Australia permits dredge dumping near Great Barrier Reef for major coal port

MELBOURNE: Australia's Great Barrier Reef watchdog gave the green light on Friday for millions of cubic metres of dredged mud to be dumped near the fragile reef to create the world's biggest coal port and possibly unlock $28 billion in coal projects.

The dumping permit clears the way for a major expansion of the port of Abbot Point for two Indian firms and Australian billionaire miner Gina Rinehart, who together have $16 billion worth of coal projects in the untapped, inland Galilee Basin.

"This is a significant milestone in developing our Galilee Basin coal projects, which represent the creation of over 20,000 direct and indirect jobs and over $40 billion in taxes and royalties," said Darren Yeates, chief executive of GVK-Hancock, a joint venture between India's GVK conglomerate and Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.

Environmentalists, scientists and tour operators had fought the plan to dump soil 25 km (15 miles) from the reef, which they fear will harm delicate corals and seagrasses and potentially double ship traffic through the World Heritage marine park.

"It's a really disappointing decision," said Selina Ward, a marine biologist at the University of Queensland who was among 240 international scientists who urged the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to refuse the permit.

"What we need to do is to stop putting pressure on the reef, certainly not to be adding further stress to it by dumping 3 million tonnes of sediment on it."

If all the dredged material were dumped on land, the pile would be bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The reef authority, an independent government agency charged with protecting the reef, said the permit was approved as one third of the marine park was designated high protection and two-thirds allows other uses, such as dredging disposal as ports have always been a part of the area.

Authority chairman Russell Reichelt said expanding Abbot Point would require much less dredging than other options along the reef, which covers an area larger than the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Switzerland combined.

"It's important to note the seafloor of the approved disposal area consists of sand, silt and clay and does not contain coral reefs or seagrass beds," Reichelt, said.

UNESCO CONCERNED OVER REEF

The permit to dump 3 million cubic metres of mud within the marine park could place at risk the World Heritage-listing of the Great Barrier Reef, one of Australia's top tourist attractions generating an estimated $5.7 billion.

UNESCO, which awarded the reef its heritage listing, last year postponed a decision to June 2014 on whether to put the Great Barrier Reef on its "in danger" list or even cancel its World Heritage listing. It is awaiting a report from the national government on steps taken to address its concerns.

The permit allows North Queensland Bulk Ports Corp to dump dredged material in the reef marine park to deepen Abbot Point for two terminals planned by Adani Enterprises and GVK-Hancock, which have long term plans to export 120 million tonnes a year of coal all together.

North Queensland Bulk Ports Corp and Reichelt said the permit approval should not raise alarm at UNESCO, particularly as the reef authority on Friday urged the state and national governments and industry to come up with a new sustainable ports plan that would reduce the need for dredging along the reef.

"What I've called for today is exactly in line with what they (UNESCO) would like to see put in place," Reichelt said.

The reef authority imposed strict conditions on the dumping permit, including no environmental, cultural or heritage damage to areas beyond 20 km (12 miles) from the disposal site, and urged the ports corporation to consider other dump sites.

Even with the permit, it's unclear how soon the dredging will go ahead, as Adani and GVK-Hancock's projects have been delayed amid funding challenges in the face of sliding coal prices and China's efforts to cut coal use to battle smog.

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200,000 hectares forest land diverted in four years: Sunita Narain

SHIMLA: Over 8,000 projects, involving a diversion of 200,000 hectares of forest land, have been cleared by the central government in four years and this was double the clearances given in three decades, environmentalist Sunita Narain said here on Friday.

"Between 2007 and 2011, two ministers gave environment clearances to 8,000 projects across the country, involving diversion of 200,000 hectares of forest land," she said.

"It was double the clearances given in three decades. The pace of clearances will further increase," Narain, director general of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, added.

She was here to deliver a keynote address at a workshop on building forest accounts organised by the state's department of environment, science and technology.

Narain said though there were delays in granting approval to all these developmental projects, there had been no rejection.

"The ministry imposes number of conditions while giving environment clearances. But there is no monitoring whether the conditions are fulfilled on the ground or not," she said.

Narain said there was much pressure on forest land. "Unless the benefits of forests are passed to the local communities, the forests cannot be managed and made a part of economic growth."

The environmentalist said there was no doubt the rate of deforestation had been brought down, post-1980. "But this is only half right. The fact is the forests are still under huge pressure," she said.

She said the need is to change the policy on forest diversion for development.

Narain called for valuation of economic, ecological and livelihood potential of forests and to incorporate this into the national accounts.

"A methodology is required to pay for standing trees and we need to use this methodology to increase productivity of the remaining forest land," she added.

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Climate change taking toll on penguins, study finds

Life has never been easy for just-hatched Magellanic penguins, but climate change is making it worse, according to a decades-long study of the largest breeding colony of the birds.

The chicks are already vulnerable to predation and starvation. Now, the study at Punta Tombo, Argentina, found that intense storms and warmer temperatures are increasingly taking a toll.

"Rainfall is killing a lot of penguins, and so is heat," said P Dee Boersma, a University of Washington scientist and lead author of the study. "And those are two new causes."

Climate scientists say more extreme weather, including wetter storms and more prolonged periods of heat and cold, is one impact of a climate that is changing because of emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. While monitoring the penguin colony, Boersma and her colleagues also documented regional temperature changes and increases in the number of days with heavy rains.

The study, which was published online Wednesday in the journal PLoS ONE, is one of the first to show a direct impact of climate change on seabirds. Most studies have looked at how warming temperatures affect animals indirectly, by altering predation patterns or food supplies.

William J Sydeman, senior scientist at the Farallon Institute in California, who was not involved in the research, said the study linked changes in climate, which occur on a scale of decades, to the daily scale of life in the colony. "That's a unique contribution," he said.

The colony at Punta Tombo, in a temperate and relatively dry region about midway along Argentina's coast, is home to about 200,000 breeding pairs of the penguins, which are about 15 inches tall as adults. Boersma has been working there since 1982, with long-term support from the Wildlife Conservation Society.

For this study, the researchers compiled data on nearly 3,500 chicks that they meticulously tracked by checking nests once or twice a day throughout the six-month breeding season, which starts in September.

"We knew when each chick hatched, and its fate," Boersma said.

Typically, nearly two-thirds of hatchlings at the colony do not survive to leave the nest. In most years, the researchers found, starvation and predation - by other seabirds and small animals - caused the majority of the deaths.

But they found that heavy storms killed birds in 13 of the 28 years of the study. In two years, storms were responsible for most of the deaths. Extreme heat killed more hatchlings as well, although the effect was less pronounced.

Like other young birds, penguin hatchlings can die from hypothermia if their down gets wet and loses its insulating air spaces. The birds are most vulnerable from about a week after hatching - before that they are largely protected by a parent - to about six weeks, when they develop waterproof plumage.

"They didn't used to have to contend with this variability in the climate," Boersma said. "And they certainly didn't have to contend with all this rainfall."

Since 1987, the number of breeding pairs in the colony has declined 24 percent, Boersma said. It is difficult to calculate how much of that decline can be attributed to storms and rain, she said.

Boersma said the increasing frequency of heavy storms was most likely directly affecting other seabird species that were breeding in the region.

In fact, the same direct effect is being seen half a world away, in a terrestrial bird. In a study of a population of peregrine falcons in the Canadian Arctic that was published last year in the journal Oecologia, researchers reported that heavy rains killed large numbers of hatchlings, and documented an increase in the frequency of such rains over decades.

Alastair Franke, a University of Alberta scientist who led the study, said he was stunned when he read Boersma's paper. "It's amazing that we're seeing such similarity between the two studies," he said.

In her work, Boersma showed that the mortality caused by storms was in addition to those from other causes.

Franke said that was one of the most interesting aspects of Boersma's study. "This is a double whammy for the penguins," he said. "You're still going to get all the starvation and predation. But now you get increased mortality from rainfall as well."

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Antarctica's collapsing ice shelves may disappear in 200 years

LONDON: A number of floating ice shelves in Antarctica are at risk of disappearing entirely in the next 200 years, as global warming reduces their snow cover, a new study has warned.

Their collapse would enhance the discharge of ice into the oceans and increase the rate at which sea-level rises, researchers said.

A rapid reduction of greenhouse gas emissions could save a number of these ice shelves, researchers at Utrecht University and the British Antarctic Survey said.

Back in 1995 and 2002, two floating ice shelves in the north of the Antarctic Peninsula (Larsen A and B) suddenly collapsed - each event occurred in a matter of weeks.

"This was a spectacular event, especially when you imagine the size of these ice shelves, which are several hundreds of metres thick, and have been in place for over 10,000 years," Dr Peter Kuipers Munneke, the paper's lead author, said.

The team of researchers suspected that the disappearance of the snow layer on top of the ice shelves could be an important precursor for shelf collapse.

Their calculations confirm this hypothesis, and show that many more ice shelves could disappear in the next 200 years.

The scientists believed the snow layer plays an important role in regulating the effect of melt-water lakes on the ice shelves.

As long as the snow layer is sufficiently thick and cold, all melt-water can sink into the snow and refreeze. But in a warmer climate, the amount of melt-water increases, and the snow layers become thinner.

As a result, melt-water can no longer refreeze and forms large lakes on the surface of the ice shelves.

The water drains through cracks and faults, causing them to widen until they become so wide and deep that the entire ice shelf disintegrates.

After their collapse, ice shelves can no longer provide resistance to the flow of the glaciers previously feeding them. As a result, the glacier flow accelerates significantly, contributing to an increase in sea-level rise.

The researchers performed calculations that show how this process may evolve over the next 200 years, using two different climate scenarios.

"If we continue to burn fossil fuels at the current rate, almost all ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula will be under threat of collapse in the next 200 years," Munnekke said.

"Only the two largest ones seem to be safe. Even in the much colder eastern part of Antarctica, some ice shelves could disintegrate," said Munnekke.

