Wednesday, February 27, 2013
ELEMENTARY AND JUNIOR HIGH STUDENTS VISIT BIODIVERSITY HOT-SPOTS
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
CHINA PUTS THE ‘CON’ IN TIGER CONSERVATION New report exposes the double standard which stimulates demand
LONDON: Despite signing up to global initiatives seeking to protect
wild tigers and double their number by 2022, Government departments in China
have quietly set about stimulating domestic markets for tiger skins and body
parts.
As few as 3,500 tigers survive in the
wild, yet more than 5,000 captive-bred tigers are held in Chinese ‘farms’ and
‘zoos’.
Investigations by the London-based
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) have uncovered a legalised domestic
trade in the skins of captive-bred tigers, sold as luxury home décor and
stimulating the poaching of wild tigers and other Asian big cats as cheaper
alternatives.
In addition, new evidence suggests a
‘secret’ Government notification on the use of the bones of captive-bred tigers
is being used to justify the manufacture of ‘tonic’ wines.
Released today, the new EIA report Hidden
in Plain Sight: China’s Clandestine Tiger Trade accuses China of defying
the will of the international community and calls upon more senior levels of
the Government to take control and amend laws to facilitate the destruction of
stockpiles of all tiger parts and the phasing out of tiger farms.
EIA also wants the Government to send a
clear message to all breeders, consumers and the industry that official policy
is to end all demand and trade.
Debbie Banks, Head of EIA’s Tiger
Campaign, said: “The stark contradiction between China’s international posture
supporting efforts to save the wild tiger and its inward-facing domestic
policies which stimulate demand and ultimately drive the poaching of wild
tigers represents one of the biggest cons ever perpetrated in the history of
tiger conservation.
“Pro-tiger trade policies are championed
by only a handful of officials in a couple of Government departments and it
behooves China to vigorously address and terminate this intolerable disconnect
between words and deeds which so undermines international efforts to save the
tiger.”
As a Party to the UN Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), China is subject to CITES
requirements, which include a strict prohibition on international commercial
trade in tiger parts and derivatives. CITES also calls for domestic trade
prohibitions, the consolidation and destruction of stockpiles of tiger parts
and products, assurance that tiger parts and derivatives from captive tigers do
not enter illegal trade from captive-breeding facilities, and assurance that
tigers are not bred for trade in their parts and derivatives.
Contrary to this, China has a massive
captive tiger population and allows a legal trade in tiger parts sourced from
captive-bred tigers. Under favourable policies, and with support and funding
from the State Forestry Administration (SFA) of China, the captive tiger
population now numbers more than 5,000 animals in up to 200 ’farms‘ and ’zoos‘.
And although a 1993 State Council order
in China banned the use of tiger bone for medicinal purposes, EIA investigators
also discovered evidence of a company using a ‘secret’ Government notification
issued in 2005 as justification for producing “real tiger wine” – the tiger
bone is soaked in wine but is not listed as an ingredient and is returned to
the stockpile to be available for audit and inspection.
Banks added: “The promotion and
facilitation of trade in captive-bred tiger parts clearly undermines former
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s commitments to end all tiger trade.
"However, there is cause to hope
for change – a Chinese civil society movement has already appealed for changes
to China’s wildlife protection laws, and Representatives of the National
People's Congress have submitted several proposals in recently years to amend laws
and regulations to set China’s conservation strategy on a new course and to end
the commercial utilisation of species such as bears and tigers.
“The international community should show
support for this national movement calling for an end to policies which
stimulate demand, and China must make good on its pledges to the international
community and stop cynically stimulating and aiding a trade it has vowed to
end.”
Monday, February 25, 2013
Using language to save biodiversity
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/313617/using-language-save-biodiversity.html
Pandurang Hegde, Feb 20, 2013
World over the people are embracing languages that bring them economic prosperity.
The biodiversity hotspots in the world are under threat due to climate change and its impact. Scientists warn that about 17,000 plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction.
The targets set by Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) to reduce the biodiversity loss have met with failure. The declaration of International Year of Biodiversity in 2010 has had least impact. Under such dismal scenario, an out of the box approach is emerging that links the contribution of languages to rescuing the dwindling biodiversity resources.
The report of the National Academy of Sciences links the endangered languages and species and concludes that “Hot spots, or regions with an exceptionally high number of species unique to that location and habitat report the loss of at least 70 per cent, comprise 2.3 per cent of the earth’s surface and hold almost half of the world’s vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrate species as well as 3,202 languages, which are almost half of all the world’s languages. Many of these languages are unique to the area and are spoken by few people, leaving them vulnerable to extinction.”
