Sparrows Indicate Environmental Well-Being, Their Absence Worrying: Experts

Bangalore: They may be small but their presence makes a big impact. Sparrows are an indicator of the environmental health of an area, say experts. And their disappearance can be linked to increase in infectious diseases and ecological changes, they warn.

SRINAGAR: As the winter sets in, Hokrsar 14 kilometres north of Srinagar the capital city of Kashmir is home to migratory birds; visitors from Siberia and other regions of Central Asia, a thrilling

They’ve been captured on camera.

The Committee discussed various issues for preservation of the State's ecology and measures taken for the purpose. It divulged upon the matter like protection of forests, forest encroachments, conservation of wetlands and water bodies, fish deaths in Nigeen Lake and non implementation of ban on polythene and other related issues.

The Committee was informed that the State has total 20230 square kilometers area under forests out of which 13360Sq Km area is under encroachment and Forest Department has taken an initiative by which 720sq kms have been evicted.

India, Nepal, BanglaDesh and Paksitan have agreed to develop a joint institutional mechanism to protect the growing threat to wildlife in their region. This joint mechanism has been developed because presently, wildlife is being poached in one country, stockpiled in another and then traded across the South Asia region.

This lucrative trade has been pegged at $20 billion annually and is second to narcotics, a latest Interpol report has pointed out.

This publication presents 15 case studies solicited by ICIMOD during the International Year of Biodiversity 2010. ICIMOD called for case studies from the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region on initiatives dealing with mountain biodiversity, with a focus on success stories. Twenty-eight case studies were received from most countries in the region.

The snow leopard, a species never seen earlier in any Kashmir region outside of Kishtwar, has now been spotted and photographed in Kargil, site of conflict with Pakistan 12 years ago.

Environment ministry has given the green signal to a dam in Uttarakhand, throwing all caution to the wind. It will damage the ecosystem, force people to migrate and obstruct the movement of the snow leopard.

The study, worth Nu 2M, World Wildlife Fund officials said would focus on the snow leopard population and their places of existence to help prioritise the best areas for conservation.

LUCKNOW: The cultivation of embryonic stem-like cells made up from the tissue of an adult leopard, by Rajneesh Verma, has come as a ray of hope for scientists working to save the snow leopard.

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