The study was published in the Journal of Glaciology.

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Bird watching at Gorewada promises to be thrilling experience

NAGPUR: Gorewada lake has a long history, it was developed to provide water to the city of Nagpur, then a small settlement of about one lakh people, in 1912. Little did the people or administrators know then that it will, one day, become a birdwatching paradise!

Situated on the north-west outskirts of the city, Gorewada lake has now become part of the city due to rapid growth, it has also become a haven for many resident and migratory bird species. "It comes as a rare opportunity for amateur bird watchers and young minds interested in knowing about avian life," says Dr Sudhanshu Kothe, consultant plastic and reconstructive microsurgeon.

Dr Kothe, an avid birder and a life member of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), has presented several scientific papers on birds and has also authored books on avians.

Dr Kothe, who is into bird watching for the past 32 years, has special expertise in hawks and eagles. He will guide the students under TOI's 'Nature for Kids' event organized on February 2 (Sunday) from 7.30am to 10am, at the Gorewada nature trail along the lake side. Dr Kothe, who is also the one who started 'Bird Katta', a forum where enthusiasts discuss birds, said the new walking trail built along the lakeside was a blessing for birders' community. The Gondwana nature trail extends for a length of 8km, and takes the walkers on a beautiful trip through natural surroundings.

The trail winds along the undulating lakeshore, bringing unexpected beauty at each turn. With the lake on one side and the forest on the other, birds of every kind, shape, size and colour can be seen here. Some very beautiful birds have made Gorewada lake and forest their home. These are: Little Grebe, Purple Heron, Asian Openbill, Grey Heron, Cotton Pygmy Goose, Spotbill Buck, Eurasion Wigeon, Red Headed Duck, Northern Pintail Duck, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Little Ringed Plover, Plum Headed Parakeet, Golden Oriole, Tickel's Blue Flycatcher, and many more.

"One has to see it to believe it," says Dr Kothe. Apart from the above mentioned species, the national bird Peafowl; state bird Yellow Footed Green Pigeon; and Bird of Nagpur Oriental Honey Buzzard - are all sighted at Gorewada.

"The Gondwana trail is basically an interpretative trail educating people and students about Gondwana culture, birds, forest and wildlife," says S P Wadaskar, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM), which is implementing the zoo project. "It will be a fantastic experience to explore the forest and wildlife besides birds while walking on the long trail between the reserve forest and lake. The Gondwana trail starts from Pagoda point near the nursery, besides the administrative office and ends at Gorewada," says Wadaskar.

Dr Kothe says while trailing deep, you have every chance of coming across even wild animals like chitals, sambars, nilgais and wild boars that are in sizeable numbers in the 1,064 hectare forest. The Gorewada forest has around 123 bird species. Dr Kothe hopes bird watching along the Gorewada trail will be a thrilling experience for the children.

Dos & Don'ts

* Don't wear dark/bright coloured clothes

* Come in nature-friendly wear, preferably dull green/brown

* Students should wear sports shoes, preferably a cap

* Keeping a binocular will be good to have close view of birds

* Keep a small pocket diary and pen/pencil

* Come with water bottles and snacks

* Those having books on bird species can bring them

* Do not throw litter/waste anywhere except in waste-bins

* Do not carry plastic bags in the forest/trail

* Do not carry iPods or any other music players

* Keep quiet so as not to disturb birds and animals

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Nasa technology to reveal ice melting impact on climate

WASHINGTON: A new laser-based technology from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) holds promise to tell how the melting of earth's frozen regions may affect our climate.

This opens a new vista for researchers to better track the melting or growth of ice sheets, glaciers and sea ice.

A high-altitude aircraft from Nasa flew over the icy Arctic ocean and the snow-covered terrain of Greenland recently.

Aboard that aircraft flew the Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar, or MABEL, which is an airborne test-bed instrument for Nasa's ICESat-2 satellite mission - slated to launch in 2017.

Armed with a new photon-counting technique, MABEL flew over southwest Greenland's glaciers and sea ice to test a new method of measuring the height of earth from space.

The MABEL sent out pulses of green laser light and measured how long it took individual light photons to bounce off earth's surface and return.

"Using the individual photons to measure surface elevation is a really new thing," said Ron Kwok, a senior research scientist at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

ICESat-2 is tasked with measuring elevation across earth's entire surface but with a focus on change in the frozen areas of the planet, where scientists have observed dramatic impacts from climate change, said a Nasa press release.

The two types of ice - ice sheets and sea ice - reflect light photons in different patterns.

Ice sheets and glaciers are found on land, like Greenland and Antarctica, and are formed as frozen snow and rain accumulates.

Sea ice, on the other hand, is frozen seawater, found floating in the Arctic ocean and offshore of Antarctica.

"MABEL's Greenland campaign was designed to observe a range of interesting icy features," said Bill Cook, MABEL's lead scientist at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland.

With the photon counts from different surfaces, other scientists could start analyzing the data to determine which methods allow them to best measure the elevation of earth's surface.

The flights over the ocean near Greenland allowed researchers to demonstrate that they can measure the height difference between open water and sea ice, which is key to determining the ice thickness.

MABEL can detect enough of the laser light photons that bounce off earth's surface and return to the instrument, and programmes can then make necessary elevation calculations, Cook added.

"We were pretty happy with the precision. The flat areas are flat to centimetre level and the rough areas are rough," he said.

The density of photons detection could also tell researchers what type of ice the instrument was flying over.

The instrument team is planning a 2014 summer campaign to fly over glaciers and ice sheets in warmer weather.

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Environmentalists prepare list of endangered species

MUMBAI: Even as conservation efforts at various levels continue to show hope for the future, the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Birds (2013) shows that fifteen bird species in India continue to be Critically Endangered (CR). Moreover, three other bird species now face greater danger than before. These species have been uplisted to Near Threatened (NT) and Vulnerable (VU) categories. Earlier they were better off and classified under Least Concern (LC) category. In India, organizations such as BNHS-India play a crucial role in researching and collating such information, as the BirdLife International ( UK) country partner.

The species falling under the critically endangered category in India include migratory wetland species: Baer's Pochard, Siberian Crane and Spoon-billed Sandpiper; non-migratory wetland species: White-bellied Heron; grassland species: Bengal Florican, Great Indian Bustard, Jerdon's Courser and Sociable Lapwing; forest species: Forest Owlet and scavengers: Indian Vulture, Red-headed Vulture, White-backed Vulture and Slender-billed Vulture. Himalayan Quail and Pink-headed Duck are now considered Extinct for all practical purposes.

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SC stays environment ministry's move to allow mining without green nod

NEW DELHI: In what could halt many mining activities, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed a ministry of environment and forests notification permitting mining in forest areas for two years without clearances under Forest Conservation Act and Environment Protection Act.

The February 1, 2013 notification had told states that mining activities in forest areas should be stopped if the lease holder failed to obtain clearances under FCA and EPA within two years of commencing mining operations.

Amicus curiae and senior advocate Harish Salve took objection to this notification saying allowing mining for two years would cause irreversible damage to forests and environment. A bench of Justices A K Patnaik, S S Nijjar and F M I Kalifulla agreed with the amicus and ordered stay of the notification.

The notification had said mining leases, which fell fully or partly within forest areas, must obtain approval under FCA for diversion of the forest area for mining purposes within two years. If the user failed to get the FCA clearance in two years, then mining would be restricted to non-forest area, the notification had said.

Salve also raised another important issue relating to use of net present value, which was calculated to compensate loss of forest land as well as alternative forestation plans and other related issues, for the benefit of original inhabitants - the tribal people.

He said the apex court had directed that 50% of the NPV would be used for welfare of the tribal community but there was no mechanism to ensure end use of the funds deposited by companies towards NPV.

The bench asked the Odisha government to detail within four weeks the mechanism it has put in place to ensure that 50% of the NPV was actually used for tribal welfare.

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Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve tiger census enters final phase

Chandrapur: The tiger estimation census for year 2013-14 in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) entered its final phase with authorities launching the camera trapping exercise in the core and buffer area of the park on Saturday. Visual identification of tigers and leopards through camera traps, called phase IV tiger monitoring, will be conducted in four stages spanning the period over three months during the final phase.

"Core and buffer zone of the tiger reserve is spread in around 1,325 sq km, while we have only 320 camera traps in working condition. Hence the entire expanse of tiger reserve has been divided into four separate blocks. Camera trap monitoring will be conducted in each block for 20 days. The entire exercise is expected to conclude by April 30," said CCF and field director, TATR, Virendra Tiwari.

He claimed that a grid area of 2.04 km will be covered with a pair of camera trap as per guidelines of Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The exercise is meant to visually identify each tiger and leopard by capturing their pictures with the camera traps. Six researchers of WII are already here to help the TATR in smooth conduction of tiger estimation exercise, he said.

The fourth phase of monitoring helps know mortality, dispersal breeding and other population dynamics of tigers. Similar exercise conducted during summer 2013 had estimated tiger population size of minimum 41 in core area of TATR. The phase IV monitoring was not conducted in buffer zone of reserve in 2013, following intense man-animal conflict situation in the buffer village during the study period. A total population of 65 tigers was estimated in core and buffer area of TATR through a similar exercise in 2012.

Tiwari said that they have successfully accomplished earlier phases of tiger estimation exercise. "Sign encounter rate survey' and the transit line survey were conducted in the tiger reserve between 16 and 23 January this year. These exercises help in monitoring tigers, co-predators, prey and their habitats. It also helps in monitoring number of tigers, change in their population and understanding the factors responsible it and also for better management of tiger habitats," he said.

The field director claimed that teams of foresters walked along the fixed length of game trails in the forest in these phases and collection of scat samples, scrape/rake marks on trunks, pug marks, scent marks etc to assimilate field data for correct estimation of population of tigers, co-predators and prey in the habitat.

