Forest Owlet spotted in Ghats

MUMBAI, November 29, 2014 The Hindu Researchers have spotted a critically endangered ‘Forest Owlet’ in Northern part of Western Ghats, 100 km from Mumbai. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List has deemed this bird to be at a high risk of extinction. Till now, Forest Owlet was thought to be endemic...

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Supreme Court clips Aranmula airport’s wings

Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI,   The Hindu, November 22, 2014  The Supreme Court on Friday refused to let the proposed Aranmula International Airport take off in Kerala, dismissing a petition filed by the project promoters challenging the cancellation of its environmental clearance by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). In a short hearing, a Green Bench led by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu found no merit in the...

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Greens hail verdict as landmark

K.S. Sudhi KOCHI,   The Hindu, November 22, 2014  The State government is yet to decide on the proposed amendments to the Kerala Forest (vesting and Management of Ecological Fragile Land) Act 2003 even as the High Court of Kerala upheld its constitutional validity on Monday. It was in December last that the State government initiated a move to provide small-time farmers who missed the opportunity to question...

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Mathikettan to be opened to visitors

Giji K. Raman KATTAPPANA,   The Hindu, November 21, 2014  The Forest Department is planning to open Mathikettan, the pristine hill station in the Western Ghats, to visitors. It has made arrangements for trekking in the Mathikettan Shola National Park under the Munnar wildlife division, providing visitors a facility to...

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New scheme for protection of rivers in Kerala

The Hindu Thiruvananthapuram,   November 21, 2014 The Revenue Department is all set to launch a new scheme titled Puzha Muthal Puzha Vare (From River to River) for river protection. The scheme will be implemented in 527 acres along the Bharathapuzha between the three-km Kuttipuram-Tirunavaya stretch in Malappuram district and nine acres along the Achencoil river in Pathanamthitta. Addressing a press conference...

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Rising waters a threat to Thekkady ecosystem

Giji K. Raman KATTAPPANA,   The Hindu, November 20, 2014  The rising waters in the Mullaperiyar reservoir could pose a threat to wildlife and the ecosystem as hundreds of hectares of land, where a semi-forest system has developed, are now under water. The tree stumps in the lake, often described as a landmark of Thekkady, are habitats of hundreds of birds, including migratory ones. With many already under the...

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Compensation likely for land under EFL Act

Girish Menon Thiruvananthapuram,   The Hindu, November 19, 2014  The State government will soon seek legal opinion on whether it should give compensation for the land acquired under the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Land) Act and since classified as reserve forests in the context of the recent High Court verdict upholding the constitutional validity of the 2003 law. The verdict...

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Malabar Daffodil Orchid blooms in Silent Valley

K.A. Shaji Palakkad,   The Hindu, November 18, 2014  The highly endangered terrestrial orchid Ipsea malabarica , which is endemic to the Silent Valley National Park, has bloomed deep inside the forest after a gap of more than a decade. Known popularly as Malabar Daffodil Orchid, it has bloomed mainly in the high-altitude...

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Kochi gets special feathered visitors

K. S. Sudhi  KOCHI,   The Hindu, November 18, 2014  Annually, thousands of these small raptors take the long flight from Siberia to Mongolia, Nagaland and from there to South Africa and back to Mongolia. The birds usually breed in Mongolia. They fly all this distance back when weather conditions become conducive....

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High Court upholds fragile land Act

K.C. Gopakumar KOCHI,   The Hindu, November 18, 2014    A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecological Fragile Land) Act 2003. The Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice P.R. Ramachandra...

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Panel moots takeover of eucalyptus plantations

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,   The Hindu, November 12, 2014 The committee set up to inquire into encroachments on the Kurinjimala Sanctuary and Vattavada and Kottalkamboor villages of Idukki district has recommended that cases of elected representatives and senior officials who have purchased lands in the area be referred to the Lok Ayukta for legal action. The committee, headed by Additional Chief Secretary Nivedita P....

