Today's Environment News India Update

New frog species discovered in Adi hills of Arunachal Pradesh

A team of biologists from Delhi University, Wildlife Institute of India and North Carolina Museum of Natural Science (USA) has discovered a new species of frog from the Adi hills Arunachal Pradesh, according to an official statement.

The new species of Cascade Frog has been named Adi Cascade Frog (Amolops adicola) after the Adi hills, which are home to Adi tribes, an indigenous group of people from the Himalayan regions in the state. The literal meaning of Adi is “hill” or “mountain top”.

The findings have been published in a scientific article titled ‘Phylogenetic position of the poorly known montane cascade frog Amolops monticola (Ranidae) and description of a new closely related species from Northeast India” in the Journal of Natural History, London, the statement said. The discovery was made as biologists investigated a group of medium to large sized Cascade Frogs from Northeast India over the last five years.

👉The Tribune

Two new species belonging to rare ant genera Parasyscia and Syscia from the Eastern Himalayas

After extensive exploration in the EWS and extensive studies, a team of researchers led by Dr. Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan (Senior Fellow), Aswaj Punnath, Sahanashree (ATREE, Bengaluru), and Dr Aniruddha Marathe (IISc, Bengaluru) could find something interesting – two new species of rare ants, Parasyscia ganeshaiahi and Syscia indica.

This new discovery was published in the latest issue of the journal ZooKeys.

As the ATREE is celebrating its silver jubilee in 2021, one species is named as Parasyscia ganeshaiahhi in honour of one of its founders Prof. K.N. Ganeshaiah, an eminent ecologist, thinker and writer who was instrumental in establishing the Insect Taxonomy and Conservation Laboratory in ATREE.

The new species of ants were located in the Himalayan foothills of West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh, the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary which is a haven for ecologists, nature enthusiasts and adventurers.

👉Sify.com

To protect crops from wild animals, Uttarakhand villagers are ‘seed bombing’ forests

Recently, the plantation technique of seed bombing has been mooted as a solution to this problem. Seed bombs, or balls of seed covered in soil, are being thrown in the forests to ensure food for wild animals is available in the forest itself, thus negating the need for them to attack the farms. The campaign, which started in 2017, has now spread to the entire state, including Dehradun, Tehri and Nainital.

Since 2017, when the seed bombing initiative began, the number of hectares of crops damaged has dropped (though it rose again last year). Similarly, the number of injuries to humans, cattle and buildings have been fluctuating. So while the data suggests the results of the campaign are inconclusive still, it has continued to receive support from the community, civil society and government.

The seed bomb campaign was started in the state by Dwarka Prasad Semwal, Secretary, Himalayan Paryavaran Jadi Booti Agro Sansthan (JADDI), Uttarkashi, a non-governmental organisation focused on environmental conservation.
Today, the campaign is active in many villages of Uttarkashi, where women and youth together make seed bombs and scatter them in the forests. Seed bombs are prepared in the month of June-July just before the onset of rains as the seeds are most likely to germinate in wet soil.

👉Sify.com

NGT Directs Odisha Government To Notify Elephant Corridors Within Two Months

The National Green Tribunal, the country’s apex judicial body adjudicating environmental cases, on Thursday asked the Odisha government to notify the 14 elephant corridors in the State as identified in the Action Plan prepared by the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (ANCF) and the State Forest authorities.

Hearing a petition filed by the Wildlife Society of Orissa, the Green Tribunal has asked the Chief Secretary, Odisha to issue a notification in this regard within two months of the order.

The NGT had noted that as per the latest elephant census carried out by the State government in 2015, Odisha has the largest population of wild elephants in eastern India which stands at 1977. The State has three dedicated elephant reserves. However, it does not have any specialised corridors for the jumbos.

👉Odisha TV

Delhi govt approves transplantation, cutting of over 6,600 trees to make way for NHAI project

The Delhi government has granted permission to transplant and cut more than 6,600 trees in the capital for the construction of Urban Extension Road (UER)-II in five packages.

According to a notification issued by the Environment Department on Monday, 4,365 trees will be transplanted, and 2,314 cut for the project by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The transplantation of 4,365 trees will be done by NHAI ‘within the project site at vacant area UER-II (Package-I to V) along the road proposed to be constructed with their own funds’, the notification read.

Last December, the Delhi government had notified the Tree Transplantation Policy under which the agencies concerned are required to transplant a minimum of 80 per cent of the trees affected by their development works.
Experts have heavily criticized the policy, arguing that survival rate of transplanted trees is very poor. They say most native and old trees cannot survive translocation.

👉TOI

Green pockets with fruit-bearing trees being created to minimise monkey attacks

The Gurugram wildlife department has started plantation of fruit-bearing trees in the district to develop forest pockets in urban areas that can provide habitat to monkeys, birds and small animals, officials said on Thursday.

To kick off the initiative, the department has planted around 6,000 saplings over 10 hectares area at the Air Force station in Sohna. MS Malik, the chief conservator of forests for Gurugram circle, said that by planting fruit-bearing trees, the department is trying to develop habitats near urban areas as part of wildlife management.

“We are planting trees such as jamun, peepal (sacred fig), gular (cluster fig), shahtoot (mulberry), pilkhan (white fig) and others that are beneficial for wildlife. Along with ensuring the availability of food, these trees have the potential to become homes for birds, monkeys and other small animals. This can also help reduce monkey conflict in the cities,” said Malik.

👉Hindustan Times

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