Himalayan forests at greater risk from climate change

Climate change will be an additional stress on Indian forests, especially in upper Himalayan stretches, which are already subjected to multiple challenges including over-extraction, livestock grazing and human impact, a government report said here on Wednesday. 

India's second National Communication to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, released by environment ministerJayanthi Natarajan said that the assessment of climate impacts showed that at the nationallevel, 45 per cent of forested grids are likely to undergo changes. In the report, a digital forest map of the country was used to determine spatial location of all the forested areas. 

This map was based on a high-resolution mapping, wherein the entire area of India was divided into over 165,000 grids. Out of these, 35,899 grids were marked as forested grids - along with the forest density and forest types. Vulnerability assessment showed that sensitive forested grids arespread across India. "However, their concentration is higher in the upper Himalayan stretches, parts of Central India, northern Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats," said the MoEF report towards fulfillment of reporting obligation under the convention.

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Windmills to power streetlights in Chennai

Imagine 15-metre towers with micro wind turbines above and four solar panels below vying with huge palm trees to create a geometrically regular pattern along the East Coast Road.

These towers, with a hybrid of wind and solar energies systems, will soon be yet another initiative in Chennai Corporation's pursuit of tapping alternative energy sources for better street lighting in the city, particularly along coastal roads that are predominantly in newly added areas.

The civic body has commissioned a study on tapping wind and solar energy with optimum hybrid models for better street lighting in added areas. Chennai, according to persons associated with the study, “is a good wind zone” but is not suitable for big wind turbines over 100 metres in height. However, the initiative using micro wind turbines is also likely to be another stepping stone towards bringing down energy consumption by 25 per cent and to save 36 lakh units in the coming year.

A group of streetlights would be connected to a tower with hybrid power generating systems. These additional street lights would fill the unusual voids between rows of 2.2-lakh streetlights in the 426 sq km of the city, mainly in the coastal zones of Tiruvottiyur, Perungudi and Sholinganallur in the added areas and Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Teynampet and Adyar of the old city limits.

Existing streetlights have been found to be inadequate in many of the expanded areas, which have a relatively low number of 88,000 streetlights. The added areas, which were earlier part of Panchayats, would be the biggest beneficiaries from the proposal for wind and solar energy-based models.

Areas such as the Marina Beach and Elliots Beach are also set to gain from the initiative. Localities in Tiruvottiyur, Sholinganallur and Marina Beach will get pilot projects that will be expanded after ascertaining their viability. In the wake of an increase in power tariff, this proposal is likely to be viable.

These new hybrid facilities would be in addition to the 25,000 solar-powered streetlights proposed in eight new zones. The Corporation has already proposed a massive programme to replace around 60,000 streetlights.

The wind and solar hybrid systems would overcome challenges pertaining to the old system of illumination adopted by many Panchayats earlier. The Corporation's norm of a minimum of a 25-metre distance between two adjacent streetlights would be adhered to during the installation of these facilities in areas such as Tiruvottiyur, Perungudi and Sholinganallur.

The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3281765.ece

“Environment protection in people's hands”

The Advisor to Ministry of Environment and Forests, G. V. Subrahmanyam, has said that people's participation in environment protection alone can bring the desired results more than any number of legislations brought by the Government.

“Protecting the environment is for our own future and not for anybody else. You can have any number of legislations…but the implementation is done by local people. Any campaign on climate change or environmental issues can be successful only when all of us come together,” he said, while speaking at the Thiagarajar College of Engineering (TCE) here on Friday.

He was in the city to participate in an ‘International Workshop on Climate Change and GIS' organised jointly by the TCE in association with Madurai Kamaraj University.

Dr. Subrahmanyam underlined that respecting the environment is nothing new to India because historically this land was known for conservation ethics which came to its people either through religion, culture or philosophy.

“Nature and humans are inseparable and historically, we Indians have been respecting nature. The same spirit must be shown now because we have to protect environment for our own future,” he appealed.

The Ministry's Advisor also mentioned about the pollution caused by small scale industries across the country and the need to sensitise them on pollution control strategies.

“Pollution, energy and climate change are all related issues. It is important for our people to understand the consequences of climate change since it will have an impact on surface temperature, seal level and vegetation,” he stressed.

Stating that the Ministry of Environment and Forests has been doing a lot in creating public awareness, Dr. Subrahmanyam said that it was also deploying Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing to implement natural resources management scheme. Himalayan glacier and wetlands besides several other areas were mapped already.

Karumuttu T. Kannan, Chairman and Correspondent, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, in his presidential address, has urged the Government of India to launch a nationwide campaign to tell people about the dangers to environment.

Daniel Ayuk Mbi Egbe, Senior Scientist, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria, spoke on the importance of tapping solar energy while A. Sundaram, Head and Chairperson of School of Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Madurai Kamaraj University, said that renewable energy revolution is the need of the hour.