It is estimated that 50 per cent of the world’s languages are endangered, which means there are fewer people who are speaking a particular language. One language disappears every two weeks! World over the people are embracing those languages that bring them economic prosperity and helps them to earn livelihood. In the modern globalised world it is the domination of three languages—English, Chinese, and Spanish that take the toll of local vernacular languages. By adopting industrialised mode of production and copying western civilisation we are forcing the people to follow a single monolithic way of life that is devoid of diversity. This urge to follow the uniform pattern of life and culture has no space or respect for diversity of languages.
Complex classification
According to Unesco “there is a fundamental linkage between language and traditional knowledge. Local and indigenous communities have elaborated complex classification systems for the natural world, reflecting a deep understanding of their local environment.” It cautions that these will be lost when a community shifts to another language. The local languages have the better capacity to adopt and evolve strategies to arrest the biodiversity loss. It is now recognised that the local language can be an effective tool towards sustainable conservation and management of biodiversity.
Recognising the need for conservation of diverse languages and mother tongues the Unesco has adopted a resolution to celebrate February 21 as World Mother Language Day. This is in memory of those people who sacrificed their lives on February 21, 1952 in Bangladesh, for the sake of Bengali being recognised as national language in erstwhile East Pakistan.
As India is signatory to the CBD as well as Unesco to conserve the species biodiversity and the diversity of the languages, it is worthwhile to review the performances on the World Mother Language Day.
At the moment the Government of India has recognised 28 languages as official languages. The constitution of India also assures protection of local languages and accords high priority to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at primary stage for children, especially those belonging to linguistic minority groups. It also states that a special officer may be appointed for securing the interests of linguistic minorities.
These lofty goals remain on paper and the ground reality presents a dismal scenario. The present trend of neo liberalisation has taken a toll of local languages. According to Bhasha, an organisation working on conserving the oral traditions of marginalised communities, a total of 1,652 mother tongues were documented in the Census of 1961. Several hundreds are not even traceable today! Where and how have they become extinct? Unfortunately, our policy makers have no clue about the causes for the demise of these diverse languages.
In February 2010, as the world was preparing to launch International Year of Biodiversity, Boa Senior, the only speaker of Bo language in Andaman Islands passed away. With her death, a 70,000 year old language, a unique heritage of mankind became extinct. With this extinction we not only lost a language, but lost an entire knowledge system, which was different from the industrial age.
These are clear indicators of extinction of the languages. The phenomenon is not limited to ancient languages but there is lingering threat to existing vernacular languages spoken by thousands of people. Nevertheless, India is about to witness a further decimation of the languages as a majority of the people embrace the dominant language of English or Hindi. It is high time that we need to understand the close linkages of biodiversity and languages and heed the call of Unesco to take help of these diverse languages to rescue biodiversity before both become extinct.
The targets set by Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) to reduce the biodiversity loss have met with failure. The declaration of International Year of Biodiversity in 2010 has had least impact. Under such dismal scenario, an out of the box approach is emerging that links the contribution of languages to rescuing the dwindling biodiversity resources.
The report of the National Academy of Sciences links the endangered languages and species and concludes that “Hot spots, or regions with an exceptionally high number of species unique to that location and habitat report the loss of at least 70 per cent, comprise 2.3 per cent of the earth’s surface and hold almost half of the world’s vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrate species as well as 3,202 languages, which are almost half of all the world’s languages. Many of these languages are unique to the area and are spoken by few people, leaving them vulnerable to extinction.”
It is estimated that 50 per cent of the world’s languages are endangered, which means there are fewer people who are speaking a particular language. One language disappears every two weeks! World over the people are embracing those languages that bring them economic prosperity and helps them to earn livelihood. In the modern globalised world it is the domination of three languages—English, Chinese, and Spanish that take the toll of local vernacular languages. By adopting industrialised mode of production and copying western civilisation we are forcing the people to follow a single monolithic way of life that is devoid of diversity. This urge to follow the uniform pattern of life and culture has no space or respect for diversity of languages.
Complex classification
According to Unesco “there is a fundamental linkage between language and traditional knowledge. Local and indigenous communities have elaborated complex classification systems for the natural world, reflecting a deep understanding of their local environment.” It cautions that these will be lost when a community shifts to another language. The local languages have the better capacity to adopt and evolve strategies to arrest the biodiversity loss. It is now recognised that the local language can be an effective tool towards sustainable conservation and management of biodiversity.