Tiwari claimed that the entire data collected during tiger estimation exercise will be handed over to WII. The coveted wildlife institute will process the data and come up with the population density of tigers, co-predators and prey in the area and not the numbers, he stressed.

NUMBERING THE CATS

* Visual identification of tigers and leopards through camera traps, called phase IV tiger monitoring, is being conducted in four stages

* Sign encounter rate survey and the transit line survey were conducted in the tiger reserve between January 16 and 23

* These exercises help in monitoring tigers, co-predators, prey and their habitats

* Teams of foresters walked along the fixed length of game trails and collection of scat samples, scrape/rake marks on trunks, pug marks, scent marks etc to assimilate field data for correct estimation of population

* Data collected during tiger estimation exercise will be handed over to Wildlife Institute of India (WII)

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Humans shaped southeast Asia's rain forests from 11,000 years ago

LONDON: The tropical forests of southeast Asia have been shaped by humans for the last 11,000 years, according to new research.

Researchers at Queen's University in Belfast (Northern Ireland), have discarded theories that the rainforests of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java (in Indonesia), Thailand and Vietnam were largely unaffected by humans.

A deep analysis of vegetation histories across the three islands and the southeast Asian mainland has revealed a pattern of repeated disturbance of vegetation since the end of the last ice age, approximately 11,000 years ago, said palaeoecologist Dr Chris Hunt.

"It has long been believed that the rainforests of the Far East were virgin wildernesses, where human impact has been minimal. Our findings, however, indicate a history of disturbances to vegetation," said Dr Hunt, director of research on environmental change at Queen's School of geography, archaeology and palaeoecology.

"These vegetation changes have been brought about by the actions of people," he added.

There is evidence that humans in the Kelabit Highlands of Borneo burned fires to clear the land for planting food-bearing plants.

Pollen samples from around 6,500 years ago contain abundant charcoal, indicating the occurrence of fire, said the study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

"This indicates that the people who inhabited the land intentionally cleared it of forest vegetation and planted sources of food in its place," Hunt added.

Laws in several southeast Asian countries do not recognise the rights of indigenous forest dwellers on the grounds that they are nomads who leave no permanent mark on the landscape.

"Given that we can now demonstrate their active management of the forests for more than 11,000 years, these people have a new argument in their case against eviction," Hunt contended.

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Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve tiger census enters final phase

Chandrapur: The tiger estimation census for year 2013-14 in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) entered its final phase with authorities launching the camera trapping exercise in the core and buffer area of the park on Saturday. Visual identification of tigers and leopards through camera traps, called phase IV tiger monitoring, will be conducted in four stages spanning the period over three months during the final phase.

"Core and buffer zone of the tiger reserve is spread in around 1,325 sq km, while we have only 320 camera traps in working condition. Hence the entire expanse of tiger reserve has been divided into four separate blocks. Camera trap monitoring will be conducted in each block for 20 days. The entire exercise is expected to conclude by April 30," said CCF and field director, TATR, Virendra Tiwari.

He claimed that a grid area of 2.04 km will be covered with a pair of camera trap as per guidelines of Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The exercise is meant to visually identify each tiger and leopard by capturing their pictures with the camera traps. Six researchers of WII are already here to help the TATR in smooth conduction of tiger estimation exercise, he said.

The fourth phase of monitoring helps know mortality, dispersal breeding and other population dynamics of tigers. Similar exercise conducted during summer 2013 had estimated tiger population size of minimum 41 in core area of TATR. The phase IV monitoring was not conducted in buffer zone of reserve in 2013, following intense man-animal conflict situation in the buffer village during the study period. A total population of 65 tigers was estimated in core and buffer area of TATR through a similar exercise in 2012.

Tiwari said that they have successfully accomplished earlier phases of tiger estimation exercise. "Sign encounter rate survey' and the transit line survey were conducted in the tiger reserve between 16 and 23 January this year. These exercises help in monitoring tigers, co-predators, prey and their habitats. It also helps in monitoring number of tigers, change in their population and understanding the factors responsible it and also for better management of tiger habitats," he said.

The field director claimed that teams of foresters walked along the fixed length of game trails in the forest in these phases and collection of scat samples, scrape/rake marks on trunks, pug marks, scent marks etc to assimilate field data for correct estimation of population of tigers, co-predators and prey in the habitat.

Tiwari claimed that the entire data collected during tiger estimation exercise will be handed over to WII. The coveted wildlife institute will process the data and come up with the population density of tigers, co-predators and prey in the area and not the numbers, he stressed.

NUMBERING THE CATS

* Visual identification of tigers and leopards through camera traps, called phase IV tiger monitoring, is being conducted in four stages

* Sign encounter rate survey and the transit line survey were conducted in the tiger reserve between January 16 and 23

* These exercises help in monitoring tigers, co-predators, prey and their habitats

* Teams of foresters walked along the fixed length of game trails and collection of scat samples, scrape/rake marks on trunks, pug marks, scent marks etc to assimilate field data for correct estimation of population

* Data collected during tiger estimation exercise will be handed over to Wildlife Institute of India (WII)

22.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

Humans shaped southeast Asia's rain forests from 11,000 years ago

LONDON: The tropical forests of southeast Asia have been shaped by humans for the last 11,000 years, according to new research.

Researchers at Queen's University in Belfast (Northern Ireland), have discarded theories that the rainforests of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java (in Indonesia), Thailand and Vietnam were largely unaffected by humans.

A deep analysis of vegetation histories across the three islands and the southeast Asian mainland has revealed a pattern of repeated disturbance of vegetation since the end of the last ice age, approximately 11,000 years ago, said palaeoecologist Dr Chris Hunt.

"It has long been believed that the rainforests of the Far East were virgin wildernesses, where human impact has been minimal. Our findings, however, indicate a history of disturbances to vegetation," said Dr Hunt, director of research on environmental change at Queen's School of geography, archaeology and palaeoecology.

"These vegetation changes have been brought about by the actions of people," he added.

There is evidence that humans in the Kelabit Highlands of Borneo burned fires to clear the land for planting food-bearing plants.

Pollen samples from around 6,500 years ago contain abundant charcoal, indicating the occurrence of fire, said the study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

"This indicates that the people who inhabited the land intentionally cleared it of forest vegetation and planted sources of food in its place," Hunt added.

Laws in several southeast Asian countries do not recognise the rights of indigenous forest dwellers on the grounds that they are nomads who leave no permanent mark on the landscape.

"Given that we can now demonstrate their active management of the forests for more than 11,000 years, these people have a new argument in their case against eviction," Hunt contended.

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Made-in-China pollution wafts across Pacific to US

BEIJING: Pollution from China travels in large quantities across the Pacific Ocean to the US, a new study has found, making environmental and health problems unexpected side effects of US demand for cheap China-manufactured goods.

On some days, acid rain-inducing sulphate from burning of fossil fuels in China can account for as much as a quarter of sulphate pollution in the western United States, a team of Chinese and American researchers said in the report published by the US National Academy of Sciences, a non-profit society of scholars.
Cities like Los Angeles received at least an extra day of smog a year from nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide from China's export-dependent factories, it said. "We've outsourced our manufacturing and much of our pollution, but some of it is blowing back across the Pacific to haunt us," co-author Steve Davis, a scientist at University of California Irvine, said.

Between 17% and 36% of various air pollutants in China in 2006 were related to the production of goods for export, according to the report, and a fifth of that specifically tied to US-China trade. One third of China's greenhouse gases is now from export-based industries, according to Worldwatch Institute, a US-based environmental research group.

China's neighbours, such as Japan and South Korea, have regularly suffered noxious clouds from China in the last couple of decades as environmental regulations have been sacrificed for economic and industrial growth. However, the new report showed that many pollutants, including black carbon, which contributes to climate change and is linked to cancer, emphysema and heart and lung diseases, travelled huge distances on global winds known as "westerlies".

Trans-boundary pollution has for several years been an issue in international climate change negotiations, where China has argued that developed nations should take responsibility for a share of China's greenhouse gas emissions, because they originate from production of goods demanded by the West. The report said its findings showed that trade issues must play a role in global talks to cut pollution.

"International cooperation to reduce transboundary transport of air pollution must confront the question of who is responsible for emissions in one country during production of goods to support consumption in another," it said.

Air quality is of increasing concern to China's stability-obsessed leaders, anxious to douse potential unrest as a more affluent urban population turns against a growth-at-all-costs economic model that has poisoned much of the country's air, water and soil. reuters

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Snow leopards in Spiti valley to be radio collared

SHIMLA: Satellite-linked collars will be soon fitted on snow leopards in the tribal Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh to get a deeper understanding of the behaviour of the endangered cat.

Half a dozen snow leopards would be fitted with radio-collars around their neck and their movements would be monitored through global positioning system (GPS).

Almost every step of the cat in the forbidden, high altitude mountain ranges would be under watch.

The Union ministry of environment and forest has also sanctioned Rs 25 lakh for the study of the snow leopard.The study would be the world's second on the endangered big cat.

The first-ever radio-collar study on this rare species was conducted in Mongolia's Gobi Altai Mountains, said Devender Chauhan, a forest officer and researcher associated with project on snow leopard conservation in the Spiti valley.

Snow leopards have been categorised as Endangered Species on the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the species is listed as endangered by almost all range countries.

Despite being listed as endangered species, the population of snow leopards is dwindling in all 12 countries where the animal is found

About half of the global population of snow leopards is found in three countries -China, Nepal and India- and authorities in these countries are discussing the possibility of trans-boundary research projects.

The number of snow leopards in Himachal is believed to be around 20.

Himachal forest department is already using cameras to monitor their movement in Spiti Valley, the state's northernmost part, running parallel to the Tibetan border.

The state's wildlife department, in coordination with Mysore-based NGO Nature Conservation Foundation, has installed 20 camera traps (automatic cameras) in Spiti Valley under the Project Snow Leopard.

