28-Jul-2020: Union Environment Minister releases detailed report of Tiger Census on the eve of Global Tiger Day
“Tiger is an incredible part of the nature and the increased number of the big cats in India reflects equilibrium in the nature.”, said the Union Environment Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar at the release of the detailed report of Tiger Census on the eve of Global Tiger Day in New Delhi today.
Shri Javadekar said, Tigers and other wild life are a kind of soft power India has to show on the international front. The Minister said, despite several constraints such as less land mass, India has eight percent of bio-diversity because our country has a culture of saving and preserving the nature, trees and its wild life. Noting that wildlife is our natural wealth, Shri Prakash said, it is praise worthy that India has 70 percent of world’s tiger population. The Minister mentioned, India is tirelessly working with all 13 tiger range countries towards nurturing the tiger.
Shri Javadekar also announced that his Ministry is working on a programme in which efforts would be made to provide water and fodder to animals in the forest itself to deal with the challenge of human-animal conflict which is causing deaths of animals. For this LIDAR based survey technology will be used for the first time. Lidar is a method for measuring distances by illuminating the target with laser light and measuring the reflection with a sensor.
Highlighting the keystone nature of the tiger, a poster on presence of small cats was also released by the Environment Minister. With the presence of nearly 30 percent of India’s tigers outside tiger reserves, India had embarked upon assessing management interventions through the globally developed Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) framework, which will now be extended to all fifty tiger reserves across the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State of Environment, Shri Babul Supriyo said, human- animal conflict can be avoided but it cannot be ruled out in the country. He said, frontline officials have done commendable job in raising the numbers of tiger in the country.
The detailed report of the 4th All India Tiger Estimation is unique in the following ways;
- Abundance index of co-predators and other species has been carried out which hitherto was restricted only to occupancy
- Sex ratio of tigers in all camera trap sites has been carried out for the first time.
- Anthropogenic effects on tiger population have been elaborated in a detailed manner.
- Tiger abundance within pockets in tiger reserves has been demonstrated for the first time.
The Heads of the Governments of Tiger Range countries at St. Petersburg, Russia, had resolved to double tiger numbers across their global range by 2022 by signing the St. Petersburg declaration on tiger conservation. During the said meeting it was also decided to celebrate July 29 as Global Tiger Day across the world, which is since, being celebrated to spread and generate awareness on tiger conservation.
During Global Tiger Day 2019, it was a proud moment for India as the Prime Minister declared to the world fulfilment of India’s resolve as it had doubled its tiger numbers four years in advance to the target year highlighting resolute action taken by all concerned. India’s tiger population now stands at 2967 which is 70 percent of the global tiger population. A feather in India’s cap was added with the Guinness World Records recognizing the country’s efforts as the world largest camera trap survey of wildlife.
The detailed report released today assesses the status of tigers in terms of spatial occupancy and density of individual populations across India. In addition to the summary report released by the Prime Minister of India on the "Status of Tigers in India" in July 2019, this detailed report compares information obtained from the earlier three surveys (2006, 2010, and 2014) with data obtained from the 2018-19 survey to estimate population trends at country and landscape scales, patch colonization and extinction rates along with information on likely factors responsible for changes in tiger status at the fine spatial resolution of 100 km.
The report evaluates the status of habitat corridors connecting major tiger populations and highlights vulnerable areas that require conservation attention for each landscape. The report provides information on major carnivores and ungulates regarding their distribution and relative abundance.
27-Jul-2020: Union Environment Minister to release detailed report of Tiger Census on the eve of Global Tiger Day.
On the eve of Global Tiger Day,2020, Union Environment Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar will be releasing the detailed report of the fourth All India Tiger Estimation-2018.
The event will be held at National Media Centre, New Delhi and will be live streamed at the following link https://youtu.be/526Dn0T9P3E from 11 AM on 28th July. The event is expected to be joined by around 500 participants from across the country.
The Heads of the Governments of Tiger Range countries at St. Petersburg, Russia, had resolved to double tiger numbers across their global range by 2022 by signing the St. Petersburg declaration on tiger conservation. During the said meeting it was also decided to celebrate July 29 as Global Tiger Day across the world, which is since, being celebrated to spread and generate awareness on tiger conservation.
It was during this day last year, when the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi declared to the world India’s fulfilment of its resolve to double tiger numbers, four years in advance to the target year of 2022 as decided during the St. Petersburg declaration on tiger conservation in Russia in 2010. India now has nearly 70% of the global tiger population.
The Environment Minister will also release a poster on Small Wild Cats of India. The event can be watched live at the following link https://youtu.be/526Dn0T9P3E
4-Jun-2017: Orang tiger reserve has the highest tiger density nationally
According to a survey, Orang tiger reserve in Assam, which has the smallest core, is host to 28 big cats, thus having the highest density nationally. The count was revealed during phase IV of the all-India tiger estimation programme of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
Spread over Darrang and Sonitpur districts and notified in February 2016, Orang Tiger Reserve is the 49th in the country. It has the smallest core of 78.28 sq. km. It is located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River. It is also known as the mini Kaziranga National Park (IUCN site) since the two parks have a similar landscape made up of marshes, streams and grasslands. The park has a rich flora and fauna, including great Indian one-horned rhinoceros, pigmy hog, elephants, wild buffalo and tigers. It is the only stronghold of rhinoceros on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it under the said Act. The National Tiger Conservation Authority has been fulfilling its mandate within the ambit of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 for strengthening tiger conservation in the country by retaining an oversight through advisories/normative guidelines, based on appraisal of tiger status, ongoing conservation initiatives and recommendations of specially constituted Committees.
