TOURIST GALORE IN TIBET

Influx of tourists in Tibet continues to rise with 8.43 million tourists in the first 11 months of the year and revenue marked as 9.3 billion Yuan (US$ 1.5 billion). Number of visitors has increased by 27.7% compared to that of last year.
26 December
http://eng.tibet.cn/2010home/news/201112/t20111226_1406321.html  

14 TIGERS CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Fourteen tigers have been captured in the Manas, a trans-boundary conservation area straddling India and Bhutan. Of the 14 tigers, seven are male, six female while the gender of one has not been ascertained. Four tigers have been identified as “common”, meaning they were spotted in both countries.
27 December
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111228/jsp/northeast/story_14935178.jsp

TEA ESTATE PUTS ELEPHANT CORRIDOR AT STAKE- NEPAL

Threat looms large on the elephant corridor located inside Neoli proposed reserve forest (PRF) following an allotment of 60 hectares of forest land to an organization by the government authorities. A tea garden along with crop plantations and construction activities has been established in the area. The corridor links Barnadi-Neoli-Khalingduar complex, and also connects Manas Tiger Reserve and Ripu-Chirang Elephant Reserve. 
25 December
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=dec2611/at09

SOUVENIRS MADE FROM ELEPHANT DUNG- NEPAL

As part of livelihood improvement program, a village in Chitwan District, central Nepal, has been producing diaries, envelopes, boxes and notepads by processing elephant dung. The dung is collected from the 43 private owned tuskers in Chitwan National park.
25 December

The Kathmandu Post

WOMEN BEHIND TIMBER SMUGGLING AND RHINO CONSERVATION- NEPAL

In two separate incidents, women involvement in timber smuggling have been reported from a community forest in Hetauda District, central Nepal, and from Sukhlaphanta wildlife reserve, west Nepal. In contrast, to curb poaching of rhinos and smuggling of timber, women in Nawalparasi District, west Nepal, patrol the community forest area. The community forest is spread over 530 hectares and is home to 18 rhinos.
21, 23, 27 December
Nepal Samacharpatra, Gorkhapatra, Kantipur

Mysterious new sea creatures found in Antarctica

Public Domain image form the United States National Science Foundation

 

 

Strange new species have been discribed from a dark and remote region of the Southern Ocean near hydrothermal vents.  The temperatures here are up to 382 degrees Celsius.  These creatures are found nowhere else on earth!  Some of the creatures seen include a seven-pronged starfish, a pale coloured octopus, and a new form of yeti crab.  Mike Leveille 

Smugglers built the 11-km road for smuggling timber

The Government of Nepal launched The Rs. 15 million worth President Chure Conservation Program with a view to conserving the Chure range and control deforestation in the area. The Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation designed the program but the government made delay in endorsing it and releasing the budget in time. It is now evident that all efforts at sustainable development of the Chure range have failed. 
Wildlife officials, including director-general of the Forest Department Bajra Kishor Yadav, today visited Chure forests on the border of Kanchanpur and Dadeldhura districts in the wake of reports that deforestation has been going on unabated in the area.

During the inspection of the Baijanath community forest, Uddhav Bahadur Khadka, chairman of the forest, told the team that more than 55 Sal trees have been felled in the forest.

The inspecting team suspected that members of the community forest are hand in glove with timber smugglers. When the team was inspecting the illegal road connecting the Ganesh community forest in

Dadeldhura with the Bhairab community forest, about 200 locals of Jogbudha thronged to the forest in a bid to bar the team from inspecting the road. The locals claimed to have built the road to ease travel, though the Kanchanpur District Forest Office says smugglers have built the 11-km road for smuggling timber and other forest resources.