Category Archives: Green Initiatives/ Environment

Ooty continues to draw crowds despite MTR closure

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment

The closure of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) did not seem to have, as many feared, stifled tourist flow to the Queen of Hills over the weekend.

Following the Supreme Court order banning tourism in tiger reserves across the country, the MTR was closed last Wednesday.

“The tourist rush was normal, with around 3,600 visiting the Government Botanical Garden on Saturday. More or less the same number visited the garden on Sunday as well. In fact, since it is monsoon month, it is off season now,” an official with the tourism department pointed out.

This, however, was on unexpected lines as the MTR was a tourism hotspot.

“It has been five days since the MTR was closed. Though we feared that the weekend crowd would be very minimal, it was normal. Most of the tourists who visited the garden were from Kerala and Karnataka. Crowds at Ooty Lake and Doddabetta were also normal. Given the situation, the closure of  Mudumalai will not affect tourism in the Nilgiris, in any way, in future,” the official added.

Tourists from Kerala and Karnataka accounted for 70 per cent of visitors, he said. For them, Mudumalai was a transit point on the way to Ooty.“Now, they drive straight to Ooty skipping Mudumalai due to a ban on entry,” the official said.

Reiterating the hypothesis that the closure of the MTR was unlikely to affect tourism to the area, a senior forest official explained, “Not all tourists preferred to visit MTR. As per the official figures, over 20 to 22 lakh tourists visit Ooty every year. Of these, only two lakh tourists visit Mudumalai. While tourist spots in Ooty earned a minimum annual income of `10 crore, the income earned by Mudumalai was just `1 crore.

The SC order, the forest official felt, could be a blessing in disguise.

“As instances of man-animal conflict has reached the nadir in the Nilgiris forest areas, particularly in Gudalur and Mudumalai, in the last two years due to drought and deforestation, it may be better to develop tourism activities in non-forest areas for the welfare and safety of wildlife, local residents and tourists,”

“The unwanted legal conflicts between forest officials and serious environmentalists will also end. The government’s manpower and people’s tax money can also be saved,” he said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / Home> States> TamilNadu / by R. Haldorai – Udhagamandalam / July 30th, 2012

Life through my lens: Kaieteur Falls, Guyana

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature, World Opinion

Stuart Dunn’s work will be a major attraction at the Travel Photographer of the Year show this summer, says Michael Kerr.

A participant in a BBC expedition dangles in front of the Kaieteur Falls in Guyana Photo: Stuart Dunn

“There are times,” says Stuart Dunn, “when you just have to go for it.” He certainly did to secure the picture above, winner of the Wild Moments category in the 2011 Travel Photographer of the Year competition held in association with the Royal Geographical Society. Images from the competition – one of the world’s most respected showcases for travel work – went on display yesterday at the RGS in London.

Dunn’s picture shows a participant in a BBC expedition dangling in front of the Kaieteur Falls in Guyana, which drops 746ft to its first break and is one of the most powerful waterfalls in the world. The photographer himself was attached to a harness on the cliff face opposite. “I managed to squeeze off just a few frames,” he says, “some of them showing the edge of the cliff. But this one was the best: the perfectly straight rope, the power of the falls and the tiny figure.”

Travelling to extremes has been part of Dunn’s life since he gained a masters degree in cinematography from the Northern Media School in 2003. One of his friends on the course was from Sri Lanka, and deeply disturbed by the way civilians were suffering in the civil war. He was determined to head for the Tamil Tiger-controlled north of that country – where journalists had recently been killed – and to document the plight of the 500,000 refugees who had been displaced by the fighting. Dunn went with him. “I didn’t know huge amount about the politics or the country,” he says. “But I was young and foolish and I said, ‘Let’s do it’. Jobs like that got my career in travel documentary started.”

That career, in which he combines photography and cinematography, has embraced programmes as disparate as Country File and Panorama, and taken him everywhere from New Zealand to Brazil. More recently, he has been documenting the travels to inhospitable spots of the adventurers Ben Fogle and James Cracknell and working on the BBC series Coast.

