Here is the list of contents and the editorial for the new issue of the Protected Area Update - Vol XVI, No. 2, April 2010.
Please write to me at psekhsaria@gmail.com if you want more details or the entire issue over email.
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PROTECTED AREA UPDATE
News and Information from protected areas in India and South Asia
Vol. XVI No. 2
April 2010 (No. 84)
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LIST OF CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
The Western Ghats in focus
NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES
ANDHRA PRADESH
Nuapada swamps to be declared a conservation reserve
ASSAM
Four suspected poachers arrested from Orang NP
Call to declare Poba Reserve Forest a wildlife sanctuary
BSF to help protect Kaziranga NP
SSB proposal to set up border outpost in Manas NP
Health camps for patrol elephants and staff of Manas NP and Pobitora WLS
Timber cut illegally from Manas NP seized
GUJARAT
Cell proposed for management plans for PAs
CAG points out deficiencies in wildlife and forest management in Gujarat
10 per cent rise in black buck population in and around Velavadar NP
Gir staff poorly equipped with knowledge of wildlife and wildlife law: study
HIMACHAL PRADESH
Red Jungle Fowl breeding program in Renuka and Simbalbara WLSs in HP
KARNATAKA
Large fire in BRT WLS
Ban on night traffic through Bandipur National Park lifted again
25 acre Kollegal-BRT WLS corridor handed over to Forest Department
Bhimgad declared as a WLS
HC notice on night safari in Bannerghatta NP
KERALA
12 new IBAs in Kerala
MANIPUR
Save Loktak Lake Campaign
MADHYA PRADESH
State Forest Minister calls for CBI inquiry into tiger disappearance from Panna TR
MAHARASHTRA
Village inside Tadoba Andhari TR to sue FD for mining on their community land
Students ask for plastic ban within Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary
Proposal to remove temple area from Bhimashankar WLS rejected
CCTV cameras at Sanjay Gandhi NP gates to track visitor movements
GIB Sanctuary area down by 7000 sq km
NBWL rejects widening of NH-17 because of impact on Karnala WLS
ORISSA
Public-private initiative for Simlipal TR
MoEF asks for specific wildlife management plan for electricity transmission line through Chandaka-Dampara WLS
Management plans for 14 elephant corridors in Orissa
TAMIL NADU
Bi-lingual nature guide to Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
Nilgiri Natural History Society launched
WEST BENGAL
Villagers invoke Forest Rights Act; take over forest tract adjoining Jaldapara WLS
Drive to demolish illegal structures in the East Kolkata Wetlands
NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
Internet group for tracking insect migration
NTCA regional office to be set up in Nagpur
Expert Panel on Western Ghats constituted
Funds released for village relocation from core/critical tiger habitats
Figures for tigers and leopards killed in India since 1994
Save Western Ghats Meet 2010
Comprehensive database launched for tiger mortality and crime in India
Workshop on Marine Mammal Stranding held in Kochi
Two day seminar on Gangetic Dolphin held in Patna
Task Force on Project Elephant
Expert committee for protected areas assessment in the North East
SOUTH ASIA
Bangladesh
Bangladesh launches Tiger Action Plan
OPPORTUNITIES
MPhil in Conservation Leadership, University of Cambridge
Ramsar Small Grants Fund
Ravi Sankaran Inlaks Fellowship Program for Field Biology, Ecology and Conservation
IN THE SUPREME COURT
HYDROELECTRIC PROJECTS PROPOSED INSIDE ASKOT WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
MoEF INTRODUCES FIVE SPECIFIC SCIENTIFIC INITIATIVES
EDITORIAL
The Western Ghats in focus
NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES
ANDHRA PRADESH
Nuapada swamps to be declared a conservation reserve
ASSAM
Four suspected poachers arrested from Orang NP
Call to declare Poba Reserve Forest a wildlife sanctuary
BSF to help protect Kaziranga NP
SSB proposal to set up border outpost in Manas NP
Health camps for patrol elephants and staff of Manas NP and Pobitora WLS
Timber cut illegally from Manas NP seized
GUJARAT
Cell proposed for management plans for PAs
CAG points out deficiencies in wildlife and forest management in Gujarat
10 per cent rise in black buck population in and around Velavadar NP
Gir staff poorly equipped with knowledge of wildlife and wildlife law: study
HIMACHAL PRADESH
