This 8th Edition of the UN Environment Programme flagship report, the UNEP Year Book 2011, examines global emerging issues and provides the latest environmental science. It also highlights major environmental events and developments over the past year, and presents the most recent data and indicator trends.

This report provides a detailed assessment of the status of & threats to the world’s coral reefs. It evaluates threats to coral reefs from a wide range of human activities, and includes an assessment of climate-related threats to reefs. It also contains global assessment of the vulnerability of nations & territories to coral reef degradation.

It has been shocking to see the immense pressure that has been developing from various quarters to reduce the NO GO forest zones to allow coal mining. MoEF has been succumbing to the pressure from the various ministries and drastically reducing the areas demarcated as NO GO zones.

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has published a report on incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. This report is the final output of the third international workshop on incentive measures held in Paris, France, from 6-8 October 2009.

The coastal region that is a focus of the proposed project, namely the East Godavari River Estuarine Ecosystem (EGREE), is located on the eastern side of the Indian peninsula, in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The long coastline of Andhra Pradesh stretches over 973.7 kilometers (12% of India’s total coastline), and covers 9 districts from Srikakulam to Nellore.

This report by Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), is based on a survey of the lakes dating back to the 9th century AD in Mahadevpura constituency of Bengaluru.