Having won the Wild Moments category of the RGS competition, he was sent to Valparai, in southern India, one of several places where a British charity, Elephant Family, is working to save the Asian elephant from extinction. Elephants survive there in corridors of jungle between tea plantations (see image below), but loss of habitat is increasingly bringing them into conflict with local people. Elephant Family is attempting to make the area safer for both humans and elephants, with educational programmes and early warnings to villagers of the animals’ presence that include both red lights and text messages.

The human side of the story was easy enough to tell. Capturing the elephants in pictures proved trickier. “We had 10 days,” says Dunn, “and from four in the morning till eight at night, we were hunting them every day – following their tracks, watching out for dung, treading warily. It was all quite scary.

“It wasn’t until the last day that I got some decent images of them, and I was very grateful. Not getting elephants in the frame would have been pretty bad form.”

Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition

The Travel Photographer of the Year show is at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR, until August 19; 9.30am-5pm Mon to Sat 10am-4pm Sun. Entrance is free. For details, see tpoty.com

On sale at the show will be a Travel Photographer of the Year portfolio book, Journey Four (£25), containing the winning images from both the 2011 and the 2010 competitions.

Click here to see more of the best images from the exhibition

For more of Stuart Dunn’s photography, see stuartdunnphotography.com

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk / Home> Travel> Festivals and Events / by Michael Kerr / June 20th, 2012

Plan to put Pollachi on farm tourism map

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature

Taking a cue from its Punjab counterpart about successful ‘rice tours’, the State Tourism Department plans to promote farm tourism in a big way in and around Pollachi and Thanjavur towns.

Currently, the Tourism Department focusses on pilgrimage tourism, heritage tourism, eco-tourism, beach tourism, rural tourism, medical tourism, adventure tourism and cultural tourism, besides promoting hill stations. It also plans to promote heli-tourism and cruises.

More areas and different types of tourism are being contemplated to prolong the stay of foreign tourists.

While Thanjavur, the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, has been on the radar of the State Tourism department for a long time through heritage tourism, Pollachi, a picture perfect location for films, is an unexplored region. Nestled in the middle of the Coimbatore, Udumalpet, Valparai and Palakkad belt, Pollachi provides an ideal resting place for tourists, said tourism officials.

Talking to The Hindu , a top government official said, “Pollachi and Thanjavur offer more scope for tourism. As more and more people are constructing farm houses, we plan to make use of these facilities to provide a different experience to tourists by acting as a facilitator. We will be initiating a dialogue with prominent persons and businessmen in the area to give wide publicity.”

According to industry sources, Pollachi has been gaining momentum in farm tourism as many plantation owners had started letting out their farm houses to domestic tourists, following a severe drop in the number of movies shot in that location. Besides, farm tourism fetched more income in addition to their agricultural activities.

“The mere presence of a sanctuary, reservoirs, water sports and boat riding in places such as Valparai, Aliyar Dam, Top Slip, Parambikulam Tiger Reserve and Amaravathy Dam can provide the much-needed entertainment and relaxation to tourists. The Thanjavur Brihadeswara Temple will provide an altogether different experience. Apart from watching farmers working in the lush green paddy fields, tourists can also get their feet muddy there,” the official said.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / National / by N. Anand / Chennai, May 01st, 2012

Indiscriminate use of pesticides posing a threat to vultures

Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature

A picture of a vulture’s nest at Siriyur in the Nilgiris North forest division. Photo: Special Arrangement

Study in the wild to create awareness of conservation

The last significant vulture population in the Western and Eastern Ghats are threatened by the indiscriminate use of pesticides, say researchers watching vulture habitats.

A team of researchers from CareEarth Arulagam has taken up a detailed study in the wild and creating awareness of conservation of these forest scavengers. The organisation has its field station located within the vulture habitat at Bhavanisagar in Erode district.

Patrick David, Project Co-ordinator, CareEarth Arulagam, said he, along with his team members, were studying the landscape for nearly three years.

