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Policies & Politics
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SC to hear Centre's plea seeking withholding of eviction of tribals from forest land
The Supreme Court Wednesday agreed to hear the Centre's plea seeking withholding of its February 13 order asking 21 states to evict nearly 11.8 lakh forest dwellers whose claims over the land have been rejected by the authorities. The plea said that as the forest dwellers were extremely poor and illiterate, it was difficult for them to substantiate their claims before the competent authorities. The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, rushed to the top court for modification of the order saying the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 was a "beneficial" legislation and should be construed liberally to help "extremely poor and illiterate people" who are not well informed of their rights and procedure under the law. The apex court had on February 13 directed 21 states to apprise it about the action taken by them over the eviction of tribals and forest dwellers whose claim have been rejected. A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra and Naveen Sinha took note of the submissions of the solicitor general and agreed to hear the Centre's plea on Thursday. "It is respectfully prayed that this court may consider modifying its order...and direct the state governments to file detailed affidavits regarding the procedure followed and details of the rejection of claims and till then the eviction of tribal may be withheld. "The eviction of tribals, without such information would cause serious prejudice to such tribal who have been residing in forests for generations," the ministry said in its plea. In the larger interest of tribals, farmers and forest dwelling communities, the Centre wishes to "take a holistic re-look" at the subject matter so that their "interests are fully protected", it said. Mehta also pointed out that the Centre decided to move apex court as it received feedback from the affected people and from various state governments that due process of law has not been followed in various cases. The application said that the Act was made with an object to recognize the rights in "forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes" (FDST) and "other traditional forest dwellers" (OTFDs) who have been residing in forests for generations but whose rights have not been recorded. "The FDSTs and OTFDs are extremely poor and illiterate people and not well informed of their rights and procedure under the Act. They live in remote and inaccessible areas of the forest. It is difficult for them to substantiate their claims before the competent authorities," the Centre said. It said that the Centre has time and again attempted to sensitize state governments while deciding the forest dwellers' claims. "It has come to light that the claims of FDSTs and OTFDs were rejected in a summary manner where no due opportunity is provided to the claimants. The rejection orders are not communicated or the same are without reasons. It is also noted that in certain cases, eviction orders are issued even before the appeals under the Act are exhausted," the plea said. There is no provision in the Act that provides for eviction after a claim is rejected. If a claim is rejected, then the appropriate state government would be obliged to resort to appropriate provisions to evict a person from the forest in accordance with law, the plea said. The top court is dealing with a batch of petitions on the issue that were filed in the apex court over a period since 2006. The states, which have come under the scanner of the top court, are -- Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Manipur. Dealing with the issue related to Andhra Pradesh, the bench had said, "Once the orders of eviction have been passed, the eviction ought to have taken place." In the case of Assam, the court had said, "In case the eviction orders have attained finality, we direct the concerned authority including the Chief Secretary to ensure that the eviction is made on or before the next date of hearing." The apex court had perused the affidavits of all states and passed orders accordingly like if the task has not been carried out, the reasons has to be given. The court had said if there was any difficulty, the states have to come out with the details about such issues and if the orders have been complied with, the same be also disclosed. It had asked chief secretaries of these states to file their respective affidavits by July 12 and posted the matter for hearing on July 24.
TANZANIA: Five game reserves officially transformed into national parks
 *This image is copyright of its original author The Tanzanian government's plan to transform five game reserves into national parks was recently unanimously approved by parliament.
Tanzania has had 22 national parks in recent days. The five new game reserves were established very recently with the approval by the Tanzanian Parliament of the government’s plan to transform five game reserves into national parks. Quote:A game reserve (also known as a wildlife preserve) is a large area of land where wild animals live safely or are hunted in a controlled way for sport. If hunting is prohibited, a game reserve may be considered a nature reserve; however, because the focus of a game reserve is specifically the animals (fauna), whereas a nature reserve also if not equally is concerned with all aspects of naturally-occurring life in the area (plants, animals, insects, etc.). In a game reserve, ecosystems are protected and conservation is usually key. Indigenous wildlife in its natural habitat help in providing an environment where growth in numbers at a natural rate can occur. It was a unique moment of national unity that was played out around the creation of these parks, since all the members of the House of Representatives voted, with a beautiful unanimity, for the protection of the animals living in the game reserves of Biharamuro, Burigi, Kimisi, Ibanda and Rumanyika. These five parks will now be managed by the Tanzania National Parks Authority (Tanapa), which administers all Tanzanian national parks. The institution’s mandate is to conserve and manage wildlife in Tanzania and to enforce applicable laws and regulations. The challenge of transformation The transformation of the five game reserves into national parks is a tourism challenge. The authorities want to increase the financial manna that they bring back to the country each year: 17.5% of Tanzania’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017, according to Jumanne Maghembe, Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism. This transformation is part of the Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth (Regrow) project. Its main objective is to strengthen the management of protected areas and promote tourism in southern Tanzania. On the spot, we talk about the “Southern Circuit”. An ambitious policy, both for the national economy and for local development. It received financial support from the World Bank through the International Development Association (IDA) in December 2017. The $150 million amount, added to the amount released by the government, will allow the implementation of the programme, whose decision to convert 5 game reserves into parks is only one of the most obvious components to date. Tanzania has a total of four tourist areas – the northern, eastern, southern and western circuits. To date, however, only the northeast tour is well equipped with high-performance tourist facilities around key attractions: Serengeti National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro… which attract most tourists every year. These things in India can only happen in DREAMS.
