Earlier this year, Suzhal Arivom, an environmental research and conservation collective, spotted a ringed adult male Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus) at Nemmeli in Chennai. Now it’s been confirmed from the ring number that the bird was originally ringed in Rajasthan by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) under their Harrier Watch programme in 2019.
The invasive fish sucker catfish is spreading in the Vembanad Lake, posing a threat to native fish. Invasive fish species such as sucker fish, pacu and pearl gourami were found during the Vembanad fish census. Although sucker fish have been found in the Vembanad Lake before, it has been found that they are now reproducing in a way that is adversely affecting the survival of native fish. Sucker fish were found in large numbers during the floods of 2009 and 2018.
The concern around green credits is that they rely on tree survival instead of preservation of ecosystems, which may incentivise plantations, as highlighted by Gautam Aredath, a policy analyst from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE).