The vulture project was taken up in December last year.

A 180-sqkm area is being monitored under this programme. Semmanatham, Avaralla and Siriyur in the Nilgiris North Forest Division are some of the places where vulture nests were sighted by the team. Apart from this, the scavengers were sighted all along the Moyar valley, Mr. Patrick said.

Talking about the study, he said it had two components: ecology and conservation. In the ecology part, the team is identifying nesting sites of vultures and studying their site characteristics.

Under the conservation component, the team is educating Forest Department staff and villagers in the vicinity of the vulture habitat about different species of vultures, as most of them are unaware of the number of vulture species in existence or about how to identify them. And few were aware that vultures are found only in these parts in Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Patrick said: “We are also working with veterinary doctors, pharmacists, and Animal Husbandry Department officials to phase out the banned drug, diclofenac. We have also requested the Forest Department to ensure that dead animals are not buried as it will deny food for these scavengers.”

Diclofenac is the main reason for the decline in vulture population. It is an anti-inflammatory veterinary drug and if the vultures eat the carcass of any animal which the drug had been administered to, it would affect the kidney of vultures, leading to their death. Another threat is a pesticide used by farmers, he said.

Mr. Patrick said if these threats were addressed, the present population of vultures in the Western and Eastern Ghats could be sustained. A good habitat — open areas with sparse trees to locate dead animals and substantial wild herbivore population — is essential for their survival, he said.

Four species of vultures are found in Tamil Nadu — white-backed vulture, long-billed vulture, Egyptian vulture and red-headed vulture.

Apart from that, the research team is also working with the youth of this region to develop vulture brigades. The youth would be custodians of the bird in the region. They will report vulture sightings and nest sites and also help in preventing carcass poisoning, Mr. Patrick said

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> States> TamilNadu / by P. Oppili / Chennai, April 27thy, 2012

Documentary for awareness on biogas

Green Initiatives/ Environment, Science & Technologies, Uncategorized

Chennai:

In a bid to generate awareness about biogas in rural areas, a documentary film, ‘Energy Independence’ was released here on Wednesday.

The initiative, undertaken by department of nongovernmental organisation (NGO) management, Madras School of Social Work (MSSW) and NSS Empanelled Training Institute, was to promote awareness on sustainable energy in rural areas.

The 18-minute documentary, which was screened after an inaugural ceremony by Dr S Krishnaswamy, founder and managing director of Krishnaswamy Associates, was aimed at promoting biogas in villages, said D K Harish, a student of MSSW who directed the documentary.

The film was shot at Alathur village in Tiruvanmiyur and Marakanam village.

He said biogas in the villages had created energy independence.

“Earlier, the villages used steel-based system to generate gas, which was a costlier experience. Now, with emerging technology, they are using a fibre reinforced plant, which doesn’t require maintenance, said director of corporate social responsibility of Orchid Chemicals, C Mani.

Mani added that biogas was not successful previously because the government’s focus was on liquefied petroleum gas, which was not sustainable in the long run. He said demand for biogas is increasing now as it is cheaper. “Even many buildings in Chennai are opting for biogas in their complexes,” he said.

Fatima Vasanth, principal and secretary of Madras School of Social Work, said that biogas is an alternative energy and students in collaboration with NSS will spread awareness in villages by holding special camps.

source: http://www.ibnlive.in.com / South> Chennai / The New Indian Express, Express News Service / March 22nd, 2012

11-yr-old’s action speaks louder than words

Green Initiatives/ Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature

 

They were once seen flitting around old tiled houses and sometimes even flew in through the windows to perch on shelves and walls inside them. But with the urban landscape changing, the number of house sparrows is dwindling.

While most seem unconcerned, a 11-year-old student of the Kendriya Vidyala here is doing much more than talk about their conservation.

M. Akshaya has a nest box in her house in Indu Nagar which she uses to feeds the sparrows, hoping this will help their numbers grow.