Link The Hindu

They are the forest heroes

It is quite motivating the Karnataka is doing and recognising the unsung heroes of the Forest Department. Forest guards and foresters who are the foundations of the department  walks thousand of kilometers to protect the Forest ( Green Gold) Wealth of the country and the natural sinks of Carbon  dioxide for mitigating the  Climate Change. How many states have recognised their services and pat them on their back for their commendable services. Karnataka has set the example. why can't other states do this?????

Guards, Experts, Officials Feted With Jumbo Awards

 Chandrakant R Naik has explored every nook and corner of the 1,098-sqkm Anshi Dandeli Tiger Reserve in Uttara Kannada district on foot. And the treks during his 12 years of service as a forest guard have given him an encyclopaedic knowledge of the forest. The Class 12-pass Naik can identify 250 trees with their scientific names and families, 45 species of butterflies, 31 snakes and eight different types of frogs. 

    After being honoured with the title of ‘Foot Soldier of Karnataka’ at the Jumbo Wildlife Awards function held on Friday at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall here, Chandrakant said he is neither a biologist nor a botanist, but shared the passion of both. He said he had rescued 187 snakes and got his hands on as many as 21 poachers till date. 
    “Our job is very risky and narrow escapes are the order of the day. I remember rescuing a King Cobra in Dandeli a few years ago. I caught the snake by its neck, but while putting it inside the bag, my hand got entangled with the cobra. It was one of the many chilling moments I’ve had in these forests,” Chandrakant said. 
    The second edition of Kumble Foundation Jumbo Awards recognized many more reallife heroes like Chandrakant, for their outstanding contribution towards conservation of forest and wildlife. Forest minister CP Yogeshwar said the government will institute similar awards for people who contribute to the conservation of forest and wildlife. 
    The event, organized by Kumble Foundation in association with Biocon Foundation, also witnessed the IPL Bangalore cricket team attending the event and extending full support. 
    BK Singh, principal chief conservator of forests – wildlife, said the tremendous growth in human population is one of the reasons responsible for increasing man-animal conflicts. “Population growth and loss of habitat, connectivity and corridors are reasons responsible for the increasing number of such conflicts. A few years ago, we had 5m wide roads linking places like Kerala and Ooty, today we have four- or six-lane roads replacing them.” 
THE AWARDEES Foot Soldiers of Karnataka 
    C Sadashivam, forester, Kollegal Range, BRT Wildlife Sanctuary 
    Chandrakant R Naik, forest guard, Kulagi Wildlife Range, Anshi Dandeli Tiger Reserve 
    HH Venkatesha, daily wage employee, Alur taluk, Hassan 
Exemplary Range Forest Officer 
    Sangamesh N Prabhakar, RFO, Hediyala Range, Bandipur Tiger Reserve 
    GR Shashidhar, RFO, Gopalaswamy Betta Range, Bandipur Tiger Reserve 
Wildlife Leadership Award 
    Team Aranya, an NGO 
Exceptional Applied Conservation Scientist 
    Dr MD Madhusudhan, director, Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore 
Outstanding Civil Servant 
    Bishwajit Mishra, director, e-governance, Bangalore 
Lifetime Achievement Award Dr Ullas Karanth, for his unparalleled contribution to conservation and wildlife protection 
Jumbo Award Wildlife filmmaker duo Krupakar and Senani

GOOD JOB: Jumbo Wildlife Award winners are greeted by cricketer Anil Kumble in Bangalore on Friday. Minister C P Yogeshwar and Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw look on

Link TOI

Earth Hour

In 2007, WWF-Australia inspired Sydney-siders to show their support for climate change action in the first ever Earth Hour event. It showed that everyone, from children to CEOs and politicians, has the power to change the world they live in. In Sydney, Australia, 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights out for one hour to take a stand against climate change.

In 2008, the plan was to take Earth Hour to the rest of Australia. But then the City of Toronto, Canada, signed up and it wasn’t long before 35 countries and almost 400 cities and towns were part of the event. It said something compelling to the world: that the climate challenges facing our planet are so significant that change needs to be global.

With the invitation to ‘switch off’ extended to everyone, Earth Hour quickly became an annual global event. It’s scheduled on the last Saturday of every March – closely coinciding with the equinox to ensure most cities are in darkness as it rolled out around the Earth.

In 2011, Earth Hour saw hundreds of millions of people across 135 countries switch off for an hour. But it also marked the start of something new – going Beyond the Hour to commit to lasting action on climate change. And with the power of social networks behind the Earth Hour message, we hope to attract even more participation so we can build a truly global community committed to creating a more sustainable planet.

Earth Hour is organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). With almost 5 million supporters and a global network in over 100 countries/territories, it’s one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organisations. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and build a future where people live in harmony with nature.

Be part of the movement

Link Earth hour