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It used to be that science determined what conservation policies
were best for America's wildlife and wild heritage. Not any more. The Bush administration
has time and time again ignored the world's preeminent scientists and instead
listened to corporate lobbyists when making decisions about protecting America's
treasured wildlife. Of immediate concern are:
A new Bush administration proposal that would cut wildlife experts out of the
loop when determining whether pesticides harm wildlife.
-- A Bush administration proposal that weakens prohibitions on the importation
of endangered species and their body parts.
-- The Bush administration is ignoring forest protection rules crafted by an
independent panel of scientists and allowing former timber industry officials
to rewrite the laws protecting our nation's forests. Right now, there's an official
comment period on the pesticides issue that would allow the EPA to decide for
itself whether certain pesticides pose threats to endangered or threatened wildlife
species, instead of consulting with the experts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service(FWS) or the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
Take Action!
Simply reply to this message to send the message below to the FWS to be counted
as an official comment. Urge them to withdraw the proposal that allows the EPA
to decide if pesticides will harm wildlife without consulting the experts at
the FWS and the NMFS.
| Bangladesh Blames India for Destroying Sundarbans |
This is a very timely warning to us, in relation to the proposed River Linking project....one of the least-researched topics is on the impacts that the project will have on India's (neighbouring country's) coasts. The entire project is based on a false premise that there is "excess" water going into the oceans...nothing could be more fallacious, as there is no such thing as water going waste into the sea...the outflow has enormously important functions such as keeping out seawater from inland, finely balancing the salinity in coastal waters (on which mangroves and coastal wildlife are dependent, as clearly pointed out below), and so on. When I asked this question to Suresh Prabhu during a lecture he gave on the Project in Pune some months back, he had no answer. There can be no answer....if massive quantities of water are going to be trapped inland, the outflow is going to reduce and/or change its seasonal flow, with inevitable consequences to coastal ecosystems....and thereafter on the several million people depending on these ecosystems. We must support Bangladesh and our own coastal communities in questioning the sanity of the River Linking project, for on this single count alone it is madness. I reproduce below an article on this subject, which was published in Hindustan Times. Ashish
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2004 01:25:29 AM
]
JALPAIGURI: The wildlife census in the forests of north Bengal will have to
be completed by April. But, the forest department is yet to receive the signal
to start the exercise. The permission should have come from the principal chief
conservator of forests (PCCF) in Kolkata. The census is conducted every two
years. The last one was conducted in 2001. About Rs 17 lakh is required to complete
the census. Till now, the forest department has not received any fund for the
purpose. North circle conservator of forests (wildlife) J.T. Mathew said he
had written to the PCCF about this. In this situation, the forest department
is now wondering whether it would be possible to carry out the census this year.
But unless that is done, it would be diffcult to conduct a proper study of the
various kinds of animals and bring back in their habitats a balance which may
be lost because of a sudden change in the number of a particular species. Normally,
census is done in the winter, when animals come out in the open to enjoy nature.
At other times, particularly during the prolonged monsoons in the Dooars of
north Bengal , animals do not venture out of the forest and it is difficult
to trace them through pug marks and other signs. But with time passing by and
no positive instructions coming from the Kolkata office, the forest department
fears it won't be possible to arrange the census at all, if work is not started
immediately. Forest officials believed that the number of most types of animals
had increased in the past two years. In the last census, the number of bisons
in north Bengal was 500, which, it was estimated, had risen to about 900. The
number of elephants had increased by 50 to 70. There has also been an increase
in the number of rhinoceros in Jaldapara Sanctuary and Gorumara National Park
.
Applications are invited for the position of Junior Research
Fellow under the Department of Biotechnology project ` Butterfly Park- A Center
of Research Education using butterfly resources’ for a period of 5 years.
Qualifications: M.Sc in Ecology/Forestry/ Horticulture. The candidates are expected
to have some experience working with butterflies or on some aspects of pollination.
Preference will be given to persons with additional skills such as identifying
plants and web page designing. The candidates are expected be very innovative
and have ability to work independently. The broad objective of this program
is to create awareness about the ecological importance of butterflies among
children and adults through periodical training programs.
The selected applicant will be involved in
i. Developing a butterfly rearing manual, which will be suitable for urban areas
ii. Preparation of teaching material like manuals, audio-visual aids , web site
etc.
iii. Establishing a schedule for training programs and build up the required
infrastructure
iv Conducting a pre and post survey to evaluate the success of the program
Interested candidates may send in their applications before May 31th 2003, by
email, fax or post/courier to the address below with their CV, and a self-appraisal
stating how good they are for this project. The selections will be done based
on an interview of short listed candidates.
*Initial recruitment would be for a period of one year, which may subsequently
be extended by mutual agreement.
Dr. M.Soubadra Devy
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)
# 659, 5th A main, Hebbal, Bangalore - 560 024, India. Phone:
91-80-3530069/3533942/3638771; Fax: 91-80-3530070
Email:
KOLKATA, Jan. 29. - A recent inspection by elephant experts
has revealed that the migratory elephants in Dalma forest range are facing the
threat of local extinction as a result of some "mismanaged development projects
of the state government and destruction of vast green lands across the state".
The wildlife experts also stated that the migratory elephants are possibly on
a marginal diet.
"Dalma forest covers an area of 192 sq km, out of which 55 sq km is the core
area. The area is too small for the 70 elephants which are currently in the
forest. Hence the need to migrate," Colonel Shakti Ranjan Banerjee, state project
director of Wild Wide Fund for Nature, India (east), said. He also said a recent
study shows that the elephants use the traditional transit route of Bandwan-Kakrajhor
to migrate towards the western part of West Midnapore. He added that the transit
route is turning into a degraded zone everyday. "Three- hundred headloads of
firewood are sent for the furniture industry at Galoori, and 800 to 1,000 headloads
of firewood are sent for the furniture-making units at Bataluka and Ghatshila
from here. Each headload contains 40 kg of wood. Apart from this, 8,000 to 10,000
animals staying in the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary consume eight kg of green fodder
per day. Due to the lack of greenery, the elephants are facing the threat of
local extinction," he said.
Mr Kisor Chaudhuri, committee member of WWF, India, and an elephant expert,
said a group of elephants from Saranda which used to migrate to Keonjhar are
now failing to do so due to massive opencast iron-ore mining in the transit
route. He said that in the last three years, many of the Saranda elephants have
gone missing. Colonel Banerjee said the Saranda elephants are failing to migrate
to West Midnapore due to irrigation work at Subarnarekha Canal and are getting
stuck at Parahat and Chakradharpur. He said these elephants are left with only
one choice: of migrating towards Ayodhya hills. "But they are failing to do
so because of the Purulia Pump Storage project. The vast land of 602 hectares
which the elephants used to migrate to has been destroyed for the project. Migration
is an essential need for the elephants. If they cannot migrate, they will obviously
face the threat of extinction," Mr Chaudhuri said.
C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa,
908 Deccan Gymkhana,
Pune 411004
India
Tel: + 91 20 25654239 / 25675450
Fax: 25654239
Email: pankajs@vsnl.com