As their movement is in an area of thousands of square kilometres in high altitude ranges, it is difficult to gather exact information about them.

The animal resides in one of the harshest and most inaccessible mountainous areas due to which it is almost impossible for wildlife biologist to explore them.

Snow leopards are facing many threats which include poaching, especially for their skin, but also for traditional medicinal trade and retaliatory killing by shepherds and villagers.

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Chandoli National Park free of human interference, almost

KOLHAPUR: The forest department has over the years managed to curb human interference in the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR), particularly in the Chandoli National Park. Male, Kolpe, Patarpunj and Kundalapur are the only four villages with a habitation of around 150 people that still exist within the 317 sq km periphery of Chandoli.

"We are in the process to rehabilitate them. Negotiations are on and we are offering them rehabilitation packages as planned by the state government. The response so far is encouraging and we hope to make the park free of human habitatation in near future," said N Mohan Karnat, the chief conservator of forests (wildlife division), Kolhapur region.

The department, while submitting its tiger conservation plan to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), had focused its intention plan to spend around 90% of the Rs 280 crore estimated budget towards the rehabilitation of people from the protected areas.

STR divisional forest officer M M Panditrao said, "The department is taking steps for rehabilitation. There are seven villages in the Koyna region and four in Chandoli that have to be vacated. We have proposed around Rs 200 crore for the rehabilitation of these villages."

The NTCA had in October last year approved the conservation plan and the department hopes to get funds this year to resolve the problem of human habitation.

The Union ministry of environment and forests had in September 2013 approved relocation of Ravandi, Adoshi, Maldoshi, Kusapur and Khirkhindi villages from the Koyna wildlife sanctuary.

The plan to relocate Vele and Deur in Koyna areas is also on the cards.

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25% of sharks and rays at high risk of extinction

WASHINGTON: A new assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has revealed that a quarter of the world's sharks and rays are at risk of extinction.

The latest update to the IUCN's "Red List" of threatened species, which found ray species to be at higher risk than sharks, is part of a first-ever global analysis of these marine species.

Researchers assessed the conservation status of 1,041 shark, ray and chimaera species, which are all so-called "cartilaginous fish," meaning they have skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone. A chimaera is type of jawed fish closely related to sharks and rays.

The researchers found that sharks, rays and chimaeras face a substantially higher risk of extinction than do most other animals.

In fact, only 23 percent of shark, ray and chimaera species are categorized as being safe, or of "least concern," IUCN officials said.

Nick Dulvy, co-chair of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group and Canada Research Chair at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, said in a statement that the analysis shows that sharks and their relatives are facing an alarmingly elevated risk of extinction, LiveScience reported.

He said that in greatest peril are the largest species of rays and sharks, especially those living in shallow water that is accessible to fisheries, where they can become entangled in fishing gear a phenomenon known as bycatch.

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Odisha asks officials to ensure plastic national flags are not used

NEW DELHI: Taking the lead in heeding the Centre's advice backed by concerns expressed by environmentalists and a court order, the Odisha government has issued directions to district authorities to ensure that no plastic tri-colour is used during celebration of Republic Day, Independence Day or other important days in the state.

Though other states including Maharashtra and Karnataka had also issued similar directions in the past, such an order could not be implemented due to lack of monitoring mechanism at local level.

Unlike other states, Odisha has asked district civil and police authorities to depute officers specifically for this job so that the state high court order was followed and the national flag was used, made and distributed as per the national flag code.

Acting on a writ petition, the HC had in August last year directed the state government to take steps to prevent sale and distribution of the tri-colour made of any other material barring those permitted under the Flag Code of India, 2002.

The code specifies that the national flag should be made of cotton, wool, silk or paper. It also has penal provision under the Prevention of Insults to National Hounor (Amendment) Act, 2003 in case of any violation.

The law provides for imprisonment for a term up to three years for anyone who "in any public place or in any other place within public view burns, mutilates, defaces, defiles, disfigures, destroys, trample upon or otherwise shows disrespect or bring into contempt (whether by words, either spoken or written, or by acts) the Indian national flag".

Months before the court order, the Centre too had advised all states and Union Territories to issue directions for not using national flags made of plastic.

Referring to concerns expressed by environmentalists, the Union home ministry had in 2012 issued an advisory insisting the use of only paper in making flags which are waved by common people during important national, cultural and sports events. It also advised that such flags, as far as possible, should be disposed of in private, consistent with the dignity of the flag.

Noting that plastic was harmful to the environment, the ministry in its note said plastic flags were not biodegradable like paper flags and did not get destroyed for a long time (making it vulnerable to be left on ground at venues of cultural and sports events).

"This affects the dignity of the flag", said the ministry, taking note of the concerns expressed by the green activists who complained that flags made of plastic - specifically miniature ones which are often waved during national, cultural and sports events - could often end up on the ground and tampered (even un-intentionally) under feet of passers-by.

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Solar power to light up Arunachal hill station; help wildlife conservation

ITANAGAR: The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in collaboration with Arunachal Pradesh environment and forest department distributed solar energy equipment to 25,000 households in Mayudia to meet power crisis in the village.

The distribution, WTI officials claimed, would further bridge the conservation support and confidence for the ongoing Asiatic black bear rehabilitation project and the Hoolock Gibbon Translocation Project at the Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, which is in the vicinity of Tiwari Gaon.

Beneficiaries at Mayudia, in the Mishmi hill ranges of Arunachal Pradesh, received solar equipment consisting of one solar panel, one chargeable multipurpose battery unit, one table lamp and an emergency light.

The facility was provided to villagers during an "Interaction for Conservation Awareness and Distribution of Solar Equipment" on Sunday, WTI deputy director and regional head Sunil Kyarong said.

Tiwari Gaon is a fringe village adjacent to the Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, where people are supporting the bear conservation and rehabilitation project and Hoolock Gibbon Translocation Project for the safety of the wildlife.

"We do not have power supply right from the beginning. It would be of great help to our villagers who have been suffering due to the power crisis. Despite such limitations they are actively supporting wildlife conservation in Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary," village headman Napi Umpo said.

The distribution and awareness function was attended by Obian Jonkey, range officer Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary and Soumya Dasgupta, assistant manager of WTI along with wildlife activists of the village.

The WTI along with state forest department is trying to focus the conservation issues among the villagers through this confidence building approach for the safety and well being of nature and wildlife in the state.

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Flamingo population increases in Rajasthan: Report

JAIPUR: It's good news for environmentalists and bird lovers, particularly in the state and the general as a whole. The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) has counted 1,300 greater flamingos and 1,800 lesser flamingos so far in the wetlands of Gudha Jhapong and Devyani area in Sambhar Lake area. The census was completed on January 16. These birds are registered as endangered species and need protection in their sustainable habitat.

The main highlight of the survey is sighting of winter migratory species northern shoveler, pied avocet, Common Redshank and black-winged stilt which is local species. The number of these migratory birds had reduced to negligibly small in the last few years. However, the visible presence of these birds despite the shrinking lake has brought cheers to bird lovers.

"The survey will help maintaining the status of this wetland habitat of the migratory birds. Besides, the record of water birds population, species diversity and migration will help creating conservation awareness and for sustainable protection and conservation of this important wetland," said T K Roy, AWC, Delhi state coordinator, who was part of team that conducted the census.

The adequate number of flamingoes requires abundant blue-green and red algae along with small insects and small fish to sustain them for long in this season. Due to shrinking water bodies, the sustenance for birds for long is uncertain. It is reported that thousands of flamingos and migratory birds use to visit the lake until a few years ago. Even the trees in the lake acted as breeding ground for the birds.

"The number of trees has, however, declined to almost zero and the various channels of water have also dried up giving in to the increasing population pressure," an expert said.

The census report also revealed that on most of the parameters they found that the condition of the lake is deteriorating. The catchment areas of the lake is 245 km but currently there are only two small water bodies and the rest all dry due to less rainfall in the area.

The group has expressed its concern over the depleting quality of water which is acted as a deterrent for migratory birds. "The quality of water is such that it should be conducive for cultivation of vegetation and fish breeding, required by birds," Roy said. The group also suggested that the government needs to take up efforts to restore water in the lakes for ecological conservation.

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Odisha asks officials to ensure plastic national flags are not used

NEW DELHI: Taking the lead in heeding the Centre's advice backed by concerns expressed by environmentalists and a court order, the Odisha government has issued directions to district authorities to ensure that no plastic tri-colour is used during celebration of Republic Day, Independence Day or other important days in the state.

Though other states including Maharashtra and Karnataka had also issued similar directions in the past, such an order could not be implemented due to lack of monitoring mechanism at local level.

Unlike other states, Odisha has asked district civil and police authorities to depute officers specifically for this job so that the state high court order was followed and the national flag was used, made and distributed as per the national flag code.

Acting on a writ petition, the HC had in August last year directed the state government to take steps to prevent sale and distribution of the tri-colour made of any other material barring those permitted under the Flag Code of India, 2002.

The code specifies that the national flag should be made of cotton, wool, silk or paper. It also has penal provision under the Prevention of Insults to National Hounor (Amendment) Act, 2003 in case of any violation.

The law provides for imprisonment for a term up to three years for anyone who "in any public place or in any other place within public view burns, mutilates, defaces, defiles, disfigures, destroys, trample upon or otherwise shows disrespect or bring into contempt (whether by words, either spoken or written, or by acts) the Indian national flag".

Months before the court order, the Centre too had advised all states and Union Territories to issue directions for not using national flags made of plastic.

Referring to concerns expressed by environmentalists, the Union home ministry had in 2012 issued an advisory insisting the use of only paper in making flags which are waved by common people during important national, cultural and sports events. It also advised that such flags, as far as possible, should be disposed of in private, consistent with the dignity of the flag.

