Seshachalam hills, home to a variety of plants and animals, reptiles and amphibians, have proved again to be rich in biodiversity, with the recent sighting of a rare poisonous spider after a gap of 113 years in India at the foothills of Tirumala.

The spider belonging to the genus poecilotheria is known to be native to India and Sri Lanka, of which eight species are found in India and seven in Sri Lanka. While taking inventory of the Seshachalam Biosphere reserve spread across Chittoor and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh, officials of the Seshachalam Biodiversity Lab attached to Tirupati Wildlife Management Circle sighted a dead specimen of Theraphosid spider, a variety listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as ‘critically endangered.’

In view of the acute power crisis in the State, the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) has taken up solar power generation in girijan schools in the agency (tribal) areas in the Eastern Gh

Eastern Ghats (EG) contributes significantly to both species richness and endemicity of the Indian region. However, the forests of EG are relatively under-studied and have received less attention for conservation compared to the relatively better-known Western Ghats. Ultimately EG is left with insufficient data for several groups of organisms.

Forest biodiversity in the Eastern Ghats is undergoing a tremendous change.

Global warming is a cumulative threat not just to the world on the whole, but also to prized natural chains like the Eastern Ghats, said Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah.

Speaking at the inauguration of the third regional convention on Eastern Ghats, hosted by the SRM University here on Monday, he said, “The effects of global warming add a catastrophic threat towards a mass extinction of global biological diversity. We must remember that 25 per cent of the Eastern Ghats are in Tamil Nadu and a great amount of our State’s biodiversity, ethnic diversity, mineral wealth and catchment for watersheds lie in this region.”

The Society of Geoscientists and Allied Technologists (SGAT) has vehemently opposed Union tribal welfare minister V Kishore Chandra Deo’s demand for stoppage of bauxite mining in Eastern Ghats.

“We strongly refute observations of the Union tribal welfare minister as these are not based on facts,” said B K Mohanty, advisor, SGAT, a non-profit making professional body dedicated to promotion of mineral development.

Farmers in Visakhapatnam district are being encouraged to rediscover and adopt age-old agricultural practices, give up use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and grow organic crops, according

The recently declared tiger reserve, the Biligirirangan Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sanctuary in Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka, is under increasing threat due to illegal mining of black granite on i

The jatropha puzzle has finally been solved.

In 2005-06, most of the districts in the State were abuzz with the talk of jatropha. In press conferences, the then District Collectors, especially in those adjoining western and eastern ghats, talked of largescale jatropa plantations as the oil extracted from its seeds (blended with diesel up to 20 per cent) could be used as a substitute to petroleum diesel.

New Delhi India’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose 4.2 % to 1301.21 million tonne in 2000 compared with 1994 levels and the GHG profile for the year 2007 is estimated to be of the order of 1771.66 million tonne carbon dioxide equivalent.

These are the findings of the second national communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) prepared by the ministry of environment and forests, towards fulfillment of the reporting obligation under the convention. The first national communication was submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat on June 22, 2004.

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