The White House gives full power to Alaska to kill bear and wolves in wildlife refuges
 The state of Alaska's toolkit for increasing moose and caribou numbers includes killing wolf pups in dens, shooting wolf packs from helicopters, and adopting liberal hunting regulations that allow sportsmen to shoot grizzlies over bait. But when state officials wanted to extend "predator control" to federal wildlife refuges, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said no. And after years of saying no, the agency late last year adopted a rule to make the denial permanent. Alaska's elected officials called that an outrage and an infringement on state rights. The dispute reached the White House. President Donald Trump on Monday signed a resolution approved by the U.S. House and Senate to revoke a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule banning most predator control on Alaska refuges. Alaska's lone U.S. representative, Republican Don Young, says Alaska was promised it could manage game animals. Refuge overseers have ignored the law, he said. "Some of you will say, 'Oh, we have to protect the wolf puppies,'" Young told colleagues on the floor of the House. "That's not what it's about. It's about the law." Congress explicitly gave Alaska authority to manage wildlife in the Alaska Statehood Act and two more laws, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said after voting to revoke the rule. Alaska's 16 national wildlife refuges cover about 120,000 square miles (310,800 sq. kilometers), an area slightly smaller than the state of New Mexico. Residents of rural villages living a subsistence lifestyle rely on refuges as hunting grounds. So do urban sportsmen. Critics contend Alaska officials use unsportsmanlike techniques that would have horrified Teddy Roosevelt, creator of the first federal refuge, to boost moose and caribou numbers. Sportsmanship, however, is not a consideration, according to state authorities, when it comes to surgically removing certain numbers of predators to benefit prey populations. Source  *This image is copyright of its original author
@Sanju :
About #33: an American writer Norman Mailer wrote in 1967 a novel titled "Why are we in Vietnam ?". And this novel relates a grizzly hunting in Alaska with the use of a helicopter. The hunters were obsessed by the fact of killing a grizzly, and among them two young 18-years-old boys who were going to leave into the Vietnam War. These hunters' behaviour was so digusting (of course they killed any living wild animals in addition to bears ), sordid, that the last book sentence was (from memory, havig read the french version) "now, reader you understand why we are in Vietnam !"... Norman Mailer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Mailer And his famous book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Are_We_in_Vietnam%3F  (03-07-2019, 02:38 PM)Sanju Wrote: The White House gives full power to Alaska to kill bear and wolves in wildlife refugesHis attack on the natural world has been nothing short of heartbreaking. Whether this, allowing ivory and lion skin to be imported back from Africa after trophy hunts removing a previous law banning that action, removing regulations on hunting dennings bears, wolves and their Cubs, abandoning the Paris climate agreement, opening up protected national parks to drilling, attempting to create a counter "climate change committee" to spread "alternative facts, cutting the size of protected national parks as well and more I can't think of off the top of my head. Its been a tough pill to swallow knowing that there are still people out there that have no respect for natural world, their shortsightedness saddens me. (03-07-2019, 06:46 PM)Sanju Wrote: @Pckts i don't know how he became president of US. Its multiple reasons, a few are as follows -He's a successful businessman so the thought of him running the country and creating a healthier economy enticed them to vote for him. -He ran a smart campaign and created a villainous look for Hilary, getting half the country to chant "lock her up" even though his daughter has just been caught for doing the same thing. -He was already a very popular celebrity so he had a built in fan base. -Hilary was considered untrustworthy and with a DNC corruption scandal against Bernie Sanders, it only made things worse. -He played on the fears of Americans with regards to terrorism and immigrants, he still does it today. For instance, if an American shooter kills 50 people and injuries 100 more he's considered mentally unstable, if an immigrant kills someone its front page news and used as propaganda. -lastly is our outdated voting system, we have presidents who lose the popular vote ala Bush and Trump yet they still win the position due to our electoral sytem. But regardless he is our president now and unfortunately that will not change for at least 2 more years, most of these laws and executive orders or state emergencies will have to sit in litigation for years and by the time a new president takes office they will most likely implement their own attack on the policies in place that prohibit lobbyists from making money and thus the continuous cycle of big business ruling our country goes on. 
