Indian Wildlife Club Forum

A workshop on `Rising stakes of local community in conservation of forests and wildlife: Institutionalisation of eco-tourism involving local communities' was organised by the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and sponsored by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests at the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Thekkady.

Senior IFS officers noted that though a few States had come out with their own policies on eco-tourism, a national level policy was necessary to address the ecological needs of the forest and environment, create people's involvement giving due regard to their ethnicity and culture so that they feel involved, promoted and empowered. Such a policy would ensure that eco tourism programmes were not hijacked by vested interests.

The forests of the country were burdened with biotic pressure coming from the traditional dependency of the local communities. The traditional type of forest management deprived the local people of any significant stake and role in the protection of the forests. Eco tourism, being a non-consumptive use of the forests, was emerging as an important alternative to strengthen the stakes of local communities for the protection of forests and wildlife.

The officers wanted eco tourism programmes to find a place in forest management and working plan provisions. The thumb rules for an eco tourism programme should be minimum investment on infrastructure, maximum benefit to the local communities, a link between the programme and the local communities and respect to local culture and traditions.

 It was recommended that in ecologically sensitive areas, the principle of high value, high adventure and low volume tourism should be followed.Local communities should have a major role in the implementation of any eco-tourism project. Draft recommendations for a national policy for the implementation of eco-tourism programmes in forest, wildlife and other natural eco-system areas in the country were adopted

Sorce: http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/04/stories/2006100409910400.htm

"Yury Trutnev, Russia's natural resources minister said, Russia is still in two minds about whether to revive a controversial Soviet-era plan to divert Siberian rivers to the arid Central Asia." (MOSCOW, October 12 RIA Novosti)

European Union directive defines every water catchment area as a distinct management unit and rules out water transfers from one area to another. On the 18th of June, 2004  Spain repealed the project to divert water from the river basin, that had been included in the Hydrological Plan pushed forward by the previous Popular Party government and justified by the lack of water in some areas of Spain.

In China, Three Gorges Dam Project is about to be complete.  After the rise in water level, the estimate of displaced may cros  1.4 Million People. 

 Courtesy WaterWatch@yahoogroups.com

For an ecologically sensitive film maker, films are a medium of communication and the communication process is not completed until the message is delivered to the proper audience and feedback (positive or negative) is garnered.

With internet sites like youtube.com for free distribution and turnhere.com for paid distribution, the age of low cost film making seems to have arrived for wildlife film makers.

And making your work available for free download on the Net does not preclude you from also selling an easy-to-access version at a reasonable price (say Rs 200-300) for home viewing. You get the mindshare and publicity, and you also have a (modest) revenue stream.

Hamburg(Germany) zoo director Dr. Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck and British elephant trainer Alan Roocroft teach keepers and handlers how to care for elephants in captivity-at the First European elephant Management School.

Here, elephant handlers from around the world come together for nine days every year to learn about the needs of elephants in captivity and how to overcome their own apprehensions. Many participants may have been working with elephants for years, but few have actually touched them, felt a young elephant's unruly bristles or stroked the bumpy skin at the tip of its wet nose.

Elephants will be kept at zoos as long as zoos exist. Currently around, 1,700 are in captivity, 1,000Asian elephants and 700 African ones. Many zoos cannot give elephants the care they require because they lack both space and money. Foot care, Trunk rinses and taking blood and urine samples to determine hormone levels are standard procedures.

 Elephant handlers from all over the world flock to Hagenbecks in November every year to learn what makes zoo elephants happy!

Here is an excerpt from a report in the New York Times dated 28 September 2006.

Wind power may still have an image as something of a plaything of environmentalists more concerned with clean energy than saving money. But it is quickly emerging as a serious alternative not just in affluent areas of the world but in fast-growing countries like India and China that are avidly seeking new energy sources. And leading the charge here in west-central India and elsewhere is an unlikely champion, Suzlon Energy, a homegrown Indian company. ...

