AMRITA DEVI – WHO HAD SOWN THE SEEDS OF CHIPKO MOVEMENT
JOHN MUIR – THE GREAT TRAVELLER & PRESERVATIONIST
NOBEL LAUREATE WANGARI MAATHAI – TREE MOTHER OF AFRICA
RACHAEL CARSON’S POWERFUL IDEAS IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
INDIA’S ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE
ENVIRONMENT FUND FOR HIMACHAL
GLOBAL WARMING SENDING TROPICAL SPECIES UPHILL
POLLUTION MAY HIT HIMALAYAN MONSOON CLOUDS
CLIMATE CHANGE HAPPENING FASTER THAN PREDICTED
PACK ANIMALS HELP REDUCE CO2 IN HIMALAYAS
NATIONAL GEOTECHNICAL FACILITY (NGF) FOR DEHRADUN
UN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE IN POLAND
UNIDO TELLS INDIA TO USE GREEN ENERGY
UN PROGRAMME TO CUT DEFORESTATION EMISSIONS
INDIA – A HOT SPOT IN GLOBAL WARMING
YETI’S FOOTPRINT AGAIN
HET 20TH FOUNDATION DAY OBSERVED
New Delhi: Mr. Sushil Gupta, a member of the Trust, welcomed the guests in a grand function organized to observe 20th Foundation Day of the HET in the auditorium of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation in the South Campus of the University of Delhi. Captain M.S. Kohli, Chairman of the HET gave a brief account of the Trust since its inception highlighting a few of its accomplishments during the last two decades. He also touched several events from his own life recalling his childhood, his days in college and in the University of Delhi and also from the days in the Indian Navy where he was incharge of the Deep Sea Scouts. He narrated some grueling experiences in his mountaineering career culminating into the most successful Indian Everest expedition in 1965 when nine persons became summiteers. This was a record. He also mentioned the rich supportive role played by Sherpas in mountaineering which led him to write a book on them. During his assignment with Air-India, he could successfully convert adventure into a popular tourist activity. In fact, high altitude trekking in the Himalayas became a movement in whole of the world. Later he thought that people have enjoyed and used the mountains in a big way and it was high time that some efforts were made to preserve the pristine glory by protecting the natural environment there. He shared this idea with Sir Edmund Hillary who readily supported any such scheme which could save the Himalayan Environment. That was how the Himalayan Environment Trust came into existence. ‘The Everest hero, Sir Edmund Hillary is not there with us on the 20th Foundation Day but his blessings are with us’. Captain Kohli then announced the instituting of an award ‘Sir Edmund Hillary Himalayan Environment Award’. This was followed by an address by Major H.P.S. Ahluwalia, President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation. He assured that the IMF would now undertake programmes for saving environment of the mountains and if need be, would collaborate in a big way, with all those institutions working for this noble cause. Dr. Durgesh Mansingh, Ambassador of Nepal in India, in his address, emphasized the need of protecting the environment, specially the Himalayan environment and said that the Govt. of Nepal is taking some strong steps in this regard. Mr. Bernd Muetzelburg, Ambassador of Germany in India, in his speech, said that though his country does not have high peaks as in Himalayas but subject of preserving nature in the Himalayas is a popular concept there. Dr. Rupert Holoborow, Ambassador of New Zealand said that his country was proud that Sir Edmund Hillary belonged there. There is a strong community in the civil society of New Zealand who are genuinely interested in the Himalayas and its environment. Mr. Dago Tshering, Ambassador of Bhutan pointed out that the quotient of human development in his country is happiness and not anything physical. Then Dr. R.K. Pachauri released a publication of the HET “Call of the Mountains”. In his keynote address, he described his life story and said that as a person coming from mountains i.e. Kumaon he was naturally interested in the subject. He assured that in future, besides global problem of climate change, he would support programmes of Himalayan ecology and environment. Dr. Karan Singh, Advisor HET, described the Himalayas as the spiritual presence which had nurtured Asian civilizations. In his lucid style, Dr. Karan Singh quoted from Sanskrit scriptures and from Buddhist literature to emphasis his point. Efforts will be made to bring all the Himalayan nations on one platform to evolve a strategy to protect and preserve the Himalayan ecology and environment. This was followed by the announcement of the first name for the award of Sir Edmund Hillary Himalayan Environment Award. The award went to Dr. Andreas Schild of ICIMOD which was received here by his representative. This was an humble acknowledgment of the services rendered by him to the cause of Himalayan Environment. A citation was also read and presented. To conclude the function, Mr. J.C. Kala, Trustee HET proposed a vote of thanks. Earlier the guests were entertained with High Tea, a Services Band was in attendance making the environment very nice and cosy.