Recognising the need for conservation of diverse languages and mother tongues the Unesco has adopted a resolution to celebrate February 21 as World Mother Language Day. This is in memory of those people who sacrificed their lives on February 21, 1952 in Bangladesh, for the sake of Bengali being recognised as national language in erstwhile East Pakistan.
As India is signatory to the CBD as well as Unesco to conserve the species biodiversity and the diversity of the languages, it is worthwhile to review the performances on the World Mother Language Day.
At the moment the Government of India has recognised 28 languages as official languages. The constitution of India also assures protection of local languages and accords high priority to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at primary stage for children, especially those belonging to linguistic minority groups. It also states that a special officer may be appointed for securing the interests of linguistic minorities.
These lofty goals remain on paper and the ground reality presents a dismal scenario. The present trend of neo liberalisation has taken a toll of local languages. According to Bhasha, an organisation working on conserving the oral traditions of marginalised communities, a total of 1,652 mother tongues were documented in the Census of 1961. Several hundreds are not even traceable today! Where and how have they become extinct? Unfortunately, our policy makers have no clue about the causes for the demise of these diverse languages.
In February 2010, as the world was preparing to launch International Year of Biodiversity, Boa Senior, the only speaker of Bo language in Andaman Islands passed away. With her death, a 70,000 year old language, a unique heritage of mankind became extinct. With this extinction we not only lost a language, but lost an entire knowledge system, which was different from the industrial age.
These are clear indicators of extinction of the languages. The phenomenon is not limited to ancient languages but there is lingering threat to existing vernacular languages spoken by thousands of people. Nevertheless, India is about to witness a further decimation of the languages as a majority of the people embrace the dominant language of English or Hindi. It is high time that we need to understand the close linkages of biodiversity and languages and heed the call of Unesco to take help of these diverse languages to rescue biodiversity before both become extinct.
Pandurang Hegde, Feb 20, 2013
World over the people are embracing languages that bring them economic prosperity.
The biodiversity hotspots in the world are under threat due to climate change and its impact. Scientists warn that about 17,000 plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction.
The targets set by Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) to reduce the biodiversity loss have met with failure. The declaration of International Year of Biodiversity in 2010 has had least impact. Under such dismal scenario, an out of the box approach is emerging that links the contribution of languages to rescuing the dwindling biodiversity resources.
The report of the National Academy of Sciences links the endangered languages and species and concludes that “Hot spots, or regions with an exceptionally high number of species unique to that location and habitat report the loss of at least 70 per cent, comprise 2.3 per cent of the earth’s surface and hold almost half of the world’s vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrate species as well as 3,202 languages, which are almost half of all the world’s languages. Many of these languages are unique to the area and are spoken by few people, leaving them vulnerable to extinction.”
It is estimated that 50 per cent of the world’s languages are endangered, which means there are fewer people who are speaking a particular language. One language disappears every two weeks! World over the people are embracing those languages that bring them economic prosperity and helps them to earn livelihood. In the modern globalised world it is the domination of three languages—English, Chinese, and Spanish that take the toll of local vernacular languages. By adopting industrialised mode of production and copying western civilisation we are forcing the people to follow a single monolithic way of life that is devoid of diversity. This urge to follow the uniform pattern of life and culture has no space or respect for diversity of languages.
The targets set by Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) to reduce the biodiversity loss have met with failure. The declaration of International Year of Biodiversity in 2010 has had least impact. Under such dismal scenario, an out of the box approach is emerging that links the contribution of languages to rescuing the dwindling biodiversity resources.
The report of the National Academy of Sciences links the endangered languages and species and concludes that “Hot spots, or regions with an exceptionally high number of species unique to that location and habitat report the loss of at least 70 per cent, comprise 2.3 per cent of the earth’s surface and hold almost half of the world’s vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrate species as well as 3,202 languages, which are almost half of all the world’s languages. Many of these languages are unique to the area and are spoken by few people, leaving them vulnerable to extinction.”
It is estimated that 50 per cent of the world’s languages are endangered, which means there are fewer people who are speaking a particular language. One language disappears every two weeks! World over the people are embracing those languages that bring them economic prosperity and helps them to earn livelihood. In the modern globalised world it is the domination of three languages—English, Chinese, and Spanish that take the toll of local vernacular languages. By adopting industrialised mode of production and copying western civilisation we are forcing the people to follow a single monolithic way of life that is devoid of diversity. This urge to follow the uniform pattern of life and culture has no space or respect for diversity of languages.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Coca-Cola has lost its business and moral sense!
Coca-Cola, the world’s largest beverage company, is suing to crush the world’s best recycling program.