Country is different but story is same. We are pretty much in same situation
@Pckts Do you know Dr. K A Paul (8th wonder of the world) ? He belongs to our state. In fact his native place is beside my district. He is world famous pastor or evangelist or Baptist or founder of green peace initiative (GPI) and owner of world's biggest Aeroplane BOEING 747 SP (friend to Evander Holyfield) and claims that he is one of the trump's 25 advisors and played a crucial role in trumps victory in elections as president by hiding his illegal cases about trump. is it true?
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author *This image is copyright of its original author Actually Paul is treated as mental retard (certified by doctors), Politician cum Comedian or Hypocrite or criminal or conman in our state BTW.
Down in Jungleland: Instead of golf courses, India should worry about its grasslands
Quote:It’s time we looked after our grasslands.Grasslands and Savanna harbors more biodiversity than Forests but reckless acts by government pushing its biodiversity and habitats to the verge of extinction in India. The first animal became victim is the cheetah, now Great Indian Bustard, Lesser Florican, Indian wolf (endangered- 2000 to 3000) and Asiatic Lion.  *This image is copyright of its original author In India, almost a quarter of landmass is covered in grassland. (Photo: Ranjit Lal) Grasslands — home to the great Poaceae family, (C4 Plants or grass (monocotyledons of Angiosperms) species) with its 10,000 to 12,000 members or species — cover vast swathes of landmass throughout the world and support a wide variety of animal life. Once one of the most dominant ecosystems ever on earth, now particularly shrinking in India tremendously due to negligence putting its wildlife in extreme danger. Grasslands are more important than Forests in Conservation. Grasslands thrive in places where the rainfall is low, typically between 600 and 1500 mm annually. But the forests just can’t make it, either due to lack of rainfall or human interference. It doesn’t matter whether they are in hot tropical areas or benign temperate ones, sprawling high up in the mountains or in the dry flat plains. They are even more useful than forests and provide a host of ecosystem services —
Quote:In India, almost a quarter of landmass is covered in grassland. This includes the
The list of animals that are dependent on or live in grasslands is a kind of “Who’s Who” of the endangered and the almost extinct. The one-horned Indian rhinoceros and wild water buffalo live in the wet grasslands of Kaziranga and Manas Tiger Reserve. The swamp deer live in the terai. Manipur’s rare “dancing deer” or “Sangai” thrive on the floating phumdis of Loktak Lake. The lesser florican jumps high in the grasslands of the Western Ghats (during the monsoons), and the Great Indian bustard, (down to 50) stalk haughtily in the dry, short grasslands of Rajasthan. Other rare species include the Nilgir tahr (in the sholas), the hispid hare and the pygmy hog, the last two from the Northeast. The habitats and ecosystems ought to have been protected by the law because of their precious denizens and the services they provide. Quote:But grasslands (except a few) — like the wetlands — in India get no protection. They are free to be exploited. The Forest Department looks at forests, the agriculture department at crops and the animal husbandry department at livestock (but not at what livestock eat (grasses again As a result, grasslands are often regarded as "wastelands" — or turn into one due to
Some, even in the “protected areas”, are not spared either. A few are part of the protected area network and are looked after — the wet grasslands of Kaziranga and Manas, for example, and a small part of the Desert National Park in Rajasthan. Quote:In 2003, the National Forest Commission suggested some recommendations for the protection of grasslands. The need for a policy on grasslands was identified in the Report of the Task Force on Grasslands and Deserts, submitted to the (then existing) Planning Commission in 2006. The recommendations included the formulation of a National Grazing Policy to ensure sustainable use by livestock, and to modify the Environmental Impact Assessment guidelines to include grasslands and deserts into the scheme of things. One of the most significant recommendations was to include grasslands and deserts into the Protected Area network and to treat grasslands as “forest land”. None of these recommendations have been implemented. Instead, what we seem intent on doing is setting up more golf courses adjoining massive housing development projects and touting that as living in the lap of nature  . Well, here’s what one writer Jay Griffiths has to say about golf courses:Quote:“Golf epitomises the tame world. On a golf course nature is neutered. The grass is clean, a lawn laundry that wipes away the mud, the insect, the bramble, nettle and thistle… Golf turns outdoors into indoors — a prefab mat of stultified grass, processed, pesticided, herbicided, the pseudo-green of formica sterility. Here the grass is not singing.” If you ever hike or trek in a properly wild grassland, you will return home with a wild exultation in your heart, the wind in your hair, the music of larks still ringing in your ears, a stalk of dried grass stalk dangling from your lips and the rich smell of chlorophyll lingering in your nostrils. Not to mention the ferocious burrs and hooked seed-pods still clinging tenaciously to your jeans. You will have been where the grass still does sing — and makes you sing along. SAVE INDIAN GRASSLANDS AND ITS BIODIVERSITY This article appeared in print with the headline ‘Down in Jungleland: Grass’s Silence’ @smedz @Rishi @Lycaon