30-Jun-2020: New report highlights emerging challenges and opportunities for India’s transition to clean mobility and power systems in the context of Covid-19
NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) today released Towards a Clean Energy Economy: Post-Covid-19 Opportunities for India’s Energy and Mobility Sectors report, which advocates for stimulus and recovery efforts that work towards building a clean, resilient, and least-cost energy future for India. These efforts include electric vehicle, energy storage, and renewable energy programs.
The report identifies how Covid-19 is beginning to influence the clean energy transition in India, specifically for the transport and power sectors, and recommends principles and strategic opportunities for the country’s leaders to drive economic recovery and maintain momentum towards a clean energy economy.
Covid-19 has presented significant demand- and supply-side challenges for India’s transport and power sectors, from liquidity constraints and supply shortages to shifts in consumer demand and preferences.
Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog said he is confident that India’s economy will recover following the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic. “India’s strong democratic institutions promote policy stability. Ongoing economic reforms, if executed well, should keep the country's growth rate ahead of peers,” he said.
“Clean energy will be a major driver of India’s economic recovery and international competitiveness,” added Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog. “We must look at how to leverage our domestic innovation ecosystem to bring value to the country and industry in this new normal. We have recommended specific actions by which India can revive two of our economic powerhouses—the transport and power sectors—and emerge stronger.”
The report lays out four principles as a framework for policymakers and other key decision-makers considering programmes to support India’s clean energy future: 1) invest in least-cost-energy solutions, 2) support resilient and secure energy systems, 3) prioritize efficiency and competitiveness, and 4) promote social and environmental equity.
“India needs to identify strategic opportunities for economic recovery in the short, medium, and long terms that can translate challenges posed by the pandemic into clean energy transition opportunities” said Anil Srivastava, Principal Consultant and Mission Director, NITI Aayog.
Opportunities in the transport sector include making public transport safe, enhancing and expanding non-motorized transport infrastructure, reducing vehicle kilometres travelled through work-from-home where possible, supporting national strategies to adopt electric vehicles in the freight and passenger segments, and making India an automotive export hub.
In the power sector, opportunities include improving the electricity distribution business and its operations, enabling renewables and distributed energy resources, and promoting energy resilience and local manufacturing of renewable energy and energy storage technologies.
“The principles and opportunities in the report can provide guidance to India’s public and private sector leaders on how to evaluate and prioritize stimulus and recovery options that continue to invest in a long-term clean energy future for India,” said Akshima Ghate, Director, RMI India.
“Covid-19 has disrupted the world and affected everyone’s lives,” said Clay Stranger, senior director, Rocky Mountain Institute. “As India looks to recovery efforts, clean energy and mobility systems can make a more resilient India by bolstering manufacturing, enhancing the reliability of electricity, avoiding costly oil imports, and cleaning the air.”
The report states that India’s transport sector can save 1.7 gigatonnes of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions and avoid about 600 million tonnes of oil equivalent in fuel demand by 2030 through shared, electric, and connected passenger mobility and cost-effective, clean, and optimized freight transport. Significant savings are also achievable in the power sector through the adoption of renewable energy, energy storage, efficiency, and flexible generation and demand.
25-Jun-2020: Role of ancient algae in building a healthy global marine ecosystem
A study of a microscopic ancient marine algae (Coccolithophores) led by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) has found that there is a decrease in the concentration of oceanic calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the Southern Indian ocean. This decrease in CaCO3 is attributed to the increase in the concentration of another single-celled algae known as diatoms. This, in turn, will affect the growth and skeleton structure of coccolithophores, with potential significance for the world ocean ecosystem.
Coccolithophores are single-celled algae living in the upper layers of the world's oceans. They have been playing a key role in marine ecosystems and the global carbon cycle for millions of years. Coccolithophores calcify marine phytoplankton that produces up to 40% of open ocean calcium carbonate and responsible for 20% of the global net marine primary productivity.
Coccolithophores build exoskeletons from individual CaCO3 plates consisting of chalk and seashells building the tiny plates on their exterior. Though carbon dioxide is produced during the formation of these plates, coccolithophores help in removing it from the atmosphere and ocean by consuming it during photosynthesis. At equilibrium, coccolithophores absorb more carbon dioxide than they produce, which is beneficial for the ocean ecosystem.
NCPOR, the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), and the Goa University revealed that abundance and diversity enrichment of coccolithophores in the southern Indian Ocean is highly dependent on time and influenced by various environmental factors such as silicate concentrations, calcium carbonate concentration, diatom abundance, light intensity and availability of macro and possibly micronutrient concentrations.
The research team's analysis revealed that the reduction of coccolithophore diversity in the early summer and late summer periods is due to an increase in the presence of diatom algae, which occurs after sea ice breakdown with climate change and ocean acidification, and increases the silicate concentration in the waters of the Southern Ocean. The scientists also analyzed the maximum coccolithophore diversity during mid-summer in the Subtropical Zone (STZ) and Sub-Antarctic Zone (SAZ), which is controlled by elevated silicate, low temperature, and low salinity conditions.
Scientists found that the biogeographic boundaries of coccolithophores in the southern Indian Ocean are highly variable, controlled by environmental factors in early and mid-austral summer, and grazing pressure in late austral summer. Also, physical forcing may play an important role in the transport of coccoliths and coccospheres at high latitudes, indicating that the southward extension of coccolithophores is important and may occur for short periods during hot summer.
The results of the study point to climate change as a major reason for the altered coccolithophore calcification rate. Different environmental factors and the ability of the species to adapt to those environmental changes would ultimately determine the future coccolithophore calcite production. These investigations are important for future intervention to bring positive changes in the marine ecosystem and global carbon cycle.