PANJIM: Giving up its initial reluctance to include Goa region of Western Ghat in the World Heritage Site of UNESCO, Forest Department has finally admitted that Goa along with contiguous forests of Karnataka and Maharashtra, is one of the best potential tiger habitat in this bio-diversity hotspot.

It has been alleged that various governments were dragging their feet on declaration of Western Ghat region as sanctuary for ‘tiger reserve’ since it would lead to the closure of at least 40 mining leases, 20 of which are active.

Shillong: Despite being identified as one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world, the North Eastern part of the country has undergone a regression in its effort to protect and preserve the biodiversity resulting in the extinction of species both flora and fauna, said Additional Chief Secretary PBO Warjri.

“There has been no progress, infact, there is regression of the biodiversity and we are actually going backward in this aspect, increasing the chances for rare species to become extinct, threatened or endangered,” Warjri said.

Shillong: The threat looming over the state’s rich natural resources, documented and non-documented, being wiped out from the face of the earth can be attributed to urbanization and other forms of development thereby paving the way for the depletion of biodiversity in the state, says the Head of Botanical Survey of India (Shillong and Gangtok) Dr TM Hynniewta.

“North East is considered as an ecological hotspot but a large section of the people in the region are not aware that the region’s reservoirs of biodiversity are under constant threat”, Dr Hynniewta opined.

Report of Madhav Gadgil-headed Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel

The report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) headed by Madhav Gadgil has generated much heat and dust in Kerala, with environmental activists and pro-development experts adopting diametrically opposing views. But meaningful debate on the issue has been hampered by the difficulty in comprehending the voluminous report and the lack of data analysis and interpretation. The Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) has taken the initiative to address this lacuna by bringing out a handy document on the aspects of the WGEEP report relevant to the State.

Supreme Court’s interim order banning tourism in core tiger areas raises debate whether there are any guidelines for it and how harmful it can be to the wildlife and its habitat in protected areas.

What exactly constitutes ecotourism is the question thrown up by the Supreme Court’s interim order banning tourism in core tiger areas. Critical to the debate is whether there are any guidelines for it and how harmful it can be to the wildlife and its habitat in protected areas.

The Western Ghats have been labeled a world heritage site, but scientists from the city-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology have found that biodiversity is not well conserved in the reg

Rlys game for 2 of 3 proposals to minimise green damage

The Hubli-Ankola railway project has cleared another hurdle with the Railways accepting two of the three recommendations of a committee comprising engineers of the Indian Institute of Science. The committee had been set up to suggest alternative routes for the project in the wake of severe opposition from greens to the construction of the key railway line as it would harm the biodiversity of the Western Ghats. It had submitted its report on December 9, 2011 to the central empowered committee.

The ministry of environment’s decision to get Prof. Madhav Gadgil’s report reviewed by a separate panel has drawn up criticism from unexpected quarters.

Tim Badman, heading the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) World Heritage Programme, has issued a statement that international monitoring took place to ensure that the 39 bio-diversity hot spots in the Western Ghats be preserved in their entirety.