Government says ‘no’ to new mini hydel projects in Western Ghats

The State government has cancelled 10 mini-hydel projects in the Western Ghats that faced legal challenges and has decided not to permit any new plants in the region. This was informed to the High Court on Wednesday.

Following the State government’s submission, the High Court disposed of a PIL petition filed by Prashant G Yavagal and the Western Ghats Environment Forum against mini-hydel projects.

The submission was made by the State Forest Department and the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL). Satisfied by the action taken by the authorities, the division bench comprising acting Chief Justice K Sreedhar Rao and Justice abdul Nazeer disposed of the writ petitions.

However, regarding one mini hydel project, by Maruthi Power Gen Private Limited, the division bench granted liberty to approach the authorities with a fresh application. The same can be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests . 

As per the affidavit filed by the State government, three power projects - the Dandeli Mini Hydel Station (MHS) with 18 mega watt (MW) capacity at Dandeli across River Kali in Uttara Kannada district; the one at Kaneri and Supa Reservoir (4 MW) in Kumbarwada of Uttara Kannada taluk; the one at Nanniruhalla (3 MW) across Nanniruhalla stream of River Sharavathi in Uttara Kannada district have been cancelled by the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL).

Apart from these, Kelasi MHS (5 MW) across River Bedti at Kelasi village in Uttara Kannada district has not been commissioned by KREDL for want of approval under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

The Mavaling MHS (4 MW) across River Kali near Mavaling village of Joida taluk in Uttara Kannada district hit a roadblock as the proposal to conduct a survey has been turned down by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.

Another project of the Dandeli MHS (12 MW) across River Kali has also been rejected by the State government, after the Union government informed the State that 75 hectares of forest will be submerged due to this project. 

As per the affidavit and details submitted to the High Court, four other projects across River Gangavalli (5 MW each) in Yellapur taluk have also been rejected for not obtaining forest clearance.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/315456/government-says-no-mini-hydel.html

Drop in forest cover hits honey bees

The Western Ghats Task Force of Karnataka has expressed concern over decline in honey bee colonies in forests.

Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, Anant Hegde Ashisar, chairman of the task force, said that the number of honey bee colonies is coming down in the forests. He attributed it to factors such as decline in forest cover, loss of different varieties of trees that house honey bee colonies, and use of pesticides for crops.

Most of the farmers are now looking at rubber as a cash crop. This has led to the rapid expansion of rubber plantations in villages. In the process, many farmers remove the flower-bearing plants and deny nectars to bees.

Ashisar said that many contractors, who get rights to collect honey from the Forest Department by paying a small sum in the tendering process, extract honey in a crude way by setting fire to the colonies. This is also one of the reasons for decline in the number of honey bee colonies in forest areas, he said.

SUGGESTIONS

Stating that experts from agriculture universities have stressed on sustainable honey harvesting methods, Ashisar said village forest committees should be entrusted with the task of collecting honey from bee colonies in forests. The Forest Department should do away with awarding contract for honey extractions in forests.

Ashisar suggested that the Forest Department should encourage growing different varieties of trees that house honey bee colonies in the villages adjoining the forests. The nurseries of Forest Department should supply such varieties to farmers.

The departments concerned such as forests, horticulture, and agriculture and horticulture varsities should work together for development of honey bee colonies in forests and other areas, he said.

Experts from agriculture universities have studied the pattern of honey bee culture in the forest areas of Yellapur in Uttara Kannada district. Their study report will be released on February 28, he added.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/agri-biz/drop-in-forest-cover-hits-honey-bees/article4415181.ece?homepage=true&ref=wl_home

Another Pride to Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve

Another Pride to Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve.
Shri Chandrakant R Naik,Deputy Range Forest Officer,Nujji Section,Kumbarwada Wildlife Range,Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve has been honoured with "Prakruti Mitra 2013" Award by BNMIT Bangalore for his signficant contribution towards Wildlife Conservation.It is important to notice that Last Year also he was awarded with prestigious Jumbo Wildlife Awards.It is a matter of pride for Entire Karnataka Forest Department to have such a dedicated staff.

It is also a pride for us since some of the other eminent personalities who were selected for this award are,

Leopard Cat Death at Kumbarwada

This Leopard cat was found dead beside a road on Nujji-Mashet State Highway near Anshi in Kumbarwada Wildlife Range.Initially it was suspected that it might have died in a road accident but after the postmortem report it was confirmed that it has died of starvation,said Shri M S Kallimath,RFO,Kumbarwada Wildlife Range.

Govt tardiness may lead to Goa missing UNESCO bus again

Time is ticking away for Goa to achieve another global distinction of its stretch of the Sahyadri hills being included in the UNESCO list of world heritage sites. The state has just over a week left to present its case to UNESCO.

UNESCO had approved the listing of the Western Ghats as a natural heritage site for protection under certain conditions on July 2, 2012. Environmentalists in Goa were disappointed that the state government did not make a case for inscription of the biodiversity-rich state with its 750 sq km of integrated protected area network as a heritage site.

UNESCO had extended the deadline for the Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) to make a case for an inscription of Goa stretch of the Western Ghats till January 19, 2013.

"The NGOs have done their work and the proposal is ready and the government should release the file," Goa Foundation's Claude Alvares said.

After environmentalists raised an alarm over the non-inclusion of the stretch of Sahyadris in Goa, the forest department worked on a proposal to make good the omission.

"The forest department has already submitted the file to the government," a source said.

Forest minister Alina Saldanha said the matter will be discussed by the government shortly. "There is a meeting of the high-level working group to review Madhav Gadgil's Western Ghats ecology expert panel on January 14," Saldanha said.

Chief minister Manohar Parrikar, the forest minister and government officials will attend the meeting of the nine-member panel headed by Planning Commission member (science) K Kasturirangan.

