ATREE News
Ministry’s Draft Changes To Act Undermine How India Protects Its Wildlife
The amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act has no separate Schedule for species the Act classifies as ‘vermin’, so the Centre can directly notify such species and open them up to be hunted – including some of the species currently in Schedule II.
12th edition of Tamirabharani Waterbird Count to begin on Jan. 21
The 12th edition of Tamirabharani Waterbird Count (TWC), an annual exercise jointly conducted by environmental outfits in Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Thoothukudi district after the end of the northeast monsoon, will begin on January 21. ATREE’s Agasthyamalai Community Conservation Centre (ACCC), Pearl City Nature Society, Thoothukudi, and Nellai Nature Club, Tirunelveli, have jointly organised TWC 2022 under the guidance of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Tirunelveli circle, this year.
Testing the stillwaters
Bengaluru’s lakes are choking from untreated sewage flowing. But, there’s hope. researchers from ATREE have come up with a low-cost solution to salvage the polluted waterbodies — a filtering system comprising a bed of gravel and terracotta rubble. This waste water management system can treat domestic waste water to the discharge standards set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), before emptying into waterbodies.
How India’s unguided quest for solar energy is bringing about ecological and cultural erasure
While it is true that renewable energy projects are well-meaning and seek to reduce our reliance on an energy economy pivoted on fossil fuels, more attention needs to be paid to how and where these projects are established. Sadly, so far they have remained ill-conceived and poorly implemented efforts, paying little heed both to the ecological riches and diversity in the ONEs, and to the human livelihood and cultures that these lands support.
From sapling to supari: On the arecanut trail in semi-arid Karnataka
A typical arecanut plantation has about 400 trees per acre. Conservative estimates suggest that each arecanut tree needs 15 litres of irrigation each day for about six months of the year. This means that, over time, an arecanut plantation will deplete groundwater.
The best of Science in 2021 - Editor’s choice
Research Matters curated ten exciting stories that stood out in 2021: https://bit.ly/3mQ303r. The choice ranges from our continued understanding of the ecosystem to building a lab-on-a-chip that finds use for biological experiments in space. Two stories highlighting ATREE made it on the list: https://bit.ly/39gu0SC and https://bit.ly/3uSKr1k Do give them a read if you already haven't.
The Strange Story of the Avenger Monkeys of Beed and the Pups They Killed
It is possible that these langurs and puppies have access to the same food resources, which may have led to the initiation of interactions and subsequent competition.
Agents Of Shield: Meet Women Ecologists Working To Better Our World
The Kottigehara dancing frog lives in permanent, primary streams in the Western Ghats. Pollution, dams and the clearing of forest land for use by humans is endangering the species. Mudke’s research attempts to understand its habitat requirements, to in turn help conserve its habitats. Each species thus saved plays a larger role in beginning to alleviate the biodiversity crisis.
The untold riverside stories
Replete with photographs from contributors, ‘Trails of Tamirabharani’ has borne out of people with a strong connect to the river and landscape. “Tamirabharani evokes an emotion that binds people. Meandering its way through the lush green paddy fields of Ambasamudram to the marshy Punnaikaayal near Thoothukudi where the river meets the sea, Tamirabharani drains out a thousand untold stories. Every monsoon heralds a new hope for the land and its people, and the river continues its journey carrying along memories etched in time,” Mr. Vishnu says.
Online festival celebrates fascinating world of ants
ATREE has organised festival in collaboration with the Travancore Natural History Society from Kerala. In our race to save the tigers, the lions and the bigger wildlife, we barely talk about ants. Are their numbers declining?