Red Jungle Fowl breeding program in Renuka and Simbalbara WLSs in HP
KARNATAKA
Large fire in BRT WLS
Ban on night traffic through Bandipur National Park lifted again
25 acre Kollegal-BRT WLS corridor handed over to Forest Department
Bhimgad declared as a WLS
HC notice on night safari in Bannerghatta NP
KERALA
12 new IBAs in Kerala
MANIPUR
Save Loktak Lake Campaign
MADHYA PRADESH
State Forest Minister calls for CBI inquiry into tiger disappearance from Panna TR
MAHARASHTRA
Village inside Tadoba Andhari TR to sue FD for mining on their community land
Students ask for plastic ban within Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary
Proposal to remove temple area from Bhimashankar WLS rejected
CCTV cameras at Sanjay Gandhi NP gates to track visitor movements
GIB Sanctuary area down by 7000 sq km
NBWL rejects widening of NH-17 because of impact on Karnala WLS
ORISSA
Public-private initiative for Simlipal TR
MoEF asks for specific wildlife management plan for electricity transmission line through Chandaka-Dampara WLS
Management plans for 14 elephant corridors in Orissa
TAMIL NADU
Bi-lingual nature guide to Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
Nilgiri Natural History Society launched
WEST BENGAL
Villagers invoke Forest Rights Act; take over forest tract adjoining Jaldapara WLS
Drive to demolish illegal structures in the East Kolkata Wetlands
NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
Internet group for tracking insect migration
NTCA regional office to be set up in Nagpur
Expert Panel on Western Ghats constituted
Funds released for village relocation from core/critical tiger habitats
Figures for tigers and leopards killed in India since 1994
Save Western Ghats Meet 2010
Comprehensive database launched for tiger mortality and crime in India
Workshop on Marine Mammal Stranding held in Kochi
Two day seminar on Gangetic Dolphin held in Patna
Task Force on Project Elephant
Expert committee for protected areas assessment in the North East
SOUTH ASIA
Bangladesh
Bangladesh launches Tiger Action Plan
OPPORTUNITIES
MPhil in Conservation Leadership, University of Cambridge
Ramsar Small Grants Fund
Ravi Sankaran Inlaks Fellowship Program for Field Biology, Ecology and Conservation
IN THE SUPREME COURT
HYDROELECTRIC PROJECTS PROPOSED INSIDE ASKOT WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
MoEF INTRODUCES FIVE SPECIFIC SCIENTIFIC INITIATIVES
EDITORIAL
THE WESTERN GHATS IN FOCUS
THE WESTERN GHATS IN FOCUS
The Western Ghats are, without doubt, one of the richest eco-regional systems in the entire subcontinent. Straddling six states from Gujarat in the North to Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south, the 1600 odd kms long mountain range is home to a wide diversity of life just as it supports innumerable human communities and cultures. The beauty of the landscapes here is unmatched, endemism in the forests is high and many rivers that nourish large parts of peninsular India originate here. Not surprisingly a large number of protected areas dot the entire length of the ghats.
It is only to expected then that the Western Ghats have appeared regularly in the pages of the Protected Area Update over the years; something of interest and importance is always happening here. Nothing however matches the presence they have in this particular issue – it is almost like it’s become a Western Ghats special.
There has been a lot of very localized activity along the length of the mountain range that you will see reports of: children in schools in the vicinity of the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra demanding that plastic be banned from within sanctuary limits, the creation of 12 new Important Bird Areas in Kerala or the ongoing controversy over the ban on night traffic on national highways inside the Bandipur National Park.
A lot is also happening that has an appeal and relevance cutting across state and political boundaries. A large conservation research and action initiative has been going on under the aegis of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), the well known Save Western Ghats movement is on the way to being revived, a new Nilgiri Natural History Society has been formed and the Ministry of Environment and Forests has also set up an ‘Expert panel on the Western Ghats’ to ‘assist in the preservation, conservation and rejuvenation of this environmentally sensitive and ecologically significant region.’
