The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has finally issued a draft notification demarcating area from 1 km to 2.035 km around the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone
Issues in which the economic interests of industrialised countries coincide with their ecological interests are acceptable in the UN; the rest is usually a sham
Pressures on <font class='UCASE'>wto</font> from the environmental lobbies of the North have grown and the organisation has more or less caved in completely
The biodiversity bill has the potential of challenging the much hated formal intellectual property rights system of the TRIPs
The civil society of every nation, both Northern and Southern, will have to empower itself and make its government accountable and responsible
The Supreme Court has sug gested that the forested states, which lose revenue because of the ban on felling of trees should be compensated for keeping their forests intact. Protection of the
Last fortnight, I wrote about my visit to a governance graveyard called the Union ministry of environment and forests. I also promised to pen a few more thoughts on the subject. Given that the
Environmentalists at a discussion yesterday urged the government to declare February 14 as Sundarbans Day. They said the Sundarbans with its rich bio-diversity is protecting the southwestern region of the country from natural calamities, but the forest resources are being plundered, threatening ecological disaster. The largest mangrove forest in the world must be preserved in its natural form as it is essential not only for our survival but also for the existence of the mankind, they added.
Eight SAARC countries have agreed to work jointly to tackle the region's illegal wildlife trade that has assumed alarming proportions. The countries have come under the banner of the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP), an inter-governmental organisation, to tackle the illegal trade. The South Asian region is a storehouse of biological diversity and rich terrestrial, freshwater and marine resources. As a result, illegal trade and over-exploitation of wild animals and plants pose a major challenge to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the region. In a first regional workshop held in Kathmandu, the group agreed to a series of joint action as part of a South Asia Wildlife Trade Initiative (SAWTI). This includes the setting up of a South Asia Experts Group on Wildlife Trade and development of a South Asia Regional Strategic Plan on Wildlife Trade (2008-2013). The SACEP was established in 1982 for promoting regional co-operation in South Asia in the field of environment. The group includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The workshop was organised by the Nepal Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, SACEP, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Nepal and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade-monitoring network. Senior wildlife officials from these countries have called upon the international community to support action in South Asia by providing financial and technical assistance in the implementation of the regional plan, an official statement of TRAFFIC said here. The Kathmandu workshop has agreed to focus on a number of key areas of work. These include co-operation and co-ordination, effective legislation policies and law enforcement, sharing knowledge and effective dissemination of information, sustainability of legal trade and livelihoods security, intelligence networks and early warning systems and capacity building. IANS
Since 1980, different pieces of legislation have been enacted for environmental conservation. These include the Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA), 1980, the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), 1986 and the Biological Diversity Act (BDA), 2002. These have the potential to strengthen the conservation agenda. But they are at best being used to
Three indigenous persons getting instructions to work as tourist guides at Lawachhara reserve forest in Moulvibazar district on Thursday as Forest Department's Nishorga programme arranged an 'eco-tour guide' training for 74 young men and women. The programme aims at protecting biodiversity by reducing local people's dependence on forests for living. Photo: STAR A sustainable eco-tourism programme has been developed in the protected forests areas to reduce local people's dependence on forests by creating alternative job opportunities for them. Forest Department's Protected Area Management Programme called Nishorgo developed the programme aiming at conservation of biodiversity through collaborative management with local stakeholders. Under the programme, economic incentives are being provided to locals living near Lawarchara National Park, Satchari National Park, Rema Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary and Teknaf Game Reserve. As a part of the programme, Nishorgo has trained 74 young men and women to operate as Eco Tour Guides, developed trails for forest hiking and others. It has started professional Eco-tour Guide certification process at its five pilot sites to ensure quality eco-tour guiding facilities for nature tourists. The two-day certification course included written test and field examination. To evaluate and certify the trained eco tour guides, a board was formed consisting of Elisabeth Fahrni Mansur, CEO, Guide Tours and Mamun, CEO Green Tours, representing Tour Operator's Association of Bangladesh (TOAB), Modinul Ahsan and Kazi Nurul Karim, Assistant Conservator of Forests of Forest Department and Kazi M A Hashem of Nishorgo Support Project. The trained youths are now self-employed as Eco-tour guides who provide eco-tour guiding service at five pilot sites. The nature tourists are encouraged to hire a eco-tour guide. Guides are available at the entry areas of the parks. Tourists can also directly call a Eco-tour guide whose contact numbers are listed at Nishorgo Programme's website (www.nishorgo.org). Nishorgo Programme receives financial assistance from the USAID through Nishorgo Support Project (NSP).