Goa's inclusion is considered crucial for the protection of one of the hottest biodiversity hotspots in the world, spanning five other states-Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Goa and Gujarat overlooked the opportunity while the four other states cited 39 serial sites in the Western Ghats in the nomination dossier.

Though the hills narrow towards Goa, the Sahyadris in the state offer a solid and ideal north-south corridor for the 2,000-km range stretching through almost half of India. Goa's five wildlife sanctuaries and a national park provide contiguity to the protected areas of Bhimgad wildlife sanctuary and the project tiger reserves of Dandeli WLS and Anshi national park in Karnataka.

"This is an important transitional portion between northern and southern ghats and if this link is broken, the conservation of natural heritage will suffer," Alvares said.

The government showed little interest after the inscription process was initiated. Former chief wildlife warden and additional principal chief conservator of forests Shashi Kumar did not attend two meetings of the Western Ghats natural heritage management committee to take up matters pertaining to the nomination dossier.

The built heritage of Old Goa comprising church complexes and ruins of other monuments has been already included as a world heritage site by UNESCO.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-12/goa/36295312_1_serial-sites-heritage-site-unesco-list

Forest dept seeks funds from State for Project Tiger

Rehabilitation programmes stalled owing to severe financial crunch

Left high and dry by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the State Forest department has been forced to approach the State government in the hopes of getting funds for rehabilitation projects under Project Tiger in Karnataka.

The department, the nodal agency responsible for Project Tiger, claims it is in the throes of a financial crisis as it has suffered a poor flow of funds for rehabilitation projects aimed at reducing human presence in tiger habitats.

Now, the department is placing a proposal for the release of Rs 300 crore in the 2013-14 State budget. Officials from the department, however, are sceptical about the proposal’s acceptance, as the scheme is Centrally sponsored. Furthermore, the Karnataka government has already declined to respond to a similar request made in the last financial year. 

Funds needed

The department has sought Rs 92.40 crore for Nagarhole from the State government. It also hopes to get Rs 3.60 crore for Anshi-Dandeli, Rs 4.01 crore for Bhadra, and Rs 200 crore for the Kudremukh National Park. “During the last few years, despite our continued efforts, we have been able to secure funds only for Nagarhole. As a result, we are approaching the Karnataka government. The lack of funds, coupled with continued efforts by NGOs who are persuading forest dwellers not to relocate, has impeded effective rehabilitation,” explained Dipak Sharma, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.

Karnataka has five tiger reserves: at Bandipur, Bhadra, Nagarhole, Anshi-Dandeli and the Biligiri Ranganatha Temple area — together containing over 285 tigers. An additional 40 to 50 tigers have been identified as residing in other forests, including at the Kudremukh National Park (KNP).

Incidentally, Karnataka has rejected proposals calling for KNP to be declared a tiger reserve despite the Centre’s approval to do so.

Project Tiger aims at ending human interaction in tiger-populated areas and offers a rehabilitation package to help relocate families found in “core” and “buffer” areas. Families in “core” areas are offered Rs 10 lakh as compensation. 

A total of 8,374 families have been identified in tiger reserves and national parks, of which 856 families have been relocated till date. The Forest department is yet to begin a survey at the Biligiri Ranganatha Temple, which was declared a tiger reserve in 2011.

Successful beginning

The most successful rehabilitation project has been at Bandipur, which in 1973, became the first forest area to be declared a tiger reserve. A total of 154 families resided in the area — all of whom were rehabilitated and relocated to Sollepur in HD Kote over a period of time.

In Nagarhole, the department has spent around Rs 19 crore — of the total Rs 29 crore released by the NTCA — and has relocated 496 families to Shettihalli Lakkapatna in Hunsur. As many as 133 families have agreed to move, and the department is in the process of completing new homes at the rehabilitation site.

In Bhadra, the department has shifted 418 families to MC Halli and Kelagur near Chikmagalur by spending Rs 17.65 crore till date. At Anshi-Dandeli, of the 4,114 families, only 36 have come forward to accept the package. At Kudremukh National Park, of the 1,382 families which lived there, the department spent Rs 5.59 crore to shift 61 families. Recently, an additional 531 families have volunteered to be relocated.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/303432/forest-dept-seeks-funds-state.html

15 tigers died in State during 2012 NTCA report

‘Criminal tribes’ target big cats in protected reserves

The year bygone has proved to be unsafe for wildlife in Karnataka. As many as 15 tigers died in the State’s protected forests in 2012, according to a report of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

The tiger census conducted in 2010 disclosed that Karnataka had 300 tigers. Of the 41 tiger reserves in India, five are in Karnataka - Bandipur, Nagarahole, Bhadra, Anashi-Dandeli and Biligiri Ranganathaswamy protected tiger forest.

According to the report uploaded on its website, NTCA has said that out of the 15 tigers which died in 2012 in Karnataka, six were poached, while the rest died a natural death. 

The State has the distinction of having highest number of tigers in the country. 

Apparently, ‘criminal tribes’ from North India are targetting tigers in the protected reserves. Poachers from Bawaria tribe were arrested in Biligiri Ranganathaswamy forests July last year. They had set up jaw-traps in forests for poaching tigers.

Across the country

The report says that 88 tigers died across the country in 2012 and a majority of them have fallen prey to poachers in Karnataka and Maharashtra. 

The casuality was comparatively less in 2011 - when 56 tigers died, six of them in Karnataka, three of which were poached.

Wildlife Biologist Sanjay Gubbi said reserved forests adjacent to protected tiger reserves should be made part of the tiger reserves. 

He said declaring Male Mahadeshwara Hills, Hanur, Yedeyarahalli and Ramapura reserved forests too should be declared wildlife reserve to check poaching.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/302598/15-tigers-died-state-during.html