Noting that plastic was harmful to the environment, the ministry in its note said plastic flags were not biodegradable like paper flags and did not get destroyed for a long time (making it vulnerable to be left on ground at venues of cultural and sports events).

"This affects the dignity of the flag", said the ministry, taking note of the concerns expressed by the green activists who complained that flags made of plastic - specifically miniature ones which are often waved during national, cultural and sports events - could often end up on the ground and tampered (even un-intentionally) under feet of passers-by.

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Argentina: 10 injured in carnivorous fish attack

BUENOS AIRES: Attacks by a school of carnivorous fish have injured at least 10 people bathing in an Argentine river since Thursday.

The attacks took place in the Parana River in Rosario some 300 kilometers (186 miles) northeast of Buenos Aires. Seventy people who were cooling off from high temperatures were also injured there in late December by the same piranha-like fish. They included seven children who lost parts of their fingers or toes.

The latest attack by the "palometas" was confirmed on Saturday. They've been described by the local director of lifeguards as "a type of piranha, big, voracious and with sharp teeth that can really bite."

Media reports said the injured included a boy who suffered a foot wound while floating in the river.

Experts say unusually high temperatures during the Austral summer and lower numbers of species such as caiman that preyed on the fish could be causing the attacks.

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India, UAE to cooperate for solar, wind energy

NEW DELHI: India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed an agreement to enhance cooperation in renewable energy, especially in the areas of solar and wind power.

India's minister of new and renewable energy Farooq Abdullah and Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, minister of state and the UAE's special envoy for energy and climate change, Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in these areas in Abu Dhabi.

Both countries also agreed to form a joint working group for better coordination through joint research on subjects of mutual interest, exchange and training of scientific and technical personnel, exchange of available scientific and technologies information and data, according to a statement released here Sunday by the ministry of new and renewable energy.

India and UAE have also agreed to cooperate in organization of workshops, seminars and working groups, transfer of skill, technology and equipment, on non-commercial basis.

Abdullah, who is on an official visit to Abu Dhabi, held talks with UAE minister Al Jaber.

Abdullah briefed the UAE minister on the progress made by India in renewable energy with special reference to the National Solar Mission launched in 2010 under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

He also briefed the minister on India's efforts in promoting energy for remote and un-electrified areas, the statement said.

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UN panel says next 15 years vital for taming warming

PARIS: The next 15 years will be vital in determining whether global warming can be limited to 2 degrees celsius by 2100, with energy and transport presenting the heftiest challenges, according to a draft UN report.

"Delaying mitigation through 2030 will increase the challenges.... and reduce the options," warns a summary of the report. The draft is the third volume in a long-awaited trilogy by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a Nobel-winning group of scientists.

Major efforts are needed to brake the growth in carbon emissions for a good chance to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius by 2100, says the summary. "(It) would entail global consumption losses of 1% to 4% in 2030, 2% to 6% in 2050 and 2% to 12% in 2100," the 29-page summary says. These costs do not factor in benefits, such as growth in new areas of the economy, or savings from avoiding some of the worst impacts of climate change.

The estimates are based on the assumption that "all countries of the world" begin curbing carbon emissions immediately and that there are "well-functioning markets" to establish a single global price for carbon. The report looks at options, but makes no recommendations, for mitigating greenhouse gases that are driving the climate-change crisis by trapping solar heat and warming Earth's surface. The final version of the document is due to be thrashed out at a meeting in Berlin in April.

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Poachers kill 25 migratory birds in Chilika Lake, 2 held

BHUBANESWAR: Despite security cover over migratory birds at Chilika lake, about 80 kilometre from here, poachers have killed at least 25 of the species from Nalabana bird sanctuary area.

Forest officials seized 25 dead migratory birds and arrested two persons in this connection on Friday, said Ramachandra Sethi, the range officer of Balugaon Forest Division. The birds were seized from Majhi Ora village at the bank of Chilika lake.

The arrested duo, identified as Debaraj Behera (40) and Dukhishyam Behera (42) of Mangalajodi village under Tangi police station limits, were later forwarded to the court, said Sethi.

The state government has banned entry into 15.53 sqkm area of the Nalabana bird sanctuary during winter when lakhs of migratory birds land in the lagoon. Besides Nalabana, migratory birds also gather at other parts of the lagoon.

Officials said that they have set up at least 70 anti-poaching camps across 1100 square kilometre area of the Chilika lagoon. At least eight patrolling boats were doing rounds in the Chilika waters, the official said.

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World's oldest Royal Bengal tiger dies at 26

KANPUR: Guddu, 26, said to be world's oldest living tiger in a captive environment, was given a tearful adieu here on Thursday. The Royal Bengal tiger, who had been brought to the Kanpur Zoo in 2001 from Chandigarh when he was 13, died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday night.

"His death has come as a shock for us. We were planning to seek Guddu's entry in the Guinness World Records, as the male tiger was said to be the oldest surviving wild cat in the world," said a Kanpur zoo staff. "Guddu had given up food four days back. Worried over his health, we shifted him to the zoo hospital, but he did not respond to the treatment," he added.

Kanpur zoo director K Thomas said that veterinarians at the zoo had put him on vitamins and boneless meat as he had lost all his teeth. While the average life span of a tiger varies between 14 and 16 years, Guddu lived on for over 26 years, according to records available with the zoo, Thomas said.

Before Guddu, Ramu held the record of being the oldest surviving tiger. He died at Jaipur Zoo at 24 in September 2010.

"Following its death, the zoo is left with five tigers, including two tiger cubs. Guddu was brought here from the Chandigarh Zoo in 2001 under an exchange programme," said Thomas.

On Thursday morning, a panel of four doctors, including RK Singh and UC Srivastava, superintendent of Divisional Veterinary Lab Nirmal Verma and veterinary officer of Etawah Lion Safari Kuldeep Dwivedi conducted autopsy on Guddu. He was later cremated in presence of the entire zoo staff who bid it a tearful adieu.

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Over 1,000 rhinos poached in 2013, South Africa says

JOHANNESBURG: More than 1,000 rhinos were poached in South Africa last year, a 50 percent increase from 2012, fuelled by the black-market demand for their horns, the government said on Friday.

"The total number of rhino poached in South Africa during 2013 increased to 1,004," the environment ministry announced in a statement.

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Drop in number of migratory birds visiting Chilika

BERHAMPUR (ODISHA): The arrival of winged visitors to Chilika Lake, the biggest waterfowl habitat in the country, has dropped this season with 1.58 lakh fewer migratory birds sighted than the previous season.

Ornithologists said the number of birds had perhaps dwindled due to effect of cyclone Phailin.

The annual bird count conducted in the 1100 sq km vast lake on Sunday put the count at around 7.19 lakh birds 1belonging to 58 species, divisional forest officer, Chilika Wildlife Division, B P Acharya said.

Around 8.77 lakh birds of 180 species had visited the lake last winter and 8.83 lakh birds of 167 species had visited the blue lagoon in 2012, the sources said.

No new species of birds were sighted in the lake during the bird census this year and the number of fish-eating birds had also decreased, he said.

Of the 7,19,262 birds counted in the entire lake, the highest number of them, 4,15,135 was sighted in Nalabana bird sanctuary area.

Last winter, Nalabana island had hosted about 3.46 lakh birds.

The winged guests prefer to stay in the 15.59 sq km Nalabana bird sanctuary area for nesting.

Around 80 persons, including ornithologists from Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Mumbai, officials of wildlife organisations, experts and wildlife activists took part in the bird count in the lake.

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India scrambles to save tigers from deadly virus

NEW DELHI: India is scrambling to protect its beleaguered tiger population after several big cats tested positive for a virus common among dogs but deadly to other carnivores, experts said.

In the last year, canine distemper virus has killed at least four tigers and several other animals across northern and eastern India, according to Rajesh Gopal of the government's National Tiger Conservation Authority.

The revelation is bad news for wild tigers — already endangered by rampant poaching and shrinking habitat as India undergoes breakneck development to accommodate the staggering growth of its 1.2 billion people. That same economic development and population growth means more people — and more dogs — are coming even closer to wildlife.

India will now test every tiger carcass it finds for the virus, Gopal said, while authorities also consider a massive campaign to vaccinate dogs against canine distemper.

"We cannot vaccinate every dog, of course. But even 50 percent of dogs in the zones around sanctuaries would help," Gopal said. He did not give details of the plans being considered. There is no vaccine for big cats.

The cases being found across such a huge swath of India, however, suggests the disease could already be running in the wild, experts said, though they agree much more research is needed.

"These are very disturbing finds," said Dr AK Sharma, head scientist at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, which performed the canine distemper lab tests. "The cases were quite distant from each other, and the latest was an area where there are no dogs. So it appears the virus is spreading."

Since two cubs tested positive in a zoo in the Bihar state capital of Patna a year ago, Sharma and his colleagues have found at least four more cases — a red panda in the northeast state of Manipur, a wild tiger in West Bengal, a zoo lion in Darjeeling and last month a wild tiger in the Dudhwa Tiger reserve in Uttar Pradesh.

"In the last case, forest guards said they saw the animal in a confused state before it died," he said.

Experts said there are likely more undetected cases, since testing for canine distemper has not been routine and few animals that die in the wild are ever found.

Canine distemper virus, a close relative of measles, is associated mostly with domestic dogs though it has infected — and ravaged — other carnivore populations.

It brought the U.S. black-footed ferret to the brink of extinction in the late 1970s. In Tanzania in 1994, an epidemic likely introduced by tourists' dogs wiped out at least a third of the 3,000-strong African lion population in Serengeti National Park.

The possibility of a disease like canine distemper hitting the world's last population of wild Asiatic lions was a major consideration in last year's Indian Supreme Court's decision ordering Gujarat state to safeguard the species by transferring some lions to a second, faraway sanctuary.

While dogs can often recover from the disease, other animals including tigers, lions and leopards suffer fever, seizures and delirium before they die. There is no known cure.