R.K PACHAURI WON NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FOR IPCC
New Delhi: As its chairperson, Dr. R.K. Pachauri has led the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) to great heights. The panel was not only honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, the various reports made public by the IPCC are today considered the bench marks for serious research on climate change and related issues. Dr. R.K. Pachauri has been a guiding light in the constructive environmental movement in India, the country returning the favour by honouring him with the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2007. Beginning life with poetry amidst the serene, gliding, green Lesser Himalayas and heading the highest International body studing climate change and devising solutions to mitigate the adverse impacts of these changes and adapting to the irreversible factors that govern the process, Dr. Pachauri, well-known economist, renowned climate scientist, and one of the world’s leading environmentalist, has achieved the impossible, in a rather short span of time. Dr. Pachauri, or Patchy, as he is popularly known among peers, has manned the top position at ‘The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI)’, the leading India-based environmental research institute and climate policy think-tank since 1981.
NOBEL LAUREATE AL GORE – THE ENVIRONMENTALIST
Washington: Environment has never been a hot topic among the masses. The changes are too macro to visibly affect daily lives. But over the last two decades, Al Gore has increasingly used his platform to an advantage in order to get the message of utmost importance across. People may not care about global warming, but they do care about their politicians. And whenever he has been in a position to be heard, he has made sure that the right message goes across. He launched the Globe Program on Earth Day 1994, which as an education and science activity tapped students across the hottest upcoming forms of media then – The Internet. His other initiatives like making innovative use of available media is the ‘We can solve it’ organization, a web based application focused on generating awareness about the larger issues of the environmental change through television commercials. And who doesn’t know about ‘The Inconvenient Truth? Most importantly, in the modern entertainment crazy generation, Al Gore has managed to do what many others failed to. He caught our attention!
MAHATMA GANDHI – AN ARDENT ENVIRONMENTALIST
New Delhi: How many of us know Mahatma Gandhi as an ardent environmentalist? Gandhi’s philosophy on the environment is quite paradoxical, it is simple as well as difficult. It is subtle yet forceful. It is simple yet ingenious. He had a very clear understanding of the man-nature relationship and was a visionary in perceiving the impact on the balance of nature by society driven by technological advancements. And he forfeited such advancements in the favour of simplicity. He believed in a simple life lived only by its bare necessities, be it the food one ate, the clothes one wore, or the house one lived in. Gandhi believed in life being at harmony with nature. He envisioned a society built on small communities, free from the vices of city life. He promoted growth fuelled by natural resources. Essentially, Gandhi respected nature and sought to preserve it by renouncing our excesses. Yet, like most of his philosophies, this is also lost in modern times. But we can still make a difference in small ways. So next time you leave the light on, or choose to drive rather than walk a small distance, think about what you are taking unnecessarily from the source to which you owe your very existence.
