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Monday, February 18, 2013

Nitish Kumar visits Valmiki Tiger reserve


TNN | Feb 18, 2013, 04.57 AM IST Nitish Kumar insists on special state statusNDA's PM candidate should be from BJP: Nitish KumarSpecial status will boostnation's growth: Nitish KumarBJP leader to be NDA's PM candidate: Nitish KumarNitish Kumar shuns comment on Gujarat election result BAGAHA: Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday morning visited the Valmiki Nagar Tiger Project and enjoyed the scenic beauty of the forest. He also visited the Done area, Naurangi forest area and the Eco hut and asked environment and forest department secretary Deepak Kumar Singh for further beautification of the place and create bamboo cottages. The CM met the Tharu tribals and listened to their problems. He directed the DM and other officials to look into their issues and address them while stressing on implementation of the education and health schemes in Tharu settlements. He also asked the tribals to send their children to school and make them part of the national mainstream . Director Valmiki Tiger Reserve-cum-conservator of forests Satish Kumar Tiwary underlined the importance of the tiger reserve located on Indo-Nepal border and various hurdle in implementation of the project. Meanwhile, president of Tharu Welfare Federation, unit Gobarahiya Done, Prameshwar Kazi, secretary Sital Kazi, mukhiya of Banakatawa-Karamahiya Done panchayat Ramkirishan Kazi and mukhiya Naurangia Done panchayat Richa Devi met the CM and reminded him of the assurance given by him to Done villagers earlier and handed over seven points demand including appointment of teachers in all government schools, referral hospital at Serawa Done where land had been acquired for the purpose. The CM assured them that he will come again in April and look after their demands which were still not implemented. The CM was accompanied by RCP Singh, MP, principal secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, forest conservator Satish Kumar Tiwari and other officials. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Nitish-Kumar-visits-Valmiki-Tiger-reserve/articleshow/18551307.cms

Proposed coal mining in tiger corridors gets experts' thumb-down


ByP Naveen, TNN | Feb 17, 2013, 01.56 PM IST Madhya Pradesh bags Krishi Karman AwardDulux unveils Super Satin in Madhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh to launch Rozgar YojnaCold wave grips Madhya Pradesh, Satna coldest16 IPS officers transferred in Madhya Pradesh BHOPAL: Satpura-Maikal landscape of central India-- largest natural habitat of tigers in the world - will no longer remain one big entity, if coal mining is allowed in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district. Ironically, state forest minister Sartaj Singh finds him in a fix with experts on both sides- those in favour of coal mining or protecting corridor for the sake of striped big cat population-divided on the issue. Proposed coal mines, widening of NH-7 and railway line that cuts across the tiger reserves would impede gene flow and impact the future of species, reveals a recent research conducted by two scientists from the state, associated with Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), Washington. "Big cat populations will be divided into groups if their habitat is fragmented. It can lead to inbreeding and a genetic bottleneck, which will affect their long-term survival," says Dr Sandeep Sharma, visiting scholar of SCBI and lead author of the tiger study published in the journal 'Ecology and Evolution'. SCBI researchers found the landscape is still genetically connected and shows that tigers have been moving around. It was found that the tiger meta-population in this landscape has high genetic variation and very low genetic subdivision. Faecal samples were used to analyse the genetics of tiger and leopard populations in four reserves in central India: Satpura, Melghat, Pench and Kanha. Kanha and Pench reserves and Satpura and Melghat reserves are connected via forest corridors that tigers, leopards, humans and cattle share. It was found that both tiger and leopard population in the reserve maintained a high level of genetic diversity. Neither tigers nor leopards were genetically distinct with leopards being one exception, which scientists hope to explain with additional research. Dr Trishna Dutta, SCBI visiting student and lead author of the leopard study published in the journal Diversity and Distributions, says, "Conserving a whole landscape, rather than piecemeal protected areas, would ensure a better chance for long-term persistence of these and other species." The scientists investigated spatial genetic structure of the tiger meta-population in the Satpura-Maikal landscape using the genetic data from 273 individual tigers and 217 leopards. In addition to Sharma and Dutta, other authors of the paper are Dr Jesus Maldonado, a research geneticist at SCBI's Centre for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics, Dr John Seidensticker, head of SCBI Conservation Ecology Centre and H S Panwar, former director, Project Tiger and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. MoEF additional director general of forest (ADG) A K Shrivastava and assistant inspector general (AIG) H C Chaudhary visited Chhindwara last week to study the impact of proposed mines on the landscape. They would submit their report to the fact assessment committee (FAC), said sources. principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) P K Shukla and other officers refused to comment on the status of mines. The biggest threat to forests in the central Indian landscape, the largest habitat for tigers and home to protected tribal communities is coal mining. The PMO office is directly responsible for attempting to dilute laws to hasten habitat destruction, and ignore legally established rights of communities. QUOTES "The issue came to my notice. I think both coal mines and corridors are equally important, coal for power and corridors for tiger. I won't be able to comment more on it now" Sartaj Singh, forest minister, said. "I have yet to come across recommendations made by our department. However, it's for the Centre to decide. We are taking all initiatives to protect the corridors" P K Shukla, chief wildlife warden and principal chief conservator of India (PCCF), MP. "SCBI is creating new working models to retain wild tigers in the face of massive social and economic change in Asia, which is among the most difficult challenges,"Dr John Seidensticker, head of SCBI Conservation Ecology Centre, Washington. "The PMO office has much to answer for. They claim environmental roadblocks are holding up coal production. After the coal scam, it is clear that it is a blatant lie,"Vinuta Gopal, Greenpeace campaigner. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Proposed-coal-mining-in-tiger-corridors-gets-experts-thumb-down/articleshow/18541842.cms