We don’t know how many mountain gorillas live in the wild. Here’s why
A new census — carried out by the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (a coalition of governments, non-profits and …
Are community reserves the answer to conservation?
The 2002 Amendment to the Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972) -- the bible of the conservation movement -- calls for a new category of …
Green poetry
On October 15, 2003, the Prime Minister (PM) attended the first meeting of the new all-powerful Indian Wildlife Board. He gave a virtuoso …
"It happened by sheer accident"
More great discoveries in the realm of science get stumbled upon by the unprepared mind than untangled by methodical research. dna fingerprinting,…
Who's to blame?
Management of protected forests is a hotly debated issue. In the absence of a sound policy based on a scientific approach, there are as many …
Mountain biodiversity tops Montreal meet agenda
The entire gamut of activities that threaten ecosystems in the mountain regions dominated discussions at the meeting of the scientific advisory …
Farming fish and mussels
When bad management and increasing demand for inland fish led to plummeting stocks, fishing villages around the Ashtamudi estuary in Kollam …
Chipko: an unfinished mission
In 20 years, Chipko has acquired many facets, primarily as a conservation endeavour by the poor, a struggle for local control of natural …
Wooing back the salmon
International experiences in effective environmental management have their foundation in strict adherence to legal statutes. In this context, …
A green company in a grey market
There was a time when Payinthulasi, a 40-year old herb gatherer of village Utchananthal in Virudunagar district of Tamil Nadu, had to trudge to …
‘Wild tigers could be back in Kazakhstan by 2026’
Igor Chestin is the head of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)’s Russia chapter. He is in Delhi to attend the third Asia Ministerial …
Large promises
Prime Minister Vajpayee is terribly interested in rural development these days. On his birthday he inaugurated Swajaldhara, a nation-wide water …
A watershed plan
Recurrent droughts and floods coupled with mass poverty, chronic unemployment and pervasive malnutrition are the major challenges before India. …
On the Edge
In Vietnam, an astonishing array of species, some never before encountered by humans, are being threatened by deforestation and an illegal trade …
Charming no more
The saperas (snake-charmers) of Delhi loive in a unique colony called Mollarbandhgaon. This community, located next to the Badarpur thermal power …
Eyeing the coastlines
Further dilution of the rules safeguarding the Indian coastal ecosystem has just been proposed. Under the guise of providing land to poor …
Rain check
The column width dedicated to rain in the mainstream print media has hit an all-time high. A few days ago, television news reporters with that …
BIG CAT CONUNDRUM
The tiger occupies a hallowed seat in India. Ecologists believe that millions of small ecological processes live out their routine lives under …
On The Warpath
They prefer to be called the 'forest castes'. They are the 2,000,000-odd villagers living in some 10,000 villages across Orissa. After …
'Elephant conservation is not exactly anybody’s priority'
M D Madhusudan is an ecologist and conservationist with Nature Conservation Foundation in Mysore, Karnataka. An elephant expert, he is a member …
The lake colony
Call them the "lakers". Some 10,000 of them. Parts of the Dal (land and water) belong to them. And when they feel the need to make a …
Pollution of Hinduisim
Simply put it is an amazing gap between theory and practice. Yet it is one of the main reasons why India's environment is as degraded as it is …
India will soon play a major role
SIRPA Pietikainen, Finland's environment minister, says the world has quite a few things to learn from India, especially when it comes to …
The water bearer
ANNA HAZARE bids a heavy-hearted farewell to the late Vilasrao Salunkhe, better known as 'pani baba'. Salunkhe's revolutionary concept of '…
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