Tiger Population: Ministry of Environment and Forests

As per the findings of the recent all India estimation of tiger using the refined methodology, the total country-level population of tiger is 1411 (mid value); the lower and upper limits being 1165 and 1657 respectively. The recent assessment of tiger population is based on determining spatial occupancy of tigers throughout potential tiger forests and sampling such forests using camera traps in a statistical framework. This assessment is not comparable to the earlier total count using pugmarks owing to several shortcomings in the latter. The new findings indicate a poor status of tiger population in areas outside tiger reserves and protected areas. The tiger population, by and large, in tiger reserves and protected areas of such States are viable, while requiring ongoing conservation efforts. The reasons for decline in population of tigers are at Annexure-I.

The details of tiger deaths, including poaching, for the last five years is at Annexure-II.

Project Tiger is an ongoing, focused Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, providing funding support to 17 tiger range States in the country, for in-situ conservation of tiger in the 37 designated tiger reserves. It has put the endangered tiger on an assured path of recovery by saving it from extinction, as revealed by the recent findings of the All India tiger estimation using the refined methodology. This independent report highlights the achievements of Project Tiger by showing that viable tiger population exists only in tiger reserve areas, which are under the jurisdiction of Project Tiger, while the status of outside populations are highly depleted.

Annexure-I

The reasons for decline in population of tigers are

1. Mortality of wild animals due to poaching.

2. Degradation of forest status outside Protected Areas / Tiger Reserves owing to human pressure, livestock pressure, and ecologically unsustainable land uses

3. Fragmentation leading to loss of gene flow from source populations.

4. Mortality of wild animals due to man-animal conflicts.

5. Loss of reproduction owing to disturbance on account of heavily used infrastructure like highways, etc.

6. Lack of adequate protection in outside areas.

7. Loss of forest quality in terms of prey biomass to support large carnivores like tiger and leopard.

8. Insurgency / law and order problems in some tiger reserves / protected areas / forest areas.

Annexure-II

Mortality of tigers (year-wise) as reported by States

Year
	Natural (Animals)	Poaching (Animals)	Total (Animals)
2004	17	5	22
2005	13*	4	17
2006	10*	4	14
2007	20*	10	30
2008	10*	4	14
2009 (Till 22.02.2009)	7	2	9

* Includes cases in which Post Mortem report is pending.

Minister of State for the Ministry of Environment and Forests Shri S. Regupathy replied in a written question by Shri Prabhat Jha in Rajya Sabha today.

[Source: http://pib.nic.in, February 26, 2009]

Leaking mine waste contaminates State's water supplies

Brian Williams
HEAVY metals and acids from at least 10 Queensland mines have contaminated water supplies in an emerging environmental catastrophe. Authorities are unsure how much of the toxic material has been discharged into waterways after the biggest floods in decades swept through north Queensland over the past two months.

The Environmental Protection Agency has already ordered landowners downstream of the Lady Annie copper mine, 120km north of Mt Isa, not to drink water from or swim in Saga and Inca creeks and to destock paddocks. A helicopter is being used to take samples and graziers are talking about fish kills 20km from the Annie mine, acid eating away at steel pickets and water 1m deep pouring off the site.

Other mines in the northwest minerals province the EPA says have discharged contaminated material are the Great Australia Mine, Birla Mt Gordon, Ernest Henry Mine, MIM, Century Mine, Leichhardt Mine, Selwyn Mine, Lorena Mine and the Yurbi concentrate rail loading facility.

Graziers fear the contamination may put at risk western Queensland's burgeoning, multibillion-dollar, organically certified beef industry. Boulia mayor and grazier Rick Britton said mines were polluting water from north Queensland about 1300km down the Georgina River to Lake Eyre in SA, areas renowned for their lack of contaminants.

Many properties drew drinking water from streams and cattle drank from them. "The grazing industry's been here for 200 years and then these bastards come along and rip the guts out of the country," Cr Britton said. An EPA spokeswoman said yesterday some mines had had more than one discharge although most spills had ceased."If heavy rain continues, it is possible there will be further contaminated run-off," she said.

The EPA does not know how much has been spilled and what range of materials are involved. Greens spokesman Drew Hutton labelled it an environmental catastrophe on an unprecedented scale. He said he knew of no other single event in the state's history that had caused so much pollution.

An announcement made to the ASX yesterday by Annie joint receiver Gary Doran said mining had been suspended after significant flooding. "We are fully co-operating with the Environmental Protection Agency to protect the health and safety of the company's staff as well as the environment and local community," Mr Doran said.

[Source:http://www.news.com.au,February 26, 2009]

CSE offers summer environment course

Nava Thakuria
Guwahati: The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a reputed research and advocacy organization of India has designed a month-long environment course for the interested professional, students, research scholar and even a conscious citizen. Titled as ‘Agenda for Survival: Learning the policies, politics and practices of environmental management in India’, the certificate course will begin on June 1 next, informed Sharmila Sinha on behalf of the New Delhi based organization, which was formed by the eminent environmental journalist Anil Agarwal decades back. “The course design is innovative and goes beyond class-based lectures. Participants will get to interact with eminent environmentalists, activists and policy makers, watch films and documentaries, prepare detailed case studies and participate in weekly tutorials,” added Sharmila, who serves CSE as the assistant coordinator of Education & Training. This course includes overviews on the current state of resource management in the country, ecological rights and livelihoods, debates on forests and wildlife management, together with understanding rural poverty and livelihoods. The participants will get an opportunity to understand the environmental costs of rapid development, the need for sustainable strategies to manage industrial and urban growth, challenges of managing water, sewage and solid waste. They will also get enlightened with the global politics behind global environmental problems like the climate change. Another highlight of the course will be the opportunity for participants to improve their research, writing, editing and design skills. As part of their group assignment, participants will produce a journalistic product -- magazine or a web-based documentary that include real-life reporting, analysis and opinion pieces. During the program, the participants will also visit Garhwal on a week-long field trip, where they will see for themselves how communities are taking charge of their own development by restoring their common lands, regenerating their forests, and strengthening their food and water security. More over, they will also be taken for a boat ride on the river Yamuna and visit a landfill.

