The Union Environment Ministry has taken the side of conservationists fighting for survival of 300-odd Narcondam hornbills, threatened by a Coast Guard plan to set up a radar surveillance system on the tiny island in the Andamans where the birds make their home.

On August 31, the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued an order rejecting the proposal, suggesting that the Coast Guard explore other options, “like installation of off-shore structures and several other viable options…which can spare the unique habitat of Narcondam Island from disturbance,

With the conservation effort in India still tiger-centric, the threatened birds need

Right at the start, this book sets the argument in motion by rapping the conservation effort in the country across the knuckles. Most of the action, it notes, is tiger-centric, with little attention paid to other taxa. Threatened Birds of India is a fine example of worldwide collaboration among organisations and individuals with contributions from hundreds of ornithologists, field biologists, avid birders and wildlife photographers, making it a comprehensive collection on the threatened birds of India and their conservation requirements.

A ruling by Supreme Court, which would have drastically curtailed the notorious ‘human safaris’ in the Andaman Islands is being ignored by the islands’ authorities.

Earlier this month, Supreme Court imposed a 5-kilometer buffer zone around the Jarawa Reserve, to help reduce the exploitation of the tribe by tourists. The ruling puts an end to tourist resorts near the Reserve, and closes other commercial attractions such as the Islands’ mud volcano and limestone caves. However, at the time of going to press, more than two weeks on, the volcano and caves remain open.

New Delhi: It’s a case of national security versus one rare endangered bird and some absurdity.

The Supreme Court has banned all commercial and tourism activities within a five-km radius of the Jarawa Tribal Reserve on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with a view to protecting the indigenous people.

A Bench of Justices G. S. Singhvi and S. J. Mukhopadhaya on Monday upheld an October 30, 2007 notification declaring an area up to a five-km radius of the Reserve a ‘Buffer Zone’ and prohibiting entry of any person other than a member of the aboriginal tribe into it.

A Recent Study Notes 13 Direct Sightings Of The Mammal In Gulf Of Kutch

Ahmedabad: The rare dugong, also known as ‘sea cow’, is happily grazing underwater off the Gujarat coast. Until now, wildlife experts had known about the existence of the marine mammal largely through carcasses being washed ashore along the state and sightings by fishermen. But now there is some concrete evidence.

Move triggered by earthquake of 8.9 magnitude that has been felt in Indonesia

The state-run Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) would soon shut down the two units each of 220 MW at the Kalpakaam nuclear project. The step has been taken as a precautionary measure in the wake of a tsunami warning issued by Indonesia after a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.9 hit waters off westernmost Aceh province.

With the financial year starting on April 1, villagers working under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) will get Rs 191 per day as wages.

ONE OF the many miracles of India is that it has maintained one-fifth of its area under forest cover since Independence.

Researchers claim India is losing its forests more rapidly than Brazil and Malaysia. They question the findings of the latest State of the Forest Report 2011 which highlights that forest cover has increased by nearly five per cent between 1997 and 2007 and is presently covering nearly 24 per cent of India’s geographical area.

Researchers, including Jean-Philippe Puyravaud and Priya Davidar of Pondicherry University and William Lawrence of James Cook University assert that what the Forest Survey of India describe as forests, often consists of tree cover and poplar eucalyptus plantations.