhand.
The staggering collapse of part of a glacier in Uttarakhand’s Nanda Devi Mountain and the ensuing floods that have claimed many lives come as a deadly reminder that this fragile, geologically dynamic region can never be taken for granted.
A significant slice of the glacier, dislodged by a landslide, according to some satellite images, produced roaring torrents in the Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers in Chamoli district, trapping unsuspecting workers at two hydro power project sites.
Geologist has said the flow of the river had been blocked by rock and debris — forming a sort of natural dam — and this could potentially roll down and impede ongoing relief operations.
The debris is from the avalanche that had resulted from the breaking of a large portion of rock and ice from the Raunthi peak.
This is a natural event that occurred in the high Himalayan ranges. They happen every now and then.
Except this one is closer to a populated area. Secondly, one would have never heard of it, if it had not led to a disaster. There is a natural event. But disasters happen when we do something stupid.
In 2013, after the Kedarnath tragedy, the committee that was heading put out a report which clearly said that projects should not be built in these valleys.
They are called paraglacial zones – glaciers in the geological pass have receded from this area leaving behind a lot of debris, boulders, rocks, etc.
And when there is heavy rainfall or snowfall, and there is melting of water, snow and ice – the combination of the three is deadly – then it is able to gather a lot of the solids lying in the path and move them downstream.
Experts had described the process of how destruction takes place and had clearly said not to build them. This valley had six projects planned. To ignore this warning is foolhardy.
- CEDAR study on High diversity of birds in Mangar area
The Mangar landscape of the Aravallis in Faridabad has a “high diversity” of bird species, with 219 species in a 17.13 sq km area, reflecting its “high conservation value”, reveals a study of the birds by the Centre for Ecology Development And Research (CEDAR).
The study, which is the result of a year-long field survey and compilation of e-bird data.
It covers the Mangar landscape, which includes Mangar Bani — a sacred grove in Faridabad with an area of 2.66 sq km — and its surrounding forests.
According to the study, the 219 species found in the Mangar landscape include 130 resident species, 53 winter migrants, 12 summer migrants, and 16 passage migrants.
Among the species found, several are “rare” in Delhi, including the common rosefinch, black breasted weaver, and red munia.
Five “nationally endangered raptor species”, including king vulture and Egyptian vulture, as well as six bird species that have been showing a “national-level decline”, including the yellow crowned woodpecker and short-toed Snake Eagle, were also found to be “thriving” in the Mangar landscape, states the study.
The biggest take away from the report is the species richness in the Mangar area. Another important takeaway is regarding the kind of species that were found.
There are several dry forest specialists. Most of these are not very frequently seen in other dry forests in NCR.
Based on the study, the researchers have concluded that “conservation of Mangar Bani, along with the surrounding forests, contributes immensely to NCR’s avifaunal biodiversity”.
- Report of Climate Change on Hindukush Karakoram Ranges
According to the "India Regional Climate Change Assessment" report, the amount of snowfall in the upper reaches of the Hindu Kush Himalayas has been increasing in recent decades, which has protected the region from the effects of shrinking glaciers.
The recent major flooding of the Alaknanda River, which may have been caused by a glacier eruption, highlights the problem of glaciers retreating due to global warming in recent decades, but the report shows a sharp contrast in the Hindu Kush Himalayas.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has released the "India Regional Climate Change Assessment Report." This is India’s first national forecast of the impact of global warming on the subcontinent in the coming century.
The HKH region includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It spans about 5 million square kilometers and has a large population of different cultures.
It is considered the third pole (after the Arctic and Antarctic) and has an important influence on the climate. It has a vast cryosphere (frozen water) and is also the world's largest ice storage area outside the polar regions.
- National Marine Turtle Action Plan launched
The Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change issued the "National Marine Turtle Action Plan" and also issued the Marine Mega Fauna Stranding Guidelines.
These documents contain methods to not only promote inter-departmental protection actions, but also guide the government, civil society and all relevant stakeholders to strengthen coordination and protection in response to cases of stranding, entanglement, injury or death of marine mammals and also conservation of Marine Turtles.