In another commendable development the Minister of Environment and Forests, Mr Jairam Ramesh, recently organized a special meeting of 43 Members of Parliament from the 51 districts which have the Western Ghats running through them. It is one of those rare political initiatives where politics is not bound by political boundaries.
It has been argued often that if political constituencies had been carved out on ecological or eco-regional criteria, politics would have been different. Ecological systems, be they mountain ranges, river systems or the coast often get looked at in a piecemeal manner. The integrity of what is a single unit is completely overtaken by other considerations and the consequences have only been adverse. The Minister’s initiative could well be the starting point of some kind of a more holistic approach and other eco-regional systems too might try and pick up from what is being attempted here.
The Western Ghats have also been lucky in that there have always been vibrant local communities, NGOs, researchers and officials who have continued to engage with the complexities and work with the challenges of this unique mountain range. To say, however, that things will now be different in the Western Ghats would be putting the cart much ahead of the horse. We have to wait and watch to see how the present initiatives unfold. There is no denying that they look very promising and one hopes that some of the promise will indeed be realized in the future.
It is only to expected then that the Western Ghats have appeared regularly in the pages of the Protected Area Update over the years; something of interest and importance is always happening here. Nothing however matches the presence they have in this particular issue – it is almost like it’s become a Western Ghats special.
There has been a lot of very localized activity along the length of the mountain range that you will see reports of: children in schools in the vicinity of the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra demanding that plastic be banned from within sanctuary limits, the creation of 12 new Important Bird Areas in Kerala or the ongoing controversy over the ban on night traffic on national highways inside the Bandipur National Park.
A lot is also happening that has an appeal and relevance cutting across state and political boundaries. A large conservation research and action initiative has been going on under the aegis of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), the well known Save Western Ghats movement is on the way to being revived, a new Nilgiri Natural History Society has been formed and the Ministry of Environment and Forests has also set up an ‘Expert panel on the Western Ghats’ to ‘assist in the preservation, conservation and rejuvenation of this environmentally sensitive and ecologically significant region.’
In another commendable development the Minister of Environment and Forests, Mr Jairam Ramesh, recently organized a special meeting of 43 Members of Parliament from the 51 districts which have the Western Ghats running through them. It is one of those rare political initiatives where politics is not bound by political boundaries.
It has been argued often that if political constituencies had been carved out on ecological or eco-regional criteria, politics would have been different. Ecological systems, be they mountain ranges, river systems or the coast often get looked at in a piecemeal manner. The integrity of what is a single unit is completely overtaken by other considerations and the consequences have only been adverse. The Minister’s initiative could well be the starting point of some kind of a more holistic approach and other eco-regional systems too might try and pick up from what is being attempted here.
The Western Ghats have also been lucky in that there have always been vibrant local communities, NGOs, researchers and officials who have continued to engage with the complexities and work with the challenges of this unique mountain range. To say, however, that things will now be different in the Western Ghats would be putting the cart much ahead of the horse. We have to wait and watch to see how the present initiatives unfold. There is no denying that they look very promising and one hopes that some of the promise will indeed be realized in the future.
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Protected Area Update
Vol. XVI, No. 1, February 2010 (No. 83)
Editor: Pankaj Sekhsaria
Editorial Assistance: Reshma Jathar
Illustrations: Madhuvanti Anantharajan
Produced by: Kalpavriksh
Ideas, comments, news and information may please be sent to the editorial address:
KALPAVRIKSH
Apartment 5, Shri Dutta Krupa, 908 Deccan Gymkhana, Pune 411004, Maharashtra, India.
Tel/Fax: 020 – 25654239.
Email: psekhsaria@gmail.com
Website: www.kalpavriksh.org
PUBLICATION OF THE PA UPDATE HAS BEEN SUPPORTED BY
- Foundation for Ecological Security (FES)
http://fes.org.in/
- Duleep Matthai Nature Conservation Trust
C/o FES
- Greenpeace India
www.greenpeace.org/india/
- Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
www.rspb.org.uk/
- Indian Bird Conservation Network
http://www.ibcn.in/
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Information has been sourced from different newspapers and the following websites
http://wildlifewatch.in/
http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in