Some experts said it was pointless to try to limit the disease, given how closely millions of Indians live alongside wildlife. Instead, the country should focus on other, proven threats like poaching, prey loss to hunting and human encroachment into forests.

"Thinking we can control this is totally unrealistic. We have to live with it now, and assess whether it's really serious yet," said Ullas Karanth, the Bangalore-based Asian science director of Wildlife Conservation Society. "What South Africa has done, quarantining huge areas and creating disease-free spaces in the wild, is not feasible here."

India is home to more than half of the world's estimated 3,200 tigers. An ongoing tiger census should give an updated count in a year. Despite dozens of tiger reserves in place, their numbers have sunk from an estimated 5,000-7,000 in the 1990s, when their habitat was more than twice as large.

Illegal poaching remains a stubborn and serious danger, with tiger parts fetching high black market prices due to demand driven by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. Deforestation and urban growth, meanwhile, bring the cats ever-closer to human settlements — and into conflict with villagers who will hunt any wild animals near their communities or livestock.

That tigers may now face another threat from disease is alarming, said Thopsie Gopal, an Indian expert in animal emerging infectious diseases who was not involved in the test cases.

"This is a serious situation," said Thopsie Gopal, who has no relation to Rajesh Gopal. "Maybe tigers are eating infected dogs, or maybe it is spreading in the wild."

He suggested India could resume its policy of vaccinating cattle against rinderpest, another virus similar to canine distemper. Increasing antibodies against rinderpest in the environment could help boost defenses against canine distemper, he said. "It might be too late, but might be worth trying," he said.

Indian experts also want to search living tigers for natural antibodies that could be used in creating a vaccine. But there are obvious challenges in capturing the reclusive and dangerous nighttime predators for blood tests.

"It would take a lot of funding and a lot of manpower," Sharma said. "We'll see if the government agrees."

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Drop in number of migratory birds visiting Chilika

BERHAMPUR (ODISHA): The arrival of winged visitors to Chilika Lake, the biggest waterfowl habitat in the country, has dropped this season with 1.58 lakh fewer migratory birds sighted than the previous season.

Ornithologists said the number of birds had perhaps dwindled due to effect of cyclone Phailin.

The annual bird count conducted in the 1100 sq km vast lake on Sunday put the count at around 7.19 lakh birds 1belonging to 58 species, divisional forest officer, Chilika Wildlife Division, B P Acharya said.

Around 8.77 lakh birds of 180 species had visited the lake last winter and 8.83 lakh birds of 167 species had visited the blue lagoon in 2012, the sources said.

No new species of birds were sighted in the lake during the bird census this year and the number of fish-eating birds had also decreased, he said.

Of the 7,19,262 birds counted in the entire lake, the highest number of them, 4,15,135 was sighted in Nalabana bird sanctuary area.

Last winter, Nalabana island had hosted about 3.46 lakh birds.

The winged guests prefer to stay in the 15.59 sq km Nalabana bird sanctuary area for nesting.

Around 80 persons, including ornithologists from Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Mumbai, officials of wildlife organisations, experts and wildlife activists took part in the bird count in the lake.

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India scrambles to save tigers from deadly virus

NEW DELHI: India is scrambling to protect its beleaguered tiger population after several big cats tested positive for a virus common among dogs but deadly to other carnivores, experts said.

In the last year, canine distemper virus has killed at least four tigers and several other animals across northern and eastern India, according to Rajesh Gopal of the government's National Tiger Conservation Authority.

The revelation is bad news for wild tigers — already endangered by rampant poaching and shrinking habitat as India undergoes breakneck development to accommodate the staggering growth of its 1.2 billion people. That same economic development and population growth means more people — and more dogs — are coming even closer to wildlife.

India will now test every tiger carcass it finds for the virus, Gopal said, while authorities also consider a massive campaign to vaccinate dogs against canine distemper.

"We cannot vaccinate every dog, of course. But even 50 percent of dogs in the zones around sanctuaries would help," Gopal said. He did not give details of the plans being considered. There is no vaccine for big cats.

The cases being found across such a huge swath of India, however, suggests the disease could already be running in the wild, experts said, though they agree much more research is needed.

"These are very disturbing finds," said Dr AK Sharma, head scientist at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, which performed the canine distemper lab tests. "The cases were quite distant from each other, and the latest was an area where there are no dogs. So it appears the virus is spreading."

Since two cubs tested positive in a zoo in the Bihar state capital of Patna a year ago, Sharma and his colleagues have found at least four more cases — a red panda in the northeast state of Manipur, a wild tiger in West Bengal, a zoo lion in Darjeeling and last month a wild tiger in the Dudhwa Tiger reserve in Uttar Pradesh.

"In the last case, forest guards said they saw the animal in a confused state before it died," he said.

Experts said there are likely more undetected cases, since testing for canine distemper has not been routine and few animals that die in the wild are ever found.

Canine distemper virus, a close relative of measles, is associated mostly with domestic dogs though it has infected — and ravaged — other carnivore populations.

It brought the U.S. black-footed ferret to the brink of extinction in the late 1970s. In Tanzania in 1994, an epidemic likely introduced by tourists' dogs wiped out at least a third of the 3,000-strong African lion population in Serengeti National Park.

The possibility of a disease like canine distemper hitting the world's last population of wild Asiatic lions was a major consideration in last year's Indian Supreme Court's decision ordering Gujarat state to safeguard the species by transferring some lions to a second, faraway sanctuary.

While dogs can often recover from the disease, other animals including tigers, lions and leopards suffer fever, seizures and delirium before they die. There is no known cure.

Some experts said it was pointless to try to limit the disease, given how closely millions of Indians live alongside wildlife. Instead, the country should focus on other, proven threats like poaching, prey loss to hunting and human encroachment into forests.

"Thinking we can control this is totally unrealistic. We have to live with it now, and assess whether it's really serious yet," said Ullas Karanth, the Bangalore-based Asian science director of Wildlife Conservation Society. "What South Africa has done, quarantining huge areas and creating disease-free spaces in the wild, is not feasible here."

India is home to more than half of the world's estimated 3,200 tigers. An ongoing tiger census should give an updated count in a year. Despite dozens of tiger reserves in place, their numbers have sunk from an estimated 5,000-7,000 in the 1990s, when their habitat was more than twice as large.

Illegal poaching remains a stubborn and serious danger, with tiger parts fetching high black market prices due to demand driven by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. Deforestation and urban growth, meanwhile, bring the cats ever-closer to human settlements — and into conflict with villagers who will hunt any wild animals near their communities or livestock.

That tigers may now face another threat from disease is alarming, said Thopsie Gopal, an Indian expert in animal emerging infectious diseases who was not involved in the test cases.

"This is a serious situation," said Thopsie Gopal, who has no relation to Rajesh Gopal. "Maybe tigers are eating infected dogs, or maybe it is spreading in the wild."

He suggested India could resume its policy of vaccinating cattle against rinderpest, another virus similar to canine distemper. Increasing antibodies against rinderpest in the environment could help boost defenses against canine distemper, he said. "It might be too late, but might be worth trying," he said.

Indian experts also want to search living tigers for natural antibodies that could be used in creating a vaccine. But there are obvious challenges in capturing the reclusive and dangerous nighttime predators for blood tests.

"It would take a lot of funding and a lot of manpower," Sharma said. "We'll see if the government agrees."

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Tiger, leopard poaching cases pending for 40 years in MP courts

BHOPAL: Fifty-three cases of tiger poaching and 160 cases of killing of leopard are being tried in various courts in Madhya Pradesh, some for over four decades.

A case of tiger death registered on May 17, 1975 in Kanha National Park in Mandla district is still pending decision in the court. Another case of tiger death registered on September 25, 1979 in Balaghat district is also under the legal process.

Of these cases pending trial, 20 are related to poaching inside tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh.

Six poaching cases of big cats in Kanha National Park, five in Pench National Park, four each in Panna National Park and Bandhavgarh National Park and one in Satpura National Park are undergoing trials in courts, according to information received by RTI activist Ajay Dubey.

These cases were registered between 1975 and 2008. Between 2002 and 2012, 337 tigers reportedly died due to poaching, infighting, accidents and old age.

The highest number of 58 tigers was found dead in 2009, followed by 56 in 2011, 36 in 2008 and 28 each in 2007 and 2002. Of the tiger deaths, 68 big cats were victims of poaching, according to the data received through RTI.

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body under ministry of environment and forests for conservation of the big cats, has data of poaching of big cats from 1998 to 2003.

Fourteen tigers were poached in 1998, 38 in 1999 and 39 in 2000, as per the data on the website of NTCA, which is heading 'Project Tiger' to ensure a viable population of the big cats in the country through wildlife management and site-specific eco-development measures.

Poaching is a matter of concern for forest officials and wildlife activists as population of tiger in one of the six reserves of Madhya Pradesh — Panna Tiger Reserve — had dwindled to zero in 2009. There were about 20 tigers in the reserve in 2006, according to a state government report.

However, tigers were reintroduced in the reserve, which at present is home to about 23 big cats.

Six tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh — Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Panna, Bori-Satpura, Sanjay Dubri and Pench — have 257 big cats. The tiger population in the country was estimated to be 1,706 as per data collected in 2010.

Besides tigers poaching, 160 cases of illegal killing of leopards are also pending trials in various MP courts, some for over three decades.

The oldest case of poaching of leopard, registered on July 9, 1973 (over 40 years ago) in Shivpuri district of the state, is pending decision in the court. Another case of leopard killing registered on February 14, 1975 (about 39 years old) in Chhindwara district is pending in the court.

"It is a matter of concern for wildlife activists like us. The cases must be fast-tracked so that culprits are punished promptly," he said.

The number of leopards in Madhya Pradesh is not known as there is no mechanism for annual official count of the mammal in the country. "We want the government to come out with annual census of leopard like tigers," Dubey said.