These two documents focus on the actions that should be taken when dealing with stranded animals on the shore, animals stranded or entangled at sea or on ships, to improve coordination, reduce threats to marine species and their habitats, and restore degraded habitats.
Promote people’s participation, advance scientific research and the exchange of information about marine mammals and turtles and their habitats.
- NITI Aayog's megacity plan for Little Andaman alarms conservationists
A megacity plan for the sustainable and holistic development of the 680 sq km, fragile Little Andaman Island in the Andaman and Nicobar group.
The plan has raised the alarm among conservationists.This is the NITI Aayog’s proposal to leverage the strategic location and natural features of the island.
The document aims at building a new greenfield coastal city there, that will be developed as a free trade zone and will compete with Singapore and Hong Kong. There will be ‘underwater’ resorts, casinos, golf courses, convention centres, plug-and-play office complexes, a drone port with fully automated drone delivery system, nature cure institutes and more.
An international airport capable of handling all types of aircraft will be central to this development vision. The only jetty on the island will be expanded and a marina will be developed next to the tourist entertainment district.
A 100 km greenfield ring road will be constructed parallel to the coastline from east to west and will be supplemented with a mass rapid transit network with stations at regular intervals. The nature resort complex proposed at West Bay on the western coast is to have theme resorts, floating/underwater resorts, beach hotels, and high-end residential villas.
It is today a secluded and difficult to reach part, one of the most important nesting sites of the globally endangered Giant Leatherback sea turtle. Giant Leatherback sea turtle is being studied by the Dakshin Foundation, the Andaman and Nicobar Environment Team and the island administration’s Forest Department.
The proposal is pivoted along three development anchors and zones.
Zone 1 - spread over 102 sq km along the east coast of Little Andaman — will be the financial district and medi city and will include an aerocity, and a tourism and hospital district.
Zone 2 - Spread over 85 sq km of pristine forest- the leisure zone, will have a film city, a residential district and a tourism SEZ.
Zone 3 -on 52 sq km of pristine forest — will be a nature zone, further categorised into three districts: an exclusive forest resort, a nature healing district and a nature retreat, all on the western coast.
The vision needs 240 sq km (35%) of this land. It is planning to de-reserve 32% of the reserved forest and de-notify 138 sq km or 31% of the tribal reserve. And if the tribals become an impediment, the vision suggests that they “can be relocated to other parts of the island”. The document uses inappropriate photographs plagiarised from the Internet.
Vision talks of conservation of national park/wildlife sanctuary on Little Andaman when none exist here and it has no mention of the geological vulnerability of the place, which was amongst the worst-affected in the earthquake-tsunami combination in 2004. The plan has no financial details, no budgeting, or inventorisation of forests and ecological wealth and no details of any impact assessment.
Experts have raised serious concerns about this vision on grounds of- ecological fragility, indigenous rights and vulnerability to earthquakes and tsunamis. Large diversion of forest land would cause obvious environmental loss leading to irreversible damage (more than 2 million trees stand in the forest land sought for these projects) habitats of various wild animals including endangered sea turtles would be affected.
The impact could not even be assessed because there was no environment impact assessment report and neither were there any detailed site layout plans for the proposed diversion.
The vision that seeks to alter the nature of an ancient island bigger than Chennai and Mumbai in area.
A meeting will be held to initiate the denotification of the Onge tribal reserve on Little Andaman.
- Wildlife Crime Control Bureau busts Wildlife Trafficking Syndicates in J&K
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) disrupted wildlife trafficking syndicates in the Jammu and Kashmir regions.
This is a multidisciplinary statutory body established by the Indian government under the Ministry of Environment and Forests to combat organized wildlife crime in the country.
Headquartered in New Delhi, with regional, sub-regional offices and border units.According to section 38(Z) of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, its tasks are:
Collect and organize intelligence related to organized wildlife crime activities
Distribute it to the state and other law enforcement agencies for immediate action to arrest criminals
Establish a centralized wildlife crime database
Coordinate the actions of various agencies in connection with the enforcement of the provisions of the Act
Assist foreign authorities and relevant international organizations to promote coordination and take universal actions to control wildlife crime.
Build the capacity of wildlife crime law enforcement agencies to conduct scientific and professional investigations of wildlife crimes and assist the state government to ensure successful prosecutions related to wildlife crimes.
