News Watch

Delhi and Mumbai to be part of 16 city global green building drive

With financial backing from five of the world's largest banks, four MNCs and four of the world's largest energy service companies, the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) in partnership with the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group has big plans to make 16 of the world's largest cities ecofriendly and energy efficient.

The CCI states, “ Urban areas are responsible for approximately 75 percent of all energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and in cities such as New York and London this figure is close to 70 percent”.

According to CCI, ABN AMRO, Citi, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and UBS have already promised to arrange for finances of $1 billion each. The money will be spent to help buildings in the selected cities become energy efficient. The energy audits and building retrofits will be done by Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Inc, Siemens and Trane.

Just think. In a few years from now or will it be a year from now, Mumbai, Delhi and 14 other cities around the world will be transformed to very clean, energy efficient, eco-friendly cities. Let's hope this really will happen.

When are buildings in Chennai, Calcutta and Bangalore going to go in for a green makeover?

Sources : http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/10906
http://www.clintonfoundation.org/051607-nr-cf-fe-cci-extreme-makeover-green-edition.htm

image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:VickyTermy.jpg

Good news from Munnar, Thattekad and Ashtamudi

Munnar to be cleaned up!










Kollam-Kottappuram waterway project to be completed by Aug 2007

Read more about it at http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/18/stories/2007051806710700.htm

image source : http://wikitravel.org/en/Image:Munnar_Echo_Point.jpg

Tourists flock to Thattekad as Bird Sanctuary's back on it's wings

Planning on a holiday in Thattekad?

Make reservations now! Call Assistant Wildlife Warden at 0485-2588302 or Wildlife Warden - Idukki at 0486- 223227

Find out more about this news here at : http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/18/stories/2007051817410200.htm


MOEF sanctions Special Task Force Rs 30 lakhs to revive mangrove forests around Ashtamudi Lake

You can get the full story here at : http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/18/stories/2007051803530500.htm

New Remote Sening technique helps pinpoint species density

Researchers from Woods Hole Research Center, University of Maryland and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center have used a new RS (remote sensing) technique to explore species density in habitats. Called lidar (light detection and ranging), the investigators used it to generate 3 D images of habitats.

By carefully analyzing the images and patterns generated, the team led by Dr Scott Goetze were able to make accurate predictions about how many members of a particular species of birds are present in the habitat explored.

For their study, the researchers used lidar remote sensing techniques to examine canopy height, topography and the vertical distribution of canopy elements. The team did the study at the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland, USA. They then compared their findings with standardized values of bird census data.

The investigators report, “ the canopy vertical distribution information was consistently found to be the strongest predictor of species richness, and this was predicted best when stratified into guilds dominated by forest, scrub, suburban and wetland species”.

Summing up their interesting findings, Dr Scott Goetz and his team write, “ The lidar metrics were also consistently better predictors than traditional remotely sensed variables such as canopy cover, indicating that lidar provides a valuable resource for biodiversity research applications”.

Source: Scott Goetz, Daniel Steinberg, Ralph Dubayah and Bryan Blair. Laser remote sensing of canopy habitat heterogeneity as a predictor of bird species richness in an eastern temperate forest, USA. Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 108, Issue 3, 15 June 2007, Pages 254-263.

image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lidar_P1270901.jpg

WWF's list of Top Ten Endangered species for CITES Conference

Porbeagle
Spiny dogfish
Sawfish
Tigers

Asian rhinos

Red and pink coral
European eel
Elephants
Great Apes
Bigleaf Mahogany

Do you agree with this list or do you have a different one?
If so,  which are the species that you feel must be included in the list of
top 10 species that need urgent protection.

Write in and inform WWF and the Conference at CITES.

The Conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is on from 3-15 June in The Hague, The Netherlands and
will have participants from 171 countries.

Source: http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=102340 

image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lanas_u0.gif

WTI Vet receives award at International Conference

Dr Bhaskar Chowdhury received an award for his outstanding contributions to wildlife veterinary medicine during the International Congress on "Advances in Zoo and Wild Animals Health and Management " and Symposium on "Impact of Diseases on conservation of Wild Animals".

The Conference was held from April 26 to 27, 2007.

Conference organizers were : Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu and the Association of Indian Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians.

Source: http://www.wildlifetrustofindia.org/html/news/2007/070508_WTI_veterinarian_wins_
award.html

clip art source: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/results.aspx?qu=gold+medals&sc=20

Two leopard cubs reunited with mom in Assam

NGOs involved in the rescue effort :
WTI (Wildlife Trust of India) and
IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)

The veterinary rescue and rehabilitation team :
Dr. NVK Ashraf, Head of Wildlife rescue team,
Dr. Anjan Talukdar (wildlife vet at IFAW-WTI's Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation at Kaziranga) and Dr. Boro from WTI.

You can read the full story here at : http://www.wildlifetrustofindia.org/html /news/2007/070510_
IFAW-WTI_team_reunites_leopard_cubs_with_mother_in_Assam.html

image source: IMSI ClipArt

Kerala government clears Pathrakadavu Hydroelectric Project (PHEP)

The Kerala government has given clearance to the Pathrakadavu Hydroelectric Project (PHEP) on 18 April 2007.

Here's what environmentalists must get worried about :
The dam will be only 500 metres from the National Park boundary

The biodiversity of the Pathrakadavu region includes:

• 381 species of flowering plants of which 55 are endemic to the Western Ghats and 7 are classified as 'rare' by the World Conservation Union.


• 23 species of mammals


• 79 species of birds


• 22 species of reptiles


• 43 species of butterflies


• 14 species of amphibians


• 18 species of fishes of which 10 are not found even in Silent Valley.

The Kerala State Planning Board published a report last year that states Kerala's untapped energy resources include a production capacity of 4200 MW from wind, solar, biomass and small hydro power.

Another point of great concern is that transmission and distribution losses add upto 25 per cent.

You can read an interesting article on this issue here at :
http://www.indiatogether.org/2007/may/env-silentdam.htm

image source: IMSI Clip Art