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After tigers now it is time to count birds in Karnataka

MYSORE: Why only tigers even birds which form part of the wild life ecosystem seems to be as important as other wild animals for the forest department officials. This is the reason which has prompted them to take up the census of birds in Cauvery wild life sanctuary encompassing the seven forest ranges of Male Mahadeshwara hills immediately on the heels of tiger census.

At the same time on Saturday officials and volunteers involved in this census appeared to be a delighted lot with they tracing the presence of some endangered bird species such as crested serpent eagle and white naped tit .

For the first time department has taken up the bird census in Cauvery wild life sanctuary and this is almost a first large scale effort in the state. Though the census is being conducted jointly by three wings of the forest department, the bird census is said to be the brainchild of Jungle lodge resorts managing director Vijay Mohan Raj who carried out similar exercise in Biligiri Rangana Temple (BRT) wild life sanctuary in 2012 when he was heading the latter .

The three day census programmes chalked out jointly by Karnataka forest department, Karnataka eco-tourism wing and Jungle lodge resorts came to end on Sunday . Totally 19 teams consisting 80 selected volunteers trekked the 38 trails of the seven forest ranges.

As per the records forest officials have listed the existence of 261 bird species in this Cauvery wild life sanctuary and of them couple are the most endangered species.

According to official sources census which will come to end on Sunday evening will couple of days for the officials to compile the data and come out with a report.

Talking to TOI Cauvery wild life sanctuary DCF Vasantha Reddy said volunteers will count the species of the birds they come across and not their numbers. " We have a record of 261 bird species existing in this sanctuary and this census will help us to asses whether any bird species has vanished or thriving in the area" he said , adding that volunteers have been asked to concentrate more on the endangered species of birds along with routine one. "

Sighting of white naped tit and crested serpent eagle both being the most endangered species is a good sign which indicated the fact that still these species exist in the area" he said .

This is for the second bird census is being done on a large scale in the state , he claimed, giving credit to his senior and Jungle lodge resorts MD Vijay Mohan Raj who is keen on the issue .

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Counting of tigers to begin in Terai region

BAHRAICH: The population of tigers in the Terai region will be revealed by the end of 2014. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has approved the plan to count tigers and preparations have begun in Uttarakhand.

Earlier, counting of tigers was done on the basis of pug marks. The forest guard would note pug marks, stool, scratch marks on trees and earth, movement and roars three to five times in every beat.

Now, counting of tigers is done through camera trapping once in four years. Cameras are installed on either side of the pathways of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary to record the presence of tigers.

Pictures of tigers passing within a five-metre range of the camera would be recorded. About 350 more cameras would be installed in Dudhwa and Katarniaghat in addition to the close to 70 there.

Divisional forest officer of Katarniaghat, Ashish Tiwari, said the streaks on the body of each tiger are different and they would be identified from photographs with the help of a software.

The counting will begin in the second week of January in Corbett and end in Rajaji National Park. The Wildlife Institute of India and NTCA would monitor the counting.

The principal chief conservator of forests, wildlife, said the department was extremely sensitive towards the security of wildlife and a strengthened spy network and thermal cameras would keep an eye on poachers.

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Environment ministry told to probe pollution in Ganga

VARANASI: The Union environment ministry has been asked by the PMO to probe the reasons behind increasing pollution in river Ganga, taking note of a complaint by an environmental scientist.

"The PMO has asked the Union ministry of environment and forests to probe the reasons of increasing pollution level in Ganga despite thousands of crores of money being spent on cleaning the river," said BD Tripathi, a member of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA).

Tripathi, who is from Banaras Hindu University (BHU), had last month sent a letter to the Prime Minister and chairperson of NGRBA to draw their attention towards the condition of the sacred river in Varanasi.

"Taking serious note of the letter, the PMO has given a quick response by forwarding it and asking the Union ministry of environment and forest to probe various schemes being run for the cleaning of Ganga," Tripathi said.

"A letter sent by PMO has been received by me on Wednesday," he added.

In the letter, Tripathi had alleged that there was a lack of will power and non-coordination among the authorities concerned to implement schemes meant for the cleaning of the river.

Tripathi had urged for constituting a separate expert committee to probe the cleaning works and also demanded that accountability be fixed for all expenditures on the pollution control and conservation of Ganga.

The environmentalist claimed nearly Rs 1,500 crore had been spent on Ganga Action Plan aimed at cleaning the river.

He claimed that nearly Rs 2,600 crore was being spent by World Bank for the same purpose.

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In 2013, country lost 48 tigers to poachers

BAHRAICH: The country lost 63 tigers in 2013 with Karnataka alone losing 16 big cats. The data released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority states that poachers accounted for the death of 48 tigers in different parts of the country last year. In comparison, 72 tiger deaths were reported in 2012.

The date says Madhya Pradesh lost 12 tigers while Maharashtra accounted for nine deaths followed by Assam and Uttarakhand with eight deaths each. Five tiger deaths were reported from Kerala and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The first tiger death of the year was reported from South Brahmapuri forest range of Chandrapur district in Maharashtra on January 6, 2013. It was caused by suspected poaching. The last wild tiger death of the year was reported from the Heggadadevana Kote range of Mysore forest division in Karnataka on December 28, 2013, and the cause is under investigation.

Old age as the cause of death was reported only in two instances -- one at Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha on February 16 and the other at Kharangana forest range in Maharashtra on August 25. Two tigers were killed by poisoning -- one at Kaziranga Tiger Reserve in Assam on September 15, 2013, and another at Pilibhit forest division of Uttar Pradesh on November 26 the same year. Besides, UP also lost two leopards to poachers in Kataniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary and Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.

Also, a tiger was shot dead by forest authorities in Gondia district of Maharashtra on January 12, 2013, because it was confirmed to be a man-eater. In another instance reported on February 2, 2013, a tiger cub was killed and partly eaten by an adult tiger male in Panna Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh. P 4

One tiger was killed after being hit buy a train at the forests of Chandrapur district in Maharashtra on April 15, 2013. In the same incident, another tiger was also injured, said the NTCA report.

Out of the 16 tiger deaths in Karnataka, five each were reported from the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve. Five wild tiger deaths were reported from Kerala during the year and four of them occurred at the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. Only one tiger death was reported from Tamil Nadu, at the Nilgiri south division forests on March 11, 2013.

In 2012, the number of tiger deaths as reported by the NTCA stood at 72, with Maharashtra accounting for 13 of them, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 12 and Uttarakhand with 11 deaths. In Kerala, five tiger deaths were reported in 2012 and one of them was shot dead by the forest department on December 2, 2012, at the Wayanad Wldlife sanctuary after confirming that it was a man-eater.

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31 large carnivores declining across the world

NEW DELHI: Large predators such as lions, bears, wolves, dingoes and otters are declining across the world driven by habitat loss, persecution by humans and loss of prey, an analysis of 31 large carnivore species published today in the journal Science shows.

More than 75 percent of the 31 species are declining, and 17 species now occupy less than half of their former ranges, the study reported. Decline in predators means a simultaneous increase in their prey, which causes devastation of the ecosystem.

Southeast Asia, southern and East Africa and the Amazon are among areas in which multiple large carnivore species are declining. With some exceptions, large carnivores have already been exterminated from much of the developed world, including Western Europe and the eastern United States.

"Globally, we are losing our large carnivores," said William Ripple, lead author of the paper and a professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. "Many of them are endangered," he said. "Their ranges are collapsing. Many of these animals are at risk of extinction, either locally or globally. And, ironically, they are vanishing just as we are learning about their important ecological effects."

The researchers reviewed published scientific reports and singled out seven species that have been studied for their widespread ecological effects. This includes African lions, leopards, Eurasian lynx, cougars, gray wolves, sea otters and dingoes.

Ripple and his Oregon State co-author Robert Beschta have documented impacts of cougars and wolves on the regeneration of forest stands and riparian vegetation in Yellowstone and other national parks in North America. Fewer predators, they have found, lead to an increase in browsing animals such as deer and elk. More browsing disrupts vegetation, shifts birds and small mammals and changes other parts of the ecosystem in a widespread cascade of impacts.

In some parts of Africa, the decrease of lions and leopards has coincided with a dramatic increase in olive baboons, which threaten farm crops and livestock. In the waters off southeast Alaska, a decline in sea otters through killer whale predation has led to a rise in sea urchins and loss of kelp beds.

"Human tolerance of these species is a major issue for conservation," Ripple said. "We say these animals have an intrinsic right to exist, but they are also providing economic and ecological services that people value."

Among the services that have been documented in other studies are carbon sequestration, riparian restoration, biodiversity and disease control.

Ripple and colleagues from the United States, Australia, Italy and Sweden called for an international initiative to conserve large predators in coexistence with people. They suggested that such an effort be modeled on the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe, a nonprofit scientific group affiliated with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

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'Exceptionally rare' conjoined whales found in Mexico

LA PAZ (Mexico): Fishermen have found two conjoined gray whale calves in a northwestern Mexican lagoon, a discovery that a government marine biologist described as "exceptionally rare."
The four-meter (13-foot) long siamese whales were dead when they were found in the Ojo de Liebre lagoon, which opens to the Pacific Ocean in the Baja California peninsula.
Officials from the National Natural Protected Areas Commission (CONANP) verified the discovery during a visit on Monday.
The nearly half-tonne creatures were linked at the waist, with two full heads and tail fins, said Benito Bermudez, a marine biologist and CONANP's regional manager.
He described the discovery as "exceptionally rare, without any precedent" in the region.
Scientists are examining the whales and plan to look for any other cases in the gray whale's natural sanctuaries off Baja California.
Every winter, hundreds of gray whales migrate from the Bering Sea to the warmer waters of Baja California, attracting tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of the animals.
Nearly 1,200 gray whales were spotted in the region in the 2012-2013 season.

