General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - August 2022

Aug 2022

Dec 21, 2022

Scientists Freeze Great Barrier Reef Coral in World-first Trial

Scientists working on Australia's Great Barrier Reef have successfully trialled a new method for freezing and storing coral larvae they say could eventually help rewild reefs threatened by climate change.
Scientists are scrambling to protect coral reefs as rising ocean temperatures destabilise delicate ecosystems. The Great Barrier Reef has suffered four bleaching events in the last seven years including the first ever bleach during a La Nina phenomenon, which typically brings cooler temperatures.
Cryogenically frozen coral can be stored and later reintroduced to the wild but the current process requires sophisticated equipment including lasers. As per scientists a new lightweight "cryomesh" can be manufactured cheaply and better preserves coral.

Gujarat's Barda Wildlife Sanctuary New Translocation Site for Asiatic Lions

Gujarat's Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, located near the coastal city of Porbandar and 100 kilometres from the Gir National Park, was identified as a potential second home for Asiatic lions.
Efforts were being made since the 1990s to find a relocation site for the Asiatic lions within Gujarat and outside the state, considering that the species is vulnerable to extinction threats from epidemics because of low genetic diversity.
In 2013, the Supreme Court ordered the government to translocate Asiatic lions from Gujarat to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh within six months. It had also rejected a proposal to introduce the African cheetah in Kuno.
After the apex court allowed the introduction of African cheetah in India on an experimental basis in January 2020, eight cheetahs from Namibia were reintroduced in Kuno, but the translocation of lions is still pending.

Dec 19, 2022

Rajasthan's Tal Chhapar Sanctuary Gets Protection from Plan to Reduce its Size

The famous Tal Chhapar blackbuck sanctuary in Rajasthan's Churu district received a protective cover against a proposed move of the State government to reduce the size of its eco-sensitive zone. The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) also took up a major project for the conservation of raptors in the sanctuary, spread in an area measuring 7.19 sq. km.
The Rajasthan High Court intervened through a suo motu public interest litigation to protect the sanctuary, taking cognisance of reports that its area was going to be reduced to three sq. km. under pressure from mine owners and stone crusher operators. The court had ordered a "complete prohibition" on any action to reduce the wildlife sanctuary's area.
The sanctuary is host to about 4,000 blackbucks and other wild animals, over 40 species of raptors and more than 300 species of resident and migratory birds. The raptors, which include predators and scavengers, are on top of the food chain and control the populations of small mammals, birds and reptiles as well as insects.

Dec 17, 2022

US Wildlife Officials Declare 'Nevada Wildflower' as Endangered Species

In the United States, wildlife officials declared 'Nevada wildflower' endangered at the only place it's known to exist – on a high-desert ridge where a lithium mine is planned to help meet the growing demand for electric car batteries. The Fish and Wildlife Service formally listed Tiehm's buckwheat and its accompanying area of 910 acres for the 6-inch-tall flower with yellow blooms. With an estimated remaining population of only about 16,000 plants, the service concluded that Tiehm's buckwheat is on the brink of extinction.
Ioneer, the Australian mining company that is planning to dig for lithium where the flower grows, said that it has developed a protection plan which will allow the plant and the project to coexist.
Federal agencies are prohibited from approving any activity on federal lands that could destroy, modify or adversely affect any listed species' critical habitat.

Dec 16, 2022

Beautiful New Species of Flowering Plant Discovered

Botanists from the Universitas Samudra described a new species of the flowering plant genus Thottea from the lowland mixed forests of northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
Thottea is a relatively large genus of subshrubs and shrubs in the pipevine family Aristolochiaceae.
Usually less than 1 m (3.3 feet) tall, members of the genus are widely distributed in Asia, from India in the west to Sulawesi and Philippines in the east.
Thottea includes over 50 scientifically recognized species, some of which are important in traditional and Ayurvedic medicine.
The newly-identified Thottea species is a perennial subshrub up to 1.5 m (4.9 feet) tall.
Named Thottea beungongtanoeh, it is endemic to the eastern part of Aceh, the northernmost province in Sumatra.
It flowers and fruits in June, and differs from all previously described species in having 33-lobed style, the highest count for the genus.

Dec 15, 2022

Forest Department Launches Project 'Vanikaran' in Kerala

The forest department in association with Noolpuzha grama panchayat launched the 'Vanikaran' (afforestation) project to root out invasive plants, especially Senna spectabilis, and restore natural forests. The project was executed on 30 hectares of forestland under the Sulthan Bathery forest range of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Wayanad, Kerala where exotic invasive plants, including Senna spectabilis, Eupatorium, Mikania micrantha, and Lantana camara, are posing a serious threat to the local species of trees.

UP to Develop One Wetland in Every District to Promote Eco-tourism

The Uttar Pradesh forest department decided to develop one wetland in every district as an ecotourism site under the 'One District One Wetland' (ODOW) initiative, which is similar to One District One Product (ODOP) scheme of the state government.
Minister of state for environment, forest and climate change (independent charge) Arun Kumar Saxena has asked the officials to prepare a proposal in this regard.
Wetlands should be developed to promote ecotourism in every district. While there are a lot of wetlands and Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in the state, those which lie outside protected areas will be conserved under the ODOW initiative.

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