3-Jul-2017: Nine more bird, biodiversity areas in Kerala
The bird and biodiversity-rich areas in the State are drawing global attention with nine more locations being identified as Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs).
The newly identified IBAs of Kerala are Achencoil Forest Division; Anamudi Shola National Park; Camel’s Hump Mountain, Wayanad; Kurinjimala Wildlife Sanctuary; Malayattoor Reserve Forest; Mankulam Forest Division; Mathikettan Shola National Park; Muthikulam-Siruvani; and Pampadum Shola National Park. With the latest addition, the State now has a total of 33 IBAs.
The new list was released by the Bombay Natural History Society, a partner of BirdLife International, in its recent publication, Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas in India Priority sites for conservation.
The IBAs are “places of international significance for the conservation of birds and other biodiversity” and are “distinct areas amenable to practical conservation action,” according to BirdLife International.
Kerala IBAs are home to three critically endangered species — Whiterumped Vulture, Indian Vulture, and Red-headed Vulture. Studies have identified the presence of five endangered, 13 vulnerable, and 32 near-threatened bird species in the Kerala IBAs.
The BirdLife International had earlier listed 19 endangered species in India, out of which nine are found in Kerala. Listing out the conservation threats faced by the IBAs, the report pointed out that anthropogenic pressure on the forests was very intense. The protection and maintenance of evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of the State were required to ensure the survival of endemic threatened species.
The “birds of the low altitude evergreen forests seem to have suffered the most in Kerala, mainly due to human interventions. Species such as Malabar Pied Hornbill, a near-threatened species, has declined, along with Orange-breasted Green-pigeon.
Habitat fragmentation in high altitude areas, according to conservationists, was a major cause for concern as many “species have nowhere to go.” “These ‘sky islands’ are now surrounded by tea estates or plantations, leaving very limited habitat for species such as White-bellied Blue Robin, Nilgiri Blue Robin, and Black & Orange Flycatcher,”.
The pressure faced by wetlands, harnessing of rivers for several hydroelectric projects, industrial pollution and indiscriminate exploitation of mangroves for timber, poles and firewood were also marked as the threat factors.
13-Jun-2017: Three new sites recognised as biodiversity hotspots in Goa
BirdLife International, a conservation organisation, has recognised three new sites in Goa as hotspots for protection. The sites have been added to their list of “Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas”.
The inclusion of these ecological hotspots in a new book come after systematic data collection by the Goa Bird Conservation Network (GBCN). The book is authored by noted ornithologist Asad Rahmani, along with two other co-authors, and is published by the Bombay Natural History Society.
Now, seven areas in Goa have been termed important biodiversity areas by BirdLife. Goa earlier had four recognised biodiversity areas: Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park, Carambolim Wetlands, Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary and Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.
The list has now added Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Navelim Wetlands and Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary.
The extent of Carambolim Wetland has been increased to include the fragile ecosystem of Dhado, which has recently become a wintering ground for many species of migratory birds. While analysing data on birds of the State we realized that we have two species of critically endangered, eight species of vulnerable and 11 species of near-threatened birds that have been documented.
Goa harbours a good population of the lesser adjutant and the Nilgiri wood pigeon in certain pockets of the State apart from the identified sites.
Declaring a site as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area does not ensure that the site gets legal protection or becomes inaccessible to people. Instead BirdLife International encourages national and State governments to recognise the areas as sites of vital importance for conservation of wildlife and to empower local community-based conservation initiatives.
In Goa, the Forest Department has already provided support to GBCN in setting up the long-term bird monitoring project, which has completed one year in Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary. The information will help the Forest Department in planning their management strategies.
7-Jul-2017: SC stays HC verdict on Ganga status
The Supreme Court froze the status of “legal persons” accorded to rivers Ganga and Yamuna by the Uttarakhand High Court in March 2017.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar and D.Y. Chandrachud stayed the High Court verdict which held that the rights of the two major rivers “shall be equivalent to the rights of human beings and the injury/harm caused to these bodies shall be treated as harm/injury caused to the human beings.”
The High Court had invoked its jurisdiction as the parens patriae of the rivers while declaring the “glaciers including Gangotri and Yamunotri, rivers, streams, rivulets, lakes, air, meadows, dales, jungles, forests wetlands, grasslands, springs and waterfalls, legal entity/ legal person/juristic person/juridical person/ moral person/artificial person having the status of a legal person, with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person, in order to preserve and conserve them.”
The stay came on a petition filed by Haridwar resident Mohammad Salim over mining and stone crushing along the banks of the Ganga.
The High Court had ordered the Director, Namami Gange project, for cleaning and rejuvenating the river, the Chief Secretary and the Advocate General of Uttarakhand to act as “legal parents” of the holy rivers and work as a human face to protect, conserve and preserve them and their tributaries.
These officers, the High Court had directed, would be bound to “uphold the status” of the two rivers and also promote their “health and well-being.” It had also directed the government to form a Ganga Management Board as per a December 2016 order.
Source: The Hindu
21-Mar-2017: Ganga & Yamuna termed ‘living persons’
In a first in the country, the Uttarakhand High Court declared that the rivers Ganga and Yamuna are “living persons.”
On March 15, New Zealand river Whanganui became the first in the world to be granted a legal human status.
Court order read that in order "to protect the recognition and the faith of society, rivers Ganga and Yamuna are required to be declared as legal persons [or] living persons”. Ganga and Yamuna, all their tributaries, streams… are declared as juristic or legal persons or living entities having the status of a legal person with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person in order to preserve and conserve river Ganga and Yamuna.
The court ordered that the Director of the Namami Gange programme, the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary, and the Advocate-General of Uttarakhand would serve as “parents” for the rivers and would be the human faces to “protect, conserve and preserve” the rivers and their tributaries.
10-May-2017: A rare albino orangutan has been rescued in Borneo
The public are being asked to name a rare albino orangutan rescued in the Indonesian part of Borneo island, with conservationists saying she has become an “ambassador” for the threatened species.
The white-haired, blue-eyed Bornean orangutan was saved in Kapuas Hulu district last month from villagers who had been keeping her in a cage. The Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation, which is caring for the critically endangered ape, says it is the first time in its 25-year history that it has taken in an albino orangutan.
The group said the five-year-old remained “physically fragile”, had a parasite infection and was wary of humans. BOS said they wanted to find a name for her that was “worthy of her special situation”. “She has become an ambassador for her species and therefore we are asking the public to help us name her,”.
The orangutan is being cared for at BOS’s rehabilitation centre, which is home to almost 500 orangutans. The Bornean orangutan, which along with the Sumatran orangutan are Asia’s only great apes, is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as “critically endangered”.
Around 100,000 are estimated to live on Borneo, which is divided between Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, down from 288,500 in 1973. Their numbers are expected to shrink to 47,000 by 2025, according to the IUCN.
Their habitat has shrunk dramatically as the island’s rain forests are increasingly turned into oil palm, rubber or paper plantations, and they are sometimes targeted by villagers who view them as pests.