Wildlife

 Small hydropower plant  (Source: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy)

Organizer: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)

Description:
India hosts a majority of the world’s tiger population -- about 1,700 tigers, according to the May 2011 census. But a combination of threats is holding this meagre number to ransom, and poaching and trade in wildlife parts is just one of them. Shrinking habitat, conflicts with humans, growing tourist interference… the tiger has a lot to contend with. Policy intervention, protective legislations and international pressure have not made much of a difference, and if action is not taken effectively, the tiger will dwindle towards extinction.

These manuals are aimed at expert appraisal committees, and hope to improve the quality of appraisal of projects. These will also provide a template for use by organisations and consultants developing the EIA reports.

This has been a generic first attempt that can be fine-tuned and customised for each type of ecosystem and each kind of service value. Ecosystem services are defined by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as ‘the benefits people obtain from ecosystems'.

Mountains occupy 24% of the global land surface area and are home to 12% of the world’s population. Mountains have an ecological, aesthetic, and socioeconomic significance, not only for those living in the mountain areas, but also for people living beyond them. However, the importance of ecosystem services arising from mountains is not properly recognised. The HKH region is endowed with a rich variety of gene pools and species, and ecosystems of global importance. It is a storehouse of biological diversity and a priority region in many global conservation agendas. The region has many unique ecosystems that play a critical role in protecting the environment and in providing livelihoods for much of Asia and beyond.

This working paper by the World Bank presents the findings of a study that was conducted as a collaborative initiative by the World Bank and the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairyin

It describes the efforts undertaken by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to launch a programme to monitor the water quality of some of the lakes in Bangalore so as to focus the attention of concerned governmental organisations to take up remedial measures to safe guard the water bodies of the "Garden City". 

The sources of pollution in lakes are mainly identified as:

Content and Media Courtesy: Video Volunteers

Description:
WWF India, one of the country’s largest conservation organizations is looking for an enthusiastic and motivated young individual to be part of its team in the Sustainable Livelihoods and Governance Programme, to work as a Senior Programme Officer on issues related to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). The role of the incumbent will be to facilitate and execute the tasks leading to the eleventh Conference of Parties (COP 11), and undertaking activities to assess the impact of the Biodiversity Act and its rules on conservation and rural livelihoods. This will involve extensive secondary literature review, field level consultations and action research to collect and collate data, analyze and assess to develop policy briefs and documents for policy advocacy as well as help WWF’s participation in COP 11.

Guest post by: Parineeta Dandekar