No move to declare Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary a tiger reserve: officials

E. M. Manoj KALPETTA,   The Hindu, August 29, 2014  Senior forest officials have denied a report on the alleged move of the State government to submit a proposal to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to declare the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) a tiger reserve. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden G. Harikumar told The Hindu on Thursday that the news was ‘fabricated...

Read more »

Environment Ministry dumps Gadgil report on Western Ghats

Meena Menon NEW DELHI,   The Hindu, August 27, 2014  After being directed to take a clear stand, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on Wednesday informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that it was “not processing” Madhav Gadgil’s Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report for any further action. In an affidavit filed in response to a petition by the Goa Foundation, the Ministry said...

Read more »

Giant squirrels get a lifeline

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor PATHANAMTHITTA,   The Hindu, August 12, 2014  The Forest Department has launched a project to protect the Grizzled Giant Squirrel, the smallest of the giant squirrels in the Indian subcontinent. This endangered species is found in Kerala only at the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary in the Munnar wildlife ...

Read more »

Nilgiri tahr population on the rise at Eravikulam

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor PATHANAMTHITTA,   The Hindu, August 11, 2014  The population of Nilgiri tahr, the only mountain goat in south India, at the Eravikulam national park in Munnar is on the rise. G. Harikumar, Chief Wildlife Warden, and G. Prasad, Wildlife Warden in Munnar, told The Hindu that the annual census conducted...

Read more »

Researchers unravel more of Western Ghats diversity

T. Nandakumar Thiruvananthapuram,   The Hindu, August 8, 2014   Scientists have reported a new fish species and rediscovered a rare tree, turning the spotlight on the rich, unexplored biodiversity of the Western Ghats. While the new species of freshwater fish was reported from the Kabani river in Wayanad, Kerala, by a researcher, the rare tree was rediscovered from the Muthikulam High Value Biodiversity...

Read more »

State to take over three estates at Nelliampathy

P. Venugopal THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,   The Hindu, August 8, 2014  The government is taking over three estates of leased forestland having a total area of 751.75 acres of coffee and cardamom cultivation in Nelliampathy from the companies running them. A top Forest Department official told The Hindu on Thursday that these estates—Alexandria Group 1 Estate (250 acres), Alexandria Group 2 Estate (251.75 acres) and Brookland...

Read more »

Western Ghats: five States yet to submit reports

Divya Gandhi Bangalore The Hindu, August 7, 2014  The six Western Ghats States have just two days to meet the August 9 deadline to submit their “ground-truthing” reports on Eco Sensitive Areas (ESA). However, barring Kerala, none of the States has responded to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), which, according...

Read more »

Conservation drones for Nilgiri tahr count

K.S. Sudhi The Hindu, KOCHI, August 5, 2014  Conservation drones will soon hover over the Eravikulam National Park clicking pictures of the Nilgiri tahr. The Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, is drawing up a plan to introduce the unmanned aircraft for population estimation and tracking the movement of the endangered mountain...

Read more »