[Source: http://www.newstrackindia.com, 25 Feb 2009]

Battery manufacturer wins environmental award

Reading, PA, United States
Industrial battery manufacturer EnerSys has won an environmental award for its approach to treating industrial wastewater. The Kentucky-Tennessee Water Environment Association presented the Industrial Pretreatment Award to the company’s plant in Kentucky. Dennis Brumbaugh, EnerSys Richmond plant manager, says when wastewater discharge limits were cut in 2006, the company needed to find an approach that would meet the new requirements.

EnerSys installed a membrane filtration system for cleaning industrial process wastewater. The company processes between 30,000 to 50,000 gallons (113,000 to 120,000 litres) of water per day through the filtration system. James Pikul, EnerSys Richmond Plant environmental, health and safety manager, says the new treatment method is a closed-loop system. "This means that the waste by-products are reintroduced back into the manufacturing process," he explains. "We now recycle 80% of our waste sulfuric acid. We also recycled 210,000 pounds (95,00 Kg) of lead in 2008 that was extracted from our wastewater."

EnerSys Richmond plant also won the Richmond Chamber of Commerce’s Industry of the Year award in recognition of its commitment to lessening its environmental impact.

[Source:http://www.forkliftaction.com, February 25, 2009]

School of Environment launch tomorrow

By Teetee Zwane
THE Swaziland Environmental Justice Agenda (SEJA) will tomorrow launch a School of Environment, a programme aimed at invigorating environmental education programmes in the country.

The programme would focus on capacity building for all people handling environmental issues at their local level, said Training Coordinator Seth Maphalala. He said this programme follows the organisation’s first advance course in environmental management, which was launched last year. This programme entails environmental research, law, audit and assessment, management systems and sociology. “This launch coincides with the start of this year’s tutorials for both the Certificate Course in Environmental Education and Advance Course in Environmental Education,” said Maphalala.

Imperatives
He said the school has been necessitated by the imperatives of the Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) for Swaziland, which require mainstreaming of sustainable development into education programmes in the country. “As one of the leading players in the field of environmental education, SEJA has taken the initiative to educate the public and to promote awareness on the DESD and its implementation in Swaziland,” added the training coordinator. He invited all those interested in being part of the change for sustainable development in Swaziland to be part of the programme and take part in the subsequent capacity building activities starting with the courses.

Maphalala said expression of interest can be registered by email to sejaadmin@gmail.com or by calling 613 2235, 603 7711, 607 5632 or 605 2225.

SEJA is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) focusing on promoting knowledge and improved decision making on issues relating to the environment at local level. It has been actively involved in the carrying out of environmental education activities since its inception in 1998.Some of the organisation’s activities include the holding hosting empowerment workshops for on-the-job personnel on how to handle work related environmental issues and decisions. It has spearheaded an internationally renowned course on environmental education and has provided capacity building opportunities for the rest of SADC where the same course has also been adopted in Namibia, Lesotho, Malawi, Zimbabwe and others.

[Source:Swazi Observer, http://www.observer.org.sz, February 26, 2009]

E-waste menace in Delhi: Ministry of Environment and Forests

Rajya Sabha
The total quantity of e-waste generation in Delhi is about 10,000 tonnes/annum. This has been stated in a study conducted by M/s IRG Systems South Asia. As per the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), there is no such information as Delhi is sitting on e-waste time-bomb.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has notified the Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008, for proper management and handling of hazardous waste which includes e-waste. As per these Rules, only the actual users who are having environmentally sound recycling facilities are granted registration by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for the purpose of recycling such waste. The Guidelines for Environmentally Sound Management of e-waste have been formulated and the approved guidelines are placed on the Ministry’s and CPCB’s website www.envfor.nic.in and www.cpcb.nic.in respectively. DPCC has issued Expression of Interest for authorizing operators for e-waste management.

Minister of State for the Ministry of Environment and Forests Shri Namo Narain Meena replied in a written question by Shri B.J. Panda and Ms Mabel Rebello in Rajya Sabha today.

[Source: http://pib.nic.in, February 26, 2009]

269 polluting industries closed last year

New Delhi: The Central Pollution ControlBoard (CPCB) has ordered closure of 269 of the 1,357 industrial units, which had been identied as the worst polluters across the country, last year. Stating this in the Rajya Sabha, Namo Narian Meena, Minister of State, Environment and Forest, said the CPCB had found the effulents from these industries with Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) load of 100 kg/day or more.

Meena in a written reply to a question raised by A Elavarasan said that the Central and State Pollution Control Boards had given treatment and disposal facilities to 898 industries. He said all these industries had shown encouraging results and were operating satisfactorily. However, the remaining 190 industries which were also given treatment plants have not been doing well and the authorities were likely to take action against them.

[Source: http://www.business-standard., Feruary 262009]