Stating in unequivocal terms that no forest conservation activity would be possible without community participation, over 19 organisations representing traditional forest dwellers and other aborigi

The Kerala high court on Friday asked the Union ministry of environment and forests to explain its stand on a petition seeking a CBI enquiry into the killing of a tiger at Wayanad recently.

Alarmed by this year’s scanty rainfall and the drying up of water reserves in several parts of the State, the office of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority has forwarded a recommendation to the State government to this effect.

The scarce northeast monsoon has failed to make up for the shortfall in the southwest spell during the past two years. The southwest monsoon’s share of rainfall this year was the lowest in the last seven years.

Man-animal conflict has led to the killing of a male tiger near the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in north Kerala on Sunday.

The Karnataka Forest and Health authorities have alerted their counterparts in Kerala on a suspected outbreak of Kyasanoor Forest Disease (KFD), commonly known as monkey fever, in the Bandipur Tige

India’s top bureaucrats managing forests and elephants, and the wildlife conservation NGO community on Wednesday showcased public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives that promise to connect more of the 88 identified elephant corridors with forests, potentially reducing the stress on the species.

On its part, the Centre is considering hiking compensation for voluntary resettlement of residents to increase habitat available to elephants and reduce man-elephant conflict.

Two projects to be implemented at a cost of Rs.149 crore

The Water Resources Department is gearing up to launch two comprehensive drinking water projects in the district at a cost of Rs.149 crore by utilising water from the Karapuzha reservoir. The first project, to be implemented at a cost of Rs.78 crore, is for providing drinking water to three grama panchayats, Muttil, Sulthan Bathery, and Noolpuzha, and nearly 99,520 people are expected to benefit from the project.

Eight small hydro power schemes mooted

In a bid to enhance power generation, the Small Hydro Promotion Cell of the Energy Management Centre, attached to the Department of Power, has proposed eight small hydro-power schemes in Kozhikode district. Some of these projects, already showcased at Emerging Kerala, which concluded in Kochi on Friday, have been envisaged to attract investors through the ‘Independent Power Producer’ and the ‘Captive Power Producer’ initiatives.

In a major step towards adopting a scientific approach in the maintenance of forests in state, the Forests and Wildlife Department has prepared GIS atlases on three wildlife divisions in the state.

The scheme to provide a single mapping platform to the five other wildlife divisions will be completed by the month-end, officials said. The department embarked on the Herculean task of preparing GIS atlases on its 11 wildlife divisions and 25 territories in January, 2012. ‘’Master copies of the atlases on Thiruvananthapuram, Thenmala and Punalur divisions have been prepared besides one prepared on Konni division earlier.

‘Lack of infrastructure hampering economic growth’

The government’s policy is to usher in development in the State without trampling on the environment and integrate both, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said. He was inaugurating a two-day national seminar on ‘Transport Vision Kerala 2030’ organised by the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (Natpac) here on Monday.