Issue 15
July 2017

Accolades

ATREE’s Senior Fellow, Jagdish Krishnaswamy was selected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as the Coordinating Lead Author for ‘Climate Change and Land,’ an IPCC Special Report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. He was selected from a pool of 640 nominations.

ATREE's Fellow Veena Srinivasan was nominated to the Leadership Team of International Association of Hydrological Sciences’ Panta Rhei Initiative. This initiative aims to arrive towards an interpretation of the processes governing the water cycle by focusing on their changing dynamics in connection to the rapidly changing human systems.

Read More: http://iahs.info/Commissions--…/Working-Groups/Panta-Rhei.do


Perspectives

Disappearing bees of India

Urbashi Pradhan, a research scholar at ATREE, discusses the reduction of the population of bee species and sheds light on how communities perceive bees. To combat this shortage in bee numbers, some states have introduced exotic bees to augment dwindling populations, which, according to studies “compete for floral resources with native bees, leading to their disappearance.”

Read More: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/let-them-bee-58199, Down to Earth, 18 July

The complex realities of the Banni Grasslands

ATREE's research scholar, Ovee Thorat writes about the Banni Grasslands of Kutch and its people, the Maldharis in this month’s issue of Seminar. She states, "The reshaping of the Maldhari identity and the changing perceptions of the landscape has made invisible the complex realities that are critical for the management of Banni."

Read More: http://india-seminar.com/semframe.html, Seminar, 1 July

Creating conservation consciousness

Mathi Vanan, an ATREE researcher, writes about the role of citizens and government in the conservation of biodiversity in Dinamalar, a Tamil Daily. He calls for increasing awareness among students through bird watching and field studies.

Read More: http://www.dinamalar.com/news_detail.asp?id=1798635, Dinamalar

The plant diversity of Eastern Himalayas

Dr Kamal Bawa, President of ATREE, and Dr Rengaian Ganesan, Fellow, ATREE, call attention to the neglected study of plant species in the Eastern Himalayas. Plant exploration has largely been ignored in India, particularly in the Eastern Himalayas, which is among the world’s richest centres of plant diversity.

Read More: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/setting-the-trend-for-green-religious-tourism/article19362254.ece, The Hindu, 29 July

Deep-sea fishing in Tamil Nadu

Rahul Muralidharan, PhD Scholar at ATREE, writes an open letter to the Tamil Nadu government in The Wire, drawing attention to the plight of artisanal fishers due to declining fish catch in near-shore areas which are essential for their livelihoods. While the Sri Lankan Government banned bottom-trawling in the wake of cross-boundary fishing issues, Tamil Nadu projects deep-sea fishing as a potential solution to end all fishing woes. But will that hold true?

Read More: https://thewire.in/162578/artisanal-fishers-tamil-nadu-sri-lanka-trawling/, The Wire, 29 July


In the News

Informed consent for compensatory afforestation

Researchers and activists from ATREE, Kalpavrikhsha, Vasundhara, and World Rainforest Movement along with several other environmentalists have filed an appeal with the petitions committee of the Rajya Sabha to halt expenditure from compensatory afforestation funds until rules on its implementation are notified.

(http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/environment/pollution/make-consent-of-gram-sabha-mandatory-for-every-afforestation-project-says-petition-in-rajya-sabha/articleshow/59619021.cms), Economic Times, 16 July

‘Greening’ pilgrimages inside tiger reserves

Pilgrimages in the heart of tiger reserves in India are not uncommon. Tamil Nadu's Sorimuthu Ayyanar Temple, deep inside the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, is the centre of festivities during the Aadi Amavasai festival. ATREE has been working with the forest department, Alliance of Religion and Conservation, and other NGOs in greening the Aadi Amavasai festival.

Read More: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/setting-the-trend-for-green-religious-tourism/article19362254.ece, The Hindu, 26 July

Conserving sea turtles

Kartik Shanker, Director, ATREE, talks to the Fountain Ink about sea turtles, conservation issues and what drove him to pursue a career in conservation. In addition to turtles, he also speaks about trends in conservation, issues that affect the conservation of sea turtles and the impact turtles have had on society.

http://fountainink.in/?p=90901, Fountain Ink, 6 July




Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE),
Website: www.atree.org