AMRITA DEVI – WHO HAD SOWN THE SEEDS OF CHIPKO MOVEMENT
Jodhpur: the year is 1730 AD. In the sleepy little village of Khejarli, and Amrita Devi, like any other woman of the Bishnoi clan in Rajasthan was at home with her three daughters, Asu, Ratni and Bhagu Bai. It was then that she heard that a group of men, sent by the then king of Jodhpur – Maharaja Abhay Singh, had come to the village on a mission. This was the news that transformed Amrita Devi into the World’s first Environmental activist. Maharaja Abhay Singh’s henchmen had come to Khejarli with the intention of felling the Khejri trees, that gave the village its name, to burn them, for the construction of the Maharaja’s new palace. This was more than Amrita Devi could take. The Bishnois of Rajasthan have always been a community of nature worshippers, and it offered the Bishnois that the trees would be cut. Amrita Devi, protested, to no avail. In despair, she hugged a tree, and insisted that if they must cut the tree, her head would have to be cut first. The unrelenting henchmen obliged her, and the legend of Amrita Devi was born. Her three young daughters were the next to sacrifice their lives. Seeds of the Chipko Movement had been sown. Soon the entire community was carrying forward the flame. Maharaja Abhay Singh apologized for the massacre and banned the cutting of trees and hunting of animals in all Bishnoi villages in his kingdom.
JOHN MUIR – THE GREAT TRAVELLER AND PRESERVATIONAIST
Washinghton: John Muir’s love for nature was evident from his preference for a simple life in open greens over glitzy city lights. Between 1867-1872, Muir walked thousands of miles from Indiana to Florida, worked as ferry operator at the Sierra Nevada foothills, and built a cabin for himself at the Yosemite Creek. Muir found himself one with the nature. Gifted with a sharp mind, he would proactively seek to understand the eco system of any place that he visited. For example Muir was convinced that the glaciers had sculpted many of the features of the Yosemite Valley, a theory, which through further research was validated and came into lime light through multiple publications in 1871. Muir belonged to the preservationist school of thought and not the conservationist, and his efforts were evidently channeled in that direction. Muir increased efforts through an environmental club he helped form, the Sierra Club to consolidate the park management of Yosemite valley, which he achieved in 1905 through a congressional bill. Muir’s life is a fine example of a man firmly in touch with his roots. We are all children of nature, but it is very easy to forget that while we observe ourselves in our lives with the objective to find wholeness. It is then quite ironic that John Muir found it in the simplicity of nature.
NOBEL LAUREATE WANGARI MAATHAI – TREE MOTHER OF AFRICA
Nairobi: Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai, awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for sustainable development, democracy and peace, is quite literally a force of nature. In 1989, Maathai almost single handedly saved Nairobi’s Uhuru Park by stopping the construction by Moi’s business associates of the 60-story Kenya Times Media Trust business complex. As the founder of the Green Belt Movement, which is a non-governmental organization that works at the grassroots on various environmental issues, she has earned the title ‘Tree Mother of Africa’.
RACHEL CARSON’S POWERFUL IDEAS IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Washington: Rachel Carson is the best example of powerful ideas expressed in equally potent words. While the world lauded the advancements made in the field of synthetic chemicals, and their usefulness in applications such as pesticides, Carson refused to be sucked into the media hype. In addition to her book ‘Silent Springs’ published in 1962, she was already heavily involved in spreading awareness about the ill-effects of pesticides on the environment and its carcinogenic effects on human beings. Carson relentless fight against the chemical companies and the Reagen government resulted into the Environment Defence Fund and the other activist groups who succeeded in achieving a complete phase out in the use of insecticides like DDT. Carson fought through disease and personal tragedy to make the world a better place and like many great people before her, her efforts were rewarded after she was long gone. Her ideas and her legacy continue to live on through the multitudes of awards, honours and scholarships bearing her namesake, as well as the many environmental conservation areas named after her. That is the power of ideas!
INDIA’S ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE
Terragreen/Aug’08
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released the action plan on climate change spelling out eight priority missions that would promote India’s development objectives, with the ‘co-benefit’ of tackling climate change. The eight missions are: Solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, sustainable habitats, water conservation, sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem, developing a ‘green’ India, sustainable agriculture and building a strategic knowledge platform on climate change.