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Solar energy to power iconic Vegas welcome sign

LAS VEGAS: Officials in Las Vegas are harnessing the power of the sun to light the city's iconic welcome sign.

Elected officials and project leaders flipped a switch on Wednesday linking solar panels on 25-foot (7.62-meter) towers to the glittering neon "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign.

The project was headed by the Green Chips and Clean Energy Project nonprofit organizations, and funded by the Consumer Electronics Association, electric utility NV Energy, the Las Vegas Centennial Commission and Bombard Renewable Energy.

The new power source is the latest upgrade for the sign designed by Betty Willis and installed in 1959 in a traffic median on the Las Vegas Strip.

A parking lot for private vehicles and tour buses was expanded in 2012 to make access to the sign safer for picture-takers.

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160 bird species identified in Ahmedabad Bird Race

AHMEDABAD: The ornithologists as a part of the annual Bird Race event organized jointly by Natural Heritage Conservation Society (NHCS) - Gandhinagar and international bank identified only 160 birds species in and around Ahmedabad city.

Last year the same even had identified over 260 bird species. This was the seventh time such an event was held in Ahmedabad in which around 140 participated in groups of 40 teams. More than 160 species of birds were recorded during around the city.

Each team spent its entire day watching birds in and around Ahmedabad with their own tally of species.

Earlier bird races in Ahmedabad have recorded more than 260 species of birds. These teams moved around at a critical point on the avifaunal migration route, and flanked by a vast landscape of open habitats, from agricultural tracts to semi-arid landscapes, inland wetlands and secondary growth, and area with human population.

There were no pre-determined routes to the Bird Race - participants observed the birds at multiple locations all within 30-40 km radius of the city. According to Virag Vya, a research coordinator with NHCS, Ecologoists Irshad Theba and Bharat Jethva during the race the team identified rare species which included White Stork, Short-eared Owl, Red Avadavat (Red Munia), Booted Eagle were sighted by different teams. The coordinators said that the programme helped to create awareness and conservation ethos among the citizens. The participants were also sensitized towards the bird injuries that kill hundreds of birds during the kite flying festival Uttarayan.

The bird race was conceptualized by Mumbai-based naturalist Sunjoy Monga. The India Bird Races are held in 15 cities across the country between November to early-March period that also coincides with the peak inward migration of birds over peninsular India.

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Scientists to study climate change impact in Sunderbans

KOLKATA: Researchers from India, Britain and Bangladesh are studying the impact of climate change on livelihoods of those living in Sunderbans mangroves, the world's largest mangrove forests.

More than two-thirds of the forest lies in Bangladesh, the focus of the study, and the rest in West Bengal.

Under the ongoing Ecosystem Services For Poverty Alleviation (Deltas) project, as many as 50 experts from the three countries are investigating the impact of climate change on ecosystem services (benefits derived from ecosystems by humanity) and the health and well-being of the community.

"We will estimate the possible changes in ecosystem services due to climate change in the next 50 to 60 years and the possible outcomes of the changes," Tuhin Ghosh, School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, and leader of the Indian team, told IANS.

"The next step would be to recommend policies for intervention," he said.

For the pilot study, the coastal fringe of Bangladesh, from Bengal to the Meghna river (of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta) has been marked.

The four-year long study was initiated in March 2012 and is headed by coastal engineering expert Robert Nicholls from Southampton University.

The group of scientists are currently in Sunderbans for the third six-monthly review of the project.

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Supreme Court wants regulator for environmental clearances of projects

NEW DELHI: In a major blow to the Centre's election year decision to speed up environmental clearance to long pending projects, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered the government to appoint a national regulator which would take up comprehensive environmental impact assessment (EIA) of projects.

Brushing aside the Centre's opposition to a national regulator, a bench of Justice AK Patnaik, Justice SS Nijjar and Justice FMI Kalifulla said the super regulator was the need of the hour as the present mechanism "is deficient in many respects". This would bring an end to rapid EIAs, conducted earlier by the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF), for important projects.

"What is required is a regulator at the national level having its offices in all the states which can carry out an independent, objective and transparent appraisal and approval of projects for environmental clearances and which can also monitor the implementation of the conditions laid down in environmental clearances," the bench said.

The Congress leadership had recently decided to ease out Jayanthi Natarajan as environment minister after it felt that many projects had been stalled due to cumbersome environmental clearance, which had been kept pending for years. Veerappa Moily, who was given charge of ministry of environment and forest, had said he would try to speed up the process for EIA clearance.

The court asked the government to set up the national regulator with head office at Delhi and branches in as many states as possible by March 31 and file an affidavit of compliance by April 7, the next date for hearing of the case.

Asking the regulator not to encroach into the Centre's powers under the Environment (Protection) Act, the bench said while exercising powers under the EPA, the national regulator would "ensure that the National Forest Policy, 1988 is duly implemented".

This means, not only the regulator would examine the feasibility of the project from the environment protection angle, that is the pollution and its effects on the surroundings, it would also examine the ill-effects of the project on forest covers and possible cutting down of trees.

The court had first suggested setting up of a national regulator more than two years ago in its order dated July 6, 2011 in the case relating to stage-I forest clearance to mining project of Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Ltd in Meghalaya.

In that order the apex court had said: "Section 3 of the EPA confers a power coupled with duty, and thus it is incumbent on the central government to appoint an appropriate authority, preferably in the form of a regulator, at the state and at the central level for ensuring implementation of National Forest Policy, 1988."

The court had said, "We are of the view that, the central government should appoint a national regulator for appraising projects, enforcing environmental conditions for approvals and to impose penalties on polluters." It had also faulted the MoEF's rapid EIA to give faster clearance to important projects.

Times View

The Supreme Court's idea of having a national regulator for environmental impact assessment (EIA) of projects is about more than just insulating the process from political interference. This takes judicial activism in environment to the level of effecting a system change.

The appraisal of projects for environmental clearance will not any more depend on the attitude of the incumbent minister. While there have been cases of the government misusing its powers to allow rapid EIA, the proposed regulator raises fears of major projects being held up for long periods.

Despite its disclaimers about keeping away from the policy domain, this is another clear instance of the Supreme Court chipping away at the executive domain.

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160 bird species identified in Ahmedabad Bird Race

AHMEDABAD: The ornithologists as a part of the annual Bird Race event organized jointly by Natural Heritage Conservation Society (NHCS) - Gandhinagar and international bank identified only 160 birds species in and around Ahmedabad city.

Last year the same even had identified over 260 bird species. This was the seventh time such an event was held in Ahmedabad in which around 140 participated in groups of 40 teams. More than 160 species of birds were recorded during around the city.

Each team spent its entire day watching birds in and around Ahmedabad with their own tally of species.

Earlier bird races in Ahmedabad have recorded more than 260 species of birds. These teams moved around at a critical point on the avifaunal migration route, and flanked by a vast landscape of open habitats, from agricultural tracts to semi-arid landscapes, inland wetlands and secondary growth, and area with human population.

There were no pre-determined routes to the Bird Race - participants observed the birds at multiple locations all within 30-40 km radius of the city. According to Virag Vya, a research coordinator with NHCS, Ecologoists Irshad Theba and Bharat Jethva during the race the team identified rare species which included White Stork, Short-eared Owl, Red Avadavat (Red Munia), Booted Eagle were sighted by different teams. The coordinators said that the programme helped to create awareness and conservation ethos among the citizens. The participants were also sensitized towards the bird injuries that kill hundreds of birds during the kite flying festival Uttarayan.

The bird race was conceptualized by Mumbai-based naturalist Sunjoy Monga. The India Bird Races are held in 15 cities across the country between November to early-March period that also coincides with the peak inward migration of birds over peninsular India.

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Fewer migratory birds visit Delhi

NEW DELHI: The cold may be making many of us uncomfortable, but currently, the capital is a warm stopover for thousands of stunning migratory birds. Biodiversity parks and wetlands are seeing a surge in the number of birds that began their journeys from Europe, Siberia, the Himalayas and other South Asian countries at the onset of winter.

However, in some areas there is a gradual decline in the number of species that visit every year. At Okhla Bird Sanctuary, about 38 species of winter migratory birds (a total of 5,545 birds as per Asian Waterbird Census) were seen last January, but this time only 22 species and a far lesser number of birds have been spotted till now.

Some experts feel this could a sign of climate change or fallout of too much disturbance of their habitat. "The condition of Okhla Bird Sanctuary is significantly bad. Firstly, because of the high tension wires passing through the park. There is just too much disturbance around the sanctuary," Anand Arya, a birder. He added that migratory bird species have declined in almost all parks

At Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary in Gurgaon also, a far lesser number of birds have been sighted this month. However, about 30 species of colorful migratory birds from the Himalayas and upper reaches have arrived at the Aravalli Biodiversity Park in Vasant Vihar. "These are insectivorous birds that migrate because of scarcity of food during winter in the Himalayas. Delhi is a stopover from them. They may migrate to warmer places," says scientist-in-charge at Aravali Biodiversity Park, M Shah Hussain. He added that a lot of closed canopy birds have also started arriving, like Thrushes.

At the Yamuna Biodiversity Park, about 4,000 birds of 18 to 20 species have arrived. "Initially, we were worried about the low number of birds this time but there was a gradual increase. At Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary, reports suggest the numbers are quite less," said Mohammad Faisal, a scientist at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park. A lot of Bar-headed geese that migrate from Siberia are being seen this time.

"There is too much fluctuation in the water-level at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary. For instance, in October, UP government completely withdrew water from the wetland. From the last week of November to the second week of December, the levels were either too high or too low. We are trying to asses how climate change is also affecting the number of birds the come," explained, T K Roy, ecologist.

At the National Zoological Park, painted storks have arrived in large numbers and given birth to chicks. Teals, wild ducks and pintail ducks have also arrived. Most of these species will return to their breeding grounds in different countries by March.

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