EPAA Hosts Global Meeting for Preserving Feline Species in the Arabian Peninsula – Day 1
 *This image is copyright of its original author During EAZA Workshop In association with the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), the membership organization of the leading zoos and aquariums in Europe and the Middle East, The Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) initiated Day 1 of the Felid Taxon Advisory Group (TAG) Mid-year Meeting, taking place from Friday the 8thof March until Sunday the 10thof March. Taking place at the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife, the workshop brings together European specialists tasked with the preservation and analysis of feline captive population management and conservation around the world and discuss practical and effective ways to preserve the feline species, especially those that are vulnerable, or in other words close to endangered. H.E. Hana Saif Al Suwaidi, EPAA Chairperson, said, “In line with the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, we are very pleased to be supporting this important annual EAZA meeting, it is very important to preserve and protect wildlife in general, especially when you consider such indigenous specimens that are native to the region such as the Arabian leopard, Asiatic cheetah, Asiatic caracal and sand cat.” @Lycaon Day one of the event focused on detailed discussions and presentations relating to the management and conservation of the wide range of global small and medium sized cat species. . Members of the panel at the workshop discussed each species, talking about the current status of the species, the breeding registration, the population count, and the limiting factors based on habitat and any other external features.  (03-18-2019, 07:11 PM)Lycaon Wrote: I wonder if this implies that asiatic cheetah is still present in arabia. (03-18-2019, 07:04 PM)Sanju Wrote: Taking place at the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife, the workshop brings together European specialists tasked with the preservation and analysis of feline captive population management and conservation around the world and discuss practical and effective ways to preserve the feline species, especially those that are vulnerable, or in other words close to endangered.This is to conserve in captive means. Conserving wild cheetah is totally in the hands of Iran.
Dhruv Rathee
Modi's War against our Environment The most underreported disaster of Modi Govt has been it's attack on our Environment. It's not an exaggeration to say that Modi Govt has declared a war on India's environment & ecology. In this post, I will share with you some shocking instances from past 5 years - In July 2014, Modi Govt's environment ministry used a bureaucratic loophole to REMOVE THE BAN on setting up and expansion of polluting factories in eight critically polluted industrial belts. - They allowed polluting industries to operate within 5 km of eco-sensitive areas like national parks and sanctuaries. Earlier this limit was 10 km, as prescribed by Supreme Court. - In 2017, Central Pollution Board under Modi Govt allowed 400 thermal power plants to release pollutants in violation of govt norms for 5 more years. So it's not really a surprise that we have the world's most polluted cities. - In August 2014, number of independent members in National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) reduced from 15 to just 3. So it became another puppet of govt. This Board is responsible for giving permissions to industries to use forest lands. - So it is not a surprise that in the last 5 years, NBWL approved 99.82% of all industrial projects on forest lands. Under UPA, 80% of projects got clearance - Wetlands are eco-sensitive areas. In 2017, Modi Govt's environment ministery said they do not consider saltpans as wetlands anymore. This means a golden oppurinuty for real estate developers to destroy 5000+ acres of saltpans near Mumbai. - Then, Modi govt tried to destroy National Green Tribunal, our environmental watchdog. They misused provision of "money bill” to make changes to appointment system so NGT loses it’s independence and becomes a puppet of Govt. (Thankfully Supreme Court stayed it) - Modi Govt's Proposed Ken Betwa river linking project will destroy 4000+ hectares of Panna Tiger Reserve. This is home to a critically endangered animal - Gharial. - Modi Govt wants to build a highway right through Jim Corbett National Park. Even though Supreme Court has already said no to this, their ministry agreed to clear it. - In 2017, they classified Coconut Tree as a grass. So real estate mafia can cut it without taking permission. Thankfully, due to citizen pressure, Manohar Parrikar overturned this decision later after new Goa govt formed - In Sept 2018, UP govt submitted a proposal to Modi govt to "denotify" Kachhua sanctuary in Varanasi. They want to completely ERASE a full wildlife sanctuary. If this happens, it will be the first protected area in India to disappear from the map. - 53,000 precious Mangrove trees are set to be destroyed for the bullet train project. Activists are crying for help once again. - The fight in Gurgaon to save Aravali and the fight in Mumbai to save Aarey is already well know. Both are the last remaining green areas of the two cities. - In March 2018, MoEF proposed major changes to the draft National Forest Policy (NFP) 2018. The draft has been criticised for favouring corporate interests in the forestry sector. - In April 2018, MoEF released the draft CRZ notification 2018. Critics say that the draft will open up India’s coasts to industry yet again.
- Asiatic Cheetah and African Cheetah too. @Lycaon @Pckts |
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