Advise the Indian government on issues related to wildlife crimes, related policies and laws involving national and international impacts.
It also assists and recommends customs authorities to inspect animal and plant cargoes in accordance with the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, CITES and EXIM Policy governing such items.
GOI notified the board of directors of its establishment in 2007 and started operations in 2008.
Created based on the recommendations of the "Prevention of Illegal Trade in Wildlife and Wildlife Products " Committee (1994) led by Dr S. Subramaniam.
- Periyar Tiger Reserve trains abandoned tiger cub
The Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Kerala received training for tiger cubs for the first time in the country to enable them to hunt naturally in a forest environment.
It falls in the Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts of Kerala (located in the southern region of the Western Ghats). It was declared a protected area in 1950 and a Tiger Reserve in 1978. Its name is taken from the Periyar River, which originated inside the reserve.
The main rivers passing through the reserve are the Mullayar and Periyar rivers. The protected area includes tropical evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forest and grassland.
There are approximately 1966 species of flowering plants growing in this reserve. About 516 of them are endemic to the Western Ghats.
The sanctuary is a warehouse of medicinal plants, with approximately 300 species in number. Some species are endemic to the area, such as Syzygiumperiyarensis (a tree), Habenariaperiyarensis (an orchid) and Mucunapruriensethekkadiensis (a climber)
Mammals: Tiger, Elephant, Lion-tailed macaque, NilgiriTahr etc.
Birds: Darters, Cormorants, Kingfishers, the great Malabar Hornbill and racket-tailed Drongos.
Reptiles: Monitor Lizards, Python, King Cobra etc.
There are six tribal communities in the reserve, such as Mannans, Paliyans, Malayarayans, Mala Pandarams, Uralis and Ulladans.
- Union Ministers jointly launch unified web portal for monitoring progress of GOBARDHAN activities
Agriculture Ministry, Petroleum Ministry, Animal Husbandry Ministry, Jal Shakti Ministry and Ministry of State for Jal Shakti jointly launched a unified web portal for monitoring the progress of GOBARDHAN activities across the nation.
Gobardhan is an important component of Swachh Bharat Mission Phase-2 for organic solid waste management.
At the rural level, earlier there was no way of proper disposal of cattle dung waste, but after the introduction of Gobardhan programme, people will be able to provide proper disposal of dung and achieve the goal of ODF Plus.
Gobardhan pilot project will prove to be an important and useful step in cleanliness. Through this farmers will be able to get wealth from waste in a true sense.
Apart from making the country ODF Plus, through the important scheme of Gobardhan, India will get ethanol, bio-diesel and compressed bio-fuel in the coming years.
The launch of unified portal of Gobardhan will further strengthen the rural economy through a convergent approach for various Biogas projects models and initiatives.
- India's first wetland conservation centre comes up in Chennai
The central government announced that it will soon establish a new wetland protection and management center in Chennai. The purpose of establishing the wetland protection and management center is to solve the knowledge gaps and specific research needs in wetland protection and management.
The Wetland Conservation and Management Centre (CWCM) will be established by the central government in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The conservation center will become part of the national sustainable coastal management center. This national center is an agency under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
CWCM will play an important role in designing and implementing regulatory frameworks and policies. It will also facilitate monitoring, management planning, and targeted research to protect wetlands. The protection center will also act as a knowledge center.
It will enable communication among wetland authorities, managers, wetland researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and users in each state or Union territory. The center will further help establish networks and relevant international and national institutions.
Wetland is a unique ecosystem submerged by water. They are inundated permanently or seasonally. In such an ecosystem, anaerobic processes dominate.
Wetlands contribute to water purification, water storage, carbon treatment, and coastline stability. It also provides support for plants and animals. They are the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems. They naturally exist on every continent, and the water in the tank can be freshwater, brackish water, or saltwater.
India has 42 Ramsar wetlands that have been designated as internationally important wetlands. They account for approximately 4.6% of India's land area.
In order to protect the wetlands, February 2 is designated as World Wetland Day. In 2021, this day marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The convention was signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971.
Published date : 02 Mar 2021 12:43PM
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