When a state government in Australia considered creating a 10-cent refund on recycling plastic bottles, Coca-Cola poured money into a misleading campaign to oppose the plan. Then, when common sense won out and the plan passed, Coke sued the government to stop the program.
Coca-Cola runs similar campaigns all over the world. We can only convince Coke to back off from its ridiculous anti-environmental lobbying by raising a global outcry every time it tries to quietly fight recycling programs at the national or local level.
Tell Coca-Cola to drop this dangerous lawsuit and stop trying to block recycling programs.
Click here to speak out against Coke’s reckless anti-recycling lawsuit.
When a state government in Australia considered creating a 10-cent refund on recycling plastic bottles, Coca-Cola poured money into a misleading campaign to oppose the plan. Then, when common sense won out and the plan passed, Coke sued the government to stop the program.
Coca-Cola runs similar campaigns all over the world. We can only convince Coke to back off from its ridiculous anti-environmental lobbying by raising a global outcry every time it tries to quietly fight recycling programs at the national or local level.
Tell Coca-Cola to drop this dangerous lawsuit and stop trying to block recycling programs.
When plastics aren’t recycled,
they often end up in the ocean, where they devastate marine wildlife.
Seabirds mistake pieces of colored plastic bottles for food and feed
them to their chicks, who can no longer ingest food. Baby seabirds are literally starving to death with full stomachs.
Coca-Cola sells nearly 2 billion bottles every day,
and if these bottles aren't recycled, that's a totally unsustainable
level of pollution -- there are already Texas-sized islands of
unrecycled plastics Pacific. If Coke wants to get serious about
sustainability, it needs to start supporting recycling programs, not
suing to stop them.Click here to speak out against Coke’s reckless anti-recycling lawsuit.
Friday, February 22, 2013
ORANGUTANS AT DURRELL, UK
.jpg)
Ape
keepers at Durrell are hopeful that this spring will bring the patter of more
tiny feet to the Trinity Wildlife Park. It has today been announced that two of
the conservation charity’s orangutans are expecting.
Female
orangutans Anette, who is 30 years old, is due to give birth in mid April and
Dana who is 25, in mid May; both babies have been fathered by 27 year old Dagu.
Discussing
the great news Gordon Hunt Deputy Head of Mammals at Durrell said “The Sumatran
orangutan is in serious danger of disappearing from this planet. Our six
orangutans – hopefully soon to become eight - are a vital genetic reserve and
powerful ambassadors for their wild cousins, whom most people will never see,
but can have a huge impact upon their future. We have an excellent orangutan
enclosure and consequent breeding success.. It is common for people to question
the need for great apes in captivity. We constantly question and endeavour to
improve our methods, but our motive is sound - to conserve the Sumatran
orangutan. These births will be very important.
Plus
there is more good news for the Sumatran orangutans as this week Durrell will
present the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) with a donation of
£9000 towards their invaluable work with this Critically Endangered species.
The sizeable sum has been accumulated from cash donations to Durrell’s
collection boxes situated within the park over a period of five years.
Dr
Ian Singleton who was a keeper at Durrell from 1988 to 1997 is the Conservation
Director of the SOCP, a unique collaborative programme of NGOs and the
Indonesian government fighting for the survival of the orangutan in Sumatra.
This comprehensive and integrated programme includes not only orangutan
reintroduction, but also research, habitat protection and environmental
education. The funds will go directly towards the protection of wild free
living orangutans and the care and upkeep of those that cannot be released back
into the wild.
.JPG)
Images by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and by Richard Wainwright
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
CHIRU WOOL SMUGGLING CASE CRACKED- NEPAL
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB)
arrested three racketeers who were on the run since January from Dhading
District, central Nepal, with 400 kg of Shahtoosh (chiru) wool. Last month CIB
made a similar arrest from Gorkha District, west Nepal, and confiscated 1,150
kg. Shahtoosh wool. The seized wool is said to have a market value of around
five billion rupees in the international black market. The Tibetan antelope are killed for their
wool, which is woven into the luxury fabric Shahtoosh.
Feb 10
The Himalayan Times
http://bit.ly/WZVvVh
PROTECTING RHINOS- INDIA
To improve
the existing security arrangements in Kaziranga
National Park, the Assam government has divided the park into four divisions - east,
west, north and ecosystem zones. This is expected to help the park authorities
in curbing the poaching of rhinos in the state according to the state forest
minister.
February 9
http://bit.ly/Y1KDV4
http://bit.ly/Y1KJvT
http://bit.ly/151210u
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