District Secretary of Sri Lanka's hill country Nuwara Eliya D.P.G. Kumarasiri pointed out that the wild fires in the forests have damaged around 1,500 acres of indigenous forest cover.

The Cauvery eco-system is in deep trouble with the current year being one of the worst drought years that the river has witnessed.

The delta region, known as ‘Marudha Nilam’, can no longer have that nomenclature as it is now shorn of Marudu trees, a native plant. The ‘minimum viable population’ (MVP) size of this tree has gone down and has become virtually an ‘endangered species’. Frequent loss of flows in the river over the past four decades has resulted in gradual degradation of the eco-system, laments K.V.Krishnamurthy, former Head of the Department of Botany, Bharathidasan University, considered an authority on the Cauvery’s flora and fauna.

To commemorate India’s Independence, Animal Planet has announced a month-long series which will go on the air beginning August 15 to celebrate the country’s enchanting wildlife, natural diversity and exotic terrain.

Yeh Mera India has been produced to create awareness among the young generation about the need to do something urgently to protect the country’s wildlife and its habitat.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered the relevant officials to take immediate measures to protect wildlife and halt timber rackets.

SILCHAR: In order to resolve the raging controversy over the construction of Barak dam, both Delhi and Dhaka have agreed for an expert-meet on August 27 in the national capital.

Invasive species, pollution levels in Moyar need to be monitored

Even as biodiversity decline is reported in the national parks worldwide, Mudumalai and Anamalai tiger reserves in Tamil Nadu have shown positive trends in sustaining its rich variety of flora and fauna. The positive trend was the outcome of a study taken up in 60 reserves from various parts of the world by a team of biodiversity researchers numbering more than 200.