Ecosystems of the Iwokrama rainforest reserve in Guyana have been sold off. A uk -based private equity firm, Canopy Capital, has purchased the rights to environmental services generated by the

While celebrating Earth Day on Tuesday, school children in the Capital can look forward to a special gift from the Chief Minister. Introduced and maintained by the State Environment Department, the much loved 'Nature Trail'

Local bodies and their representatives have a crucial and paramount role to play in the protection of biodiversity and in the conservation of fauna and flora, according to National Biodiversity Authority chairman S Kannaiyan. There were 15,000 different types of medicinal plants in the country, and 429 varieties were facing threat of extinction, he said. Medicinal plants, available abundantly in the rural areas, needed to be conserved and the local bodies should document them, he said.

Conservation of bio-diversity will be an important aspect of the new master plan formulated for Mount Abu, the only hill resort in Rajasthan, while the tribal population of the hilly terrains will be given employment and steps taken to promote eco-tourism and construct an urban "Haat' at the popular tourist destination.

A total of 560 species of animals and plants in the country have been declared critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday. "The IUCN has reported in its red data list that 560 species stand threatened in India. Of these, a total of 313 species, including vultures, are animals while 247 are plant species," Mr S. Reghupathy, minister of state for environment and forests, said in a written reply.

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A rash of projects probing everything from life under the Arctic ice to the global movements of marine mammals is providing the information that conservationists badly need. It is now clear that hotspots do exist even out in the open ocean. However, these are not quite like their counterparts on land. For a start, they do not necessarily stay in the same place. Places with the highest biodiversity may not be the best habitats for the species that live there. Meanwhile, some seemingly inhospitable areas turn out to be thronging with life.

Scientists Join Forces To Save Madagascar Wildlife US: April 11, 2008 WASHINGTON - Leaping lemurs and crawling ants are part of a massive plan to save Madagascar's wildlife, using a new method that could be applied to other "hot spots" of biodiversity, researchers said on Thursday. Drawing on decades of field research about 2,315 species found only on the island nation off Africa's east coast, conservation scientists have mapped out a way to protect all these animals and plants, instead of concentrating on only a few and hoping that saves many of the others, too.

Canada To Create Giant New Northern National Park CANADA: April 8, 2008 OTTAWA - Canada will create a giant new national park covering some 1.9 million acres (7,600 square km) along one of the country's most spectacular northern rivers, Environment Minister John Baird said on Monday. The Naats'ihch'oh National Park Reserve will cover the watershed of the South Nahanni river in the Northwest Territories. It will be adjacent to the larger Nahanni National Park Reserve, which the government said last year it would expand.

"Agriculture can do more than just focus on production," says Bob Watson, director of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), the project that he hopes will change agriculture forever when the final draft of its report is published on 15 April. "Farming can help supply clean water, it can help to protect biodiversity, and it should be managed in a way that manages our soils sustainably," says Watson, who used to be head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

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