The youngest member of the Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association(NWEA), the little girl developed a special bond with the sparrows after her father, M.Moorthy, a co-op bank employee and member of the NWEA, brought the nest box home a year ago.

“It is great fun to feed them in the mornings, place water out for them in the nest and see them visit it regularly. My sister Indusha, 14, too helps me feed them.

I once spotted a few eggs in the nest box and a hatchling. I simply love the sparrows, ” says Akshaya whose interest in her feathered friends grew during her bird watching trips to the Government Botanical Garden with her father.

K.Vijay, hon. secretary of NWEA, who applauds Akshaya’s interest in the sparrows, feels every school should encourage children to similarly look out for them and take part in their conservation.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Cities> Others / by B. Ravichandran / DC, Ooty / March 20th, 2012

SunEdison’s 100-kW unit rises on StanChart rooftop

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Science & Technologies

Chennai, MARCH 19:

SunEdision has put up a 100-kW solar plant on roof of building of Scope International in Chennai. Scope is Standard Chartered Bank’s captive BPO and its headquarters is in Chennai.

Spread over 20,000 sq ft of roof space, the plant uses 875 solar panels and will generate 3 million units of electricity over the next 20 years, enough to power 40 average Indian homes annually.

This is the first commercial rooftop solar project, SunEdison India’s Managing Director, Mr Pasupathy Gopalan, said on Monday, meaning that the Scope building will consume the energy produced on its rooftop, paying a price for it. SunEdison has not disclosed the price, but said it was the first commercial PPA rooftop in the country.

The entire project was completed in three months. SunEdison is in talks with other prospects for similar rooftop projects.

mramesh@thehindu.co.in

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Companies / by M. Ramesh / March 19th, 2012

Lawyers advocate ‘Green Bench of India’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature, Uncategorized

Lawyer-friends T. Lajapathi Roy and G. Prabhu. — DC

Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky,” writes Lebanese-American poet Khalil Gibran.

With this precious quote from the author of The Prophet on stately trees inscribed on the invite, two leading lawyers of the Madurai bench of Madras high court help open the eyes of their colleagues, litigants and general public to the greenery of the court.

Their love for the court where they argue for justice turning green, the lawyer-friends T.Lajapathi Roy and G.Prabhu Rajadurai take the reader on a breathtaking journey into the woods of the bench campus in their bilingual book ‘Green Bench of India’.

It presents the rich biodiversity on the premises through captivating pictorial representations. Almost all species of trees – evergreen, flowering, landscaping, nut and forest trees and orchards, flowers, birds and insects thriving on the sprawling 107-acre campus are graphically captured.

Yet, they gripe. “We would have left out some 15 species of birds in the campus. Had we used high-end cameras, then we would have featured them too,” says Roy while co-author Rajadurai chips in, “We chanced upon snakes when we were on the job but could not click them. Hence, we have presented the picture of its slough we spotted in the orchard.”

The campus is infested with snakes, says Rajadurai as Roy adds it is balanced with a good number of peacocks too.

More a catalogue of nature’s charms, it has taken eight-long months for the duo to bring out the glossy book encapsulating the pictures of species of trees, both native and non-native (74), local migratory birds (28) and insects (14), and their individual characteristics.

“There must be at least a hundred varieties of butterflies. So, we have now recommended to the court administration to allot two to three acres exclusively for wild growth for the tiny winged creatures to feed on,” Roy says.

Most high court campuses in the country, the authors say, are only concrete jungles mainly due to lack of space. Fortunately, the expanse of the Madurai bench has worked to nature’s and nature lovers’ advantage. Says Roy, “There were only three species before the bench came into existence. The rest were raised only after it was established in 2004.”

Now, the Madurai Bench High Court Advocates’ Association has planned to utilise the services of Lady Doak College, whose students planted 300 trees in the site on an occasion, for a biodiversity project to make it greener.

As the flora and fauna in the court sanctuary is set to grow, the book, the authors hope, will also see its updated edition on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Madurai bench.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Cities> Regions> Madurai / by AR Meyyammai/ DC / Madurai, March 07th, 2012