Environment & People