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Eravikulam grasslands at risk from invasive plants

Giji K. Raman KATTAPPANA,   The Hindu, November 8, 2014  The grasslands of the Eravikulam National Park are under threat from two invasive alien plants. Eagle fern and goatweed, native to California and Brazil, respectively, have spread across the grasslands, damaging the park’s flora and posing a threat to herbivores,...

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German who created Noah’s Ark for the Western Ghats is dead

E. M. Manoj T. Nandakumar Kalpetta/Thiruvananthapuram,   The Hindu, November 8, 2014   Wolfgang Theuerkauf, a German who dedicated over 30 years of his life to the conservation of plants of southern India, passed away in Wayanad on Thursday. He was 66. Affectionately called Swamy by his loved ones, Mr. Theuerkauf established...

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Sparrows to have homes across State

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,   The Hindu, November 7, 2014 Rehabilitating house sparrows is one of the unusual schemes included in the State government’s Mission 676 programme. Pollution has led to a decline in the number of sparrows, prompting the Department of Forests to implement a State-wide nesting project on the lines of a rehabilitation scheme carried out in Connemara Market at Palayam here. Four or five towns...

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Norms on shooting crop-raiding animals to be eased

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,   The Hindu, November 6, 2014 Norms on shooting of wild animals which pose a threat to crops on farmlands bordering forest areas will be relaxed, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said. He told mediapersons after a Cabinet meeting here on Wednesday that in the wake of increasing man-animal conflicts and the recent death of a farmer following a wild boar attack in Kannur, the Cabinet decided to...

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Kumkis sought to keep wild elephants at bay in Wayanad

E.M. Manoj KALPETTA,   The Hindu, November 4, 2014  The State Forest and Wildlife Department is preparing to procure Kumki (trained) elephants from Karnataka to drive crop-raiding wild elephants back into forests in Wayanad district. The State Chief Wildlife Warden had requested his counterpart in Karnataka for six trained...

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Study finds a dying Gayathripuzha

K.A. Shaji Palakkad,   The Hindu, November 4, 2014  Despite being the major feeder of the Bharathapuzha and a perennial source of drinking water for thousands of families at Kollengode, Nenmara, Alathur and Vadakkancherry in the district, the Gayathripuzha is facing imminent death, says a study conducted by the Kerala...

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On the brink of an eco catastrophe

K.A. Shaji Palakkad,   The Hindu, November 3, 2014  The ecologically sensitive Nelliampathy hill ranges are on the verge of a massive environmental catastrophe largely due to unabated illegal quarrying in the down-hill areas. Nelliampathy is home to the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve and numerous streams irrigating...

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State seeks more forestland for Sabarimala from Centre

PATHANAMTHITTA,   The Hindu, November 3, 2014 The State government has urged the Centre to allot more forest land for Sabarimala development, said V.S. Sivakumar, Minister for Health and Devaswom. Mr. Sivakumar was addressing a meeting held in connection with the Amala Bharathom cleaning drive at Pampa on Sunday. He said a high-level team led by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had submitted a memorandum seeking National...

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Land hunt on for biodiversity garden

T.Nandakumar Thiruvananthapuram,   The Hindu, November 3, 2014  The Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) and the Idukki district administration have launched efforts to identify 200 acres to set up a national biodiversity garden of international standards near the Munnar hill station. The ambitious project, estimated to cost Rs.25 crore, has received the green signal from the National Biodiversity Authority...

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Eco group moots new road to Pampa

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor PATHANAMTHITTA,   The Hindu, November 2, 2014  The Pampa Parirkashana Samiti, an eco group based at Kozhencherry, has suggested a new road to Pampa to avert traffic congestion on the two main trunk roads to Sabarimala from Erumely and Pathanamthitta, especially during the pilgrim season. The ...

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Wayanad completes biodiversity documentation

T. Nandakumar Thiruvananthapuram,   The Hindu, October 31, 2014  Local self-government institutions in Wayanad district are now armed with an effective weapon against biopiracy. As many as 25 grama panchayats and one municipality in the district have completed the documentation of biodiversity. The People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) has been prepared for all the local bodies in Wayanad, making it the first...

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