Roughly 70 percent of the demand for wind turbines in India comes from industrial users seeking alternatives to relying on the grid, said Tulsi R. Tanti, Suzlon's managing director. The rest of the purchases are made by a small group of wealthy families in India, for whom the tax breaks for wind turbines are attractive.

Wind will remain competitive as long as the price of crude oil remains above $40 a barrel, Mr. Tanti estimated. To remain cost-effective below $40 a barrel, wind energy may require subsidies, or possibly carbon-based taxes on oil and other fossil fuels.

Looking to devise a special attraction during the eighties, the Punjab Zoo's administrators created a unique hybrid species by cross-breeding Asiatic and African lions. Less well-known than its African cousin, the Asiatic lion is slightly smaller and has a less shaggy mane. It is close to extinction in the wild: there are only some 300 left, and the only place they are found is the Gir national park in India.

On paper, the cross-breeding programme looked fine...................

But when their cubs were born, it became clear that all was not well. The hybrid lions were all born with severely weak hind legs. They could barely walk. It got worse: as the years went by, many of the hybrids' immune systems began to fail..........

Read the full story at the link

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1616628.ece

Google earthday 2013 logo is a great way to experience our planet earth!

The ambitious founders of Google, the popular search engine company, have set up a philanthropy, giving it seed money of about $1 billion and a mandate to tackle poverty, disease and global warming.

But unlike most charities, this one will be for-profit, allowing it to fund start-up companies, form partnerships with venture capitalists and even lobby Congress. It will also pay taxes.

One of its maiden projects reflects the philanthropy’s nontraditional approach. According to people briefed on the program, the organization, called Google.org, plans to develop an ultra-fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid car engine that runs on ethanol, electricity and gasoline.

The philanthropy is consulting with hybrid-engine scientists and automakers, and has arranged for the purchase of a small fleet of cars with plans to convert the engines so that their gas mileage exceeds 100 miles per gallon. The goal of the project is to reduce dependence on oil while alleviating the effects of global warming.

Read the full article at

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/technology/14google.html?ei=5089&en=d6861c984c09b3e7&ex=1315886400&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

Yamuna Bio diversity Park

 I visited the Yamuna Biodiversity Park in September 2006 and was quite impressed by the work being done to save the Yamuna Wetlands. Read a brief report on this in our yahoo group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indianwildlifeclub2/

To view the photographs posted in the group, you will have to join the yahoo group.

A striking multi-colored bird has been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh making it the first ornithological find in the country in more than half a century.

Discovery of this new species in Arunachal Pradesh was made by Dr. Ramana Athreya who is a professional astronomer with the National Centre for Radio Physics in Pune. Bombay Natural History Society honed his birdwatching skills.

The Bugun Liocichla, scientifically known as Liocichla bugunorum, a kind of babbler, was discovered in May at the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary. The bird -- with olive and golden-yellow plumage, a black cap and flame-tipped wings -- is 20 cm (8 inches) in length and named after the Bugun tribespeople who live on the sanctuary's periphery.

The story is certainly inspiring for all bird watchers!

Read more about the discovery at

http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/12/stories/2006091202072200.htm

A striking multi-colored bird has been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh making it the first ornithological find in the country in more than half a century.

Discovery of this new species in Arunachal Pradesh was made by Dr. Ramana Athreya who is a professional astronomer with the National Centre for Radio Physics in Pune. Bombay Natural History Society honed his birdwatching skills.

The Bugun Liocichla, scientifically known as Liocichla bugunorum, a kind of babbler, was discovered in May at the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary. The bird -- with olive and golden-yellow plumage, a black cap and flame-tipped wings -- is 20 cm (8 inches) in length and named after the Bugun tribespeople who live on the sanctuary's periphery.

The story is certainly inspiring for all bird watchers!

Read more about the discovery at

http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/12/stories/2006091202072200.htm