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Celebrating World Environment Day, 2018
This World Environment Day, ATREE’s Agasthyamalai Community Conservation Centre organised a series of events for school children at the District Science Centre, Tirunelveli under the theme -Beat Plastic Pollution. The event was organised in collaboration with The National Green Corps and District Science Centre, Tirunelveli district. The District Collector of Tirunelveli, Shilpa Prabhakar Satish, IAS inaugurated the event.
Students were taught bag making using newspapers and cardboard boxes. An origami workshop was conducted to encourage children to avoid plastic. Mathivanan M, Senior Research Associate, ATREE, gave a lecture on natural wonders of Tirunelveli. Over 100 students and teachers participated in the event.
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ATREE’s anti-straw campaign
Single-use plastics are a major source of plastic waste. The plastic straw has the distinction of being one such product. ATREE-CERC in collaboration with Sustera launched an anti-plastic straw campaign titled ‘ Nammuku Straw Venda’. As part of the campaign, ATREE-CERC interns and ‘Climate Leaders’ of Sustera, designed posters depicting the harmful effects of plastic straws on marine life and the ecosystem.
Posters were put up in public places in Alappuzha. A petition campaign was also launched to propel the Kerala government to ban plastic straws.
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ATREE-CERC launches model wetland panchayat at Muhamma
ATREE-CERC formally launched a model wetland panchayat at Muhamma by organizing an inaugural event Muhammodayam at Sreevalsom Auditorium at Muhamma. P Thilothaman (Minister of Food and Civil Supplies) and Dr.T.M Thomas Isaac (Minister of Finance) from the Kerala Government were part of the event. Dr. Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan(Convener, ATREE-CERC) formally introduced the project to the people of Muhamma.
In view of the critical problems faced by the Vembanad lake, ATREE-CERC in association with SUSTERA, decided to develop Muhamma as a model wetland panchayat. By supporting the panchayat, ATREE-CERC aims to provide capacity building to the local government and empower them with sustainable development practices. The objective of this project is to develop wide-ranging, unified conservation interventions for the Vembanad ecosystem.
As part of the event, a street play named "Thathvamasy" was performed by a group of students of SKMHSS, Kumarakom. The play highlighted the present condition of Vembanad lake. At the event, safety equipment and working coats were distributed to 32 women collecting household waste.
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India’s Wetlands: Workshop on Policy Engagement Strategies
ATREE organized a one day workshop on policy engagement strategies for wetlands. The main objective of the workshop was to collaboratively build a policy engagement strategy for wetlands. The workshop brought together scientists, lawyers, policy experts, and others working on wetlands.
The participants identified policy influencing objectives and policy actors at the national and sub-national levels. The workshop developed communication and other policy engagement activities with respect to each policy actor. The participants also identified goals, created timelines, and review mechanisms, to bring about necessary policy change.
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ATREE Fellow, Abi Tamim Vanak at the University of Cambridge
Dr. Abi Tamim Vanak, Fellow, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation, ATREE, gave a talk titled “Man’s best friend, the invasive: assessing the global impact of dogs on native wildlife” at the David Attenborough centre, University of Cambridge.
The talk highlighted the need to recognise free-ranging domestic dogs as an important extension of human impacts on wildlife, especially in areas of conservation concern. The talk also generated debate on how the emotional connect between humans and domesticated carnivores impedes efforts to manage the problem in a humane and effective manner.
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ATREE at the POLLEN18 Biennial Conference
Senior Fellow, Nitin Rai and PhD students, Ovee Thorat and Revati Pandya represented ATREE at the recently held PolitIcal Ecology Network (POLLEN18) conference at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway. The theme of the conference was - Political Ecology, the Green Economy, and Alternative Sustainabilities.
Ovee Thorat presented her paper titled 'Wasteland to Commons: Problems and Promises of Development Interventions in the Banni grasslands of Gujarat'. She was also part of the panel Drylands and “New” Accumulations of Wealth.
The focus of Revati Pandya's presentation was on drawing connections between current tiger tourism and hybrid neoliberalism; specifically focusing on the role of state and non-state actors demonstrated through a legal case.
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An overview of the natural science methods course
Learning research methods, identifying a research question, collecting data from the field, analysing that data and finally presenting it - the natural science methods course is an introduction to applied research.
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Vikram Aditya, a PhD student, won the Rufford grant for his project 'Assessing the impacts of hunting and illegal trade on wildlife in the northern Eastern Ghats, India focusing on the Indian pangolin'.
Rathnavel Pandian, a project intern, received the WWF Small Grants Innovation Program (SGIP) Grant to work on 'The Relationship between Soil Carbon Sequestration, Dung Beetles and Grassland Management in the Korangadu Grasslands of Western Tamil Nadu'.
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We have the digital tools and artificial intelligence today to efficiently catalogue, map, and monitor life’s fabric in a manner never before attempted — and with the potential engagement of millions of students and citizens. Read More
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The primary responsibility for collection of used plastic and multi-layered plastic sachets (branded chips, biscuit and snack packets) lies with their producers, importers and brand owners. Read More
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