ENVIRONMENT FUND FOR HIMACHAL
Tribune/24-X-08
Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government has mooted a voluntary environment fund, the first initiative of its kind in the country. Despite the state spending millions and the existence of foreign-aided projects, the environment in Himachal Pradesh continues to fall prey to human greed. The illegal felling of trees, indiscriminate mining and quarrying, intrusion into the protected forest area, and mindless construction activity have led to a severe ecological imbalance. Disturbances in the rainfall pattern, a decline in crop productivity, and climate changes are worrying signals that could spell disaster for not only the state but also the rest of India. If the state government has now woken up to the enormity of environmental damage, it is a welcome development.
GLOBAL WARMING SENDING TROPICAL SPECIES UPHILL
TOI/11-X-08
Connecticut: Global warming is driving tropical plant and animal species to higher altitudes, potentially leaving lowland rain forest with nothing to take their place. According to a study in the University of Connecticut, Robert Colwell worked his way up the forested slope of a Costa Rican volcano to collect data on 2000 types of plants and insects, half of which have such narrow altitudinal ranges that a 2000 feet uphill shift would move these species into territory completely new to them. Many species would be unable to relocate at all, as most tropical mountain side forest have become severely fragmented by human activities. Tropical lowland forests – the warmest on earth would meanwhile be challenged by the absence of replacement species. Flora and fauna unable to move uphill could also perish, unless it turns out they can bear higher temperatures.
POLLUTION MAY HIT HIMALAYAN MONSOON CLOUDS
Planet Art, 14-X-08
Paris: Higher levels of pollution in Asia may affect the formation of clouds high in the Himalayas, perhaps disrupting monsoons and speeding a thaw of glaciers, according to a study. The report by scientists in France and Italy, found microscopic particles in the air that can be seeds for water droplets at a Nepalese mountain observatory, the highest in the world at 5079 m (16660 ft) above sea level. Such particles forming so high were observed for the first time, far above those seen in studies from Europe and Japan. The study said the particles might come from smoke from people burning wood in Himalayan valleys or like a natural origin like vegetation. There are wider risks of the cloud forming mechanism. (http://www.planetart.com)
CLIMATE CHANGE HAPPENING FASTER THAN PREDICTED
Statesman/21-X-08
London: A report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) titled ‘Climate Change: Faster, stronger, sooner’ has predicted massive crops failures and the collapse of eco-systems on both land and sea. It was clearly pointed out that global warming could result in rapid and abrupt climate change rather than the gradual changes forecast by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Updating all the scientific data, it concluded that global warming is accelerating far beyond the IPCC’s forecasts. The first ‘tipping point’ may have already been reached in the Arctic, where sea ice is disappearing upto 30 years ahead of IPCC predictions and may be gone completely within five years – something that hasn’t occurred for a million years. Climate change is a major challenge to the future of mankind and the environment, and this sobering overview highlights just how critical it is that the environmentalists and the governments commit to a strong climate and energy package, in order to ensure a low carbon future.
PACK ANIMALS HELP REDUCE CO2 IN HIMALAYAS
Statesman/8-X-08
New Delhi: Pack animals, including horses and mules, are known to transport pilgrims and goods. They help reduce CO2 emissions, researchers led by Nehal A. Farooquee of the GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development concluding after studying six major valleys – Kedarnath, Pinder, Urgam, Nandprayag and Nizmulla in the Garhwal Himalaya region. Two year’s data of the daily distance covered by the animals, number of working days, average and total quantity of load carried in a year in 60 villages where the road network is not well developed and transportation is dependent on pack animals, was collected. It was found that 221,588 litres of diesel worth Rs. 70.9 lakh was saved. The highest fuel saving was in Kedarnath (99,092 litres of diesel worth Rs. 31.7 lakh). It was estimated that the CO2 emissions savings translated to 481,710 kg. Therefore, in the absence of the development to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in richer countries and transfer of the same to the poorer ones, it is imperative for developing countries to utilize the services of pack animals and oxen-driven carts for transportation of non-perishable goods.
NATIONAL GEOTECHNICAL FACILITY (NGF) FOR DEHRADUN
The Tribune/18-9-08
Dehradun: A new world-class institution NGF, one of its kind in Asia, would be set up in Dehradun (Uttrakhand) by the Department of Science and Technology, GOI in technical collaboration with the NGI, Norway. The institute would be developed to deal with geotechnical research, information and consultancy and as an expert body for safety issues relating to landslides and coastal erosion.
UN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE IN POLAND
Teragreen/Nov’08
Geneva: The UN Climate Change Conference being held in Poznan (Poland), COP14 will be a milestone on the road to success for the processes launched under the Bali Road-map. This meeting comes midway between COP13 in Bali, when the International negotiations on strengthened action on climate change were initiated and COP15 in Copenhagen at which the negotiations are set to conclude. The Poznan agenda will include the 29th session of the conventions subsidiary bodies i.e. SBSTA (Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice) and SBI (Subsidiary Body for Implementation). The working groups there will deal with adaptation, mitigation, technology, financing and the shared vision for a new climate change regime. At COP 14/MOP4 in Poznan, parties are expected to: agree on a plan of action and programmes on crucial issues relating to future commitments, actions and cooperation; make significant progress on a number of on-going issues required to enhance further the implementation of the convention and the Kyoto protocol; advance understanding and commonality of views on ‘shared vision’ for a new climate change regime, and strengthen momentum and commitment to the process and the agreed timeline. Outcome at Poznan would build momentum towards an agreed outcome at Copenhagen in 2009.
UNIDO TELLS INDIA TO USE GREEN ENERGY
The Financial Express/ 30-9-08
Geneva: Experts in UNIDO advised India to shift from coal-based thermal power plants to renewable energy-based power plants using solar, wind, or hydropower to avert the adverse effects of climate change as the cost of generating power from renewable energy-based power plants is much less at around $ 1.75 million per MW of installed capacity, than the investments required for coal-based power plants. Total CO2 emissions in India could go upto 1400 MTPA by 2012, according to some estimates. Indian domestic coal reserves would exhaust by 2040. During the eleventh plan period, it would take the total installed capacity of renewable energy plants in India to 23,500 MV by 2011-12, including wind, biomass and small hydropower plants.
UN PROGRAMME TO CUT DEFORESTATION EMISSIONS
Planet Arc/26-09-08
Geneva: UN-Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Programme (UN-REDD) will assist nine developing countries in establishing systems to monitor assess and report forest cover. Tropical countries are pushing to include UN-REDD in the successor to the Kyoto Protocol on Global Warming. Under this plan, the tropical countries would generate tradable carbon credits by saving and planting trees. Rich countries would buy the credits to meet their own emissions limits, like the way EU countries have invested in credits representing emissions cuts generated by clean energy projects in poor countries.
INDIA – A HOT SPOT IN GLOBAL WARMING
Pioneer/24-08-08
New Delhi: A UN study examined consequences of global warming in 20 to 30 years and identified India as one of the ‘hot spots’, vulnerable to increase in extreme droughts floods and cyclones in the coming decades. UN office for the coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and CARE International, the study found that India, Pakistan, Afganistan and Indonesia are the global warming hot spot nations, which are already facing considerable political, social, demographic, economic and security obstacles. The study cited the most effective means to curb human vulnerability to disasters by boosting the ability of local and Government institutions to respond to crises; empowering local people to have a stronger say in disaster preparedness, response, recovery and rehabilitation and providing services and social protection to the most vulnerable population.
YETI’S FOOTPRINT AGAIN
Statesman/21-X-08
Kathmandu: The Japanese adventurers claimed they saw the footprints of Yeti in Dhaulagiri IV peak at the altitude of 7,600 meters. They saw 20 cm long footprint that looked like humans, according to the expedition to Mt. Dhaulagiri.
