This paper by ISRO broadly deals with desertification and the process of land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It describes the classification system, methodology and results of the desertification & land degradation status mapping carried out for the entire country on 1: 500,000 scale using multi-temporal Resourcesat AWiFS data. The dominant processes of land degradation, viz. water erosion, vegetal degradation, wind erosion, salinization, waterlogging, frost heaving, frost shattering and mass movement have been deciphered and mapped using satellite data.

The report ‘Boiling Point’ by Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) discusses the impact of climatic changes at the global, national and local level on the environment and on the current survival, food, water security issues and livelihoods of communities in India.

The report highlights the problems faced by a number of communities from the different parts of the country by presenting case studies that describe how climatic changes have influenced local livelihoods and survival needs of communities with the marginalised and the deprived being the most affected. The report presents  a few case studies that illustrate how people have coped with these problems by finding out appropriate, locally relevant and sustainable solutions.

The report recognises that identification of positive efforts made by individuals or groups of people through the case studies can be one such step towards triggering a discussion and educating the people on the seriousness of the situation and making them realise of the urgency to act fast. The report identifies the need for advocacy and educational efforts based on the bottom up approach involving the grassroot level that  can lead to building up of pressure for the need to bring about changes at the policy level.

The World Wetland day 2010 was celebrated by CERC-ATREE with a number of programmes. As an Annual event ‘WETLAND FESTIVAL 2010’ involving the students and teachers from the wetland clubs of Jalapadom schools around the Lake, was held at Kalyani auditorium, Aleppey.

Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore is looking to recruit a Research Assistant as part of the Land, Water and Livelihoods Programme (LWLP).

A one-day “Action plan workshop for the rejuvenation and sustenance of Arkavathi river basin”, was organised on 25th July 2009, by the Global Academy of Technology and Geological Society of India at Bangalore, to discuss the future of the dying Arkavathi river and Bangalore's precarious water situation, and to develop concurrent implementable action plans to address the problem. The Arkavathi is a tributary of the river Kaveri, originating in Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapur district, that provides about 20% of the total water requirements of Bangalore, with Kaveri providing the remaining 80%.

The satellite township of Navi Mumbai, with a total area of 344 km², was developed in 1972 by CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation) to de-congest the city of Mumbai. Initially a marshy land interspersed with villages, Navi Mumbai has been developed into a planned township, with much of its marshes and freshwater wetlands being converted into urban infrastructure.

Navi Mumbai is a rapidly developing twin city. In the course of development, it was realized that more emphasis needs to be given towards the preservation and sustainable management of the freshwater wetlands it harbours. Given the vulnerability of these wetlands and their resource potential, there is an urgent need to develop a framework for sustainable use of freshwater wetlands. This requires efficient management systems and development of sustainable models, which would help maintain the natural characteristics of wetlands while also exploiting its potential to meet the socio-economic and recreational needs of communities. To tackle this important aspect, TERI conceptualized a pilot project with active support of CIDCO in October 2008. The Khandeshwar Lake was chosen as a model to demonstrate the feasibility as a ‘sustainable wetland’.

The attached presentation is an update on the work taken up and impact achieved since the start of the project, and includes details from the World Wetlands Day celebration organised on 2 February 2010. Details of TERI's wetland management program are here.

The Advantages of Recycling Paper

Before throwing that piece of paper in the trash, consider how many trees you could save by starting a

The Silviculture of Indian Trees, is a seminal reference work in three volumes, that contains in-depth information (from a silvicultural point of view) about nearly all tree species of India, covering some 63 botanical orders. It is the outcome of twenty years of field-based research by Robert Scott Troup, a British forestry expert who spent much of his career in India, and is considered a classic landmark work on the subject.

The book starts with an introduction, followed by information organised by the botanical order, genera and finally, species. Each sub-section on a specific species, contains details such as the botanical name, vernacular names, distribution and habitat, silvicultural characters (climatic, temperature, soil conditions that help the tree grow), botanical descriptions as well as silhoutte drawings of the seed seedling leaf trunk root flower fruit bark and other plant parts, uses, flowering fruiting and leaf-shedding process as well as season, natural and artificial reproduction methods and rate of growth, germination process and role of animals birds insects wind and water, and botanically allied species.

Guest post by Sangeeta Deogawanka

February 2nd, designated as World Wetlands Day, has quietly slipped by with isolated events that speak of the lackadaisical attitude towards this rich ecosystem.

With 67,429 wetlands covering an area of about 5.5 million hectares, [Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), 1990], the wetland systems in India are diverse, found in high altitude cold zones, the hot and humid coastal areas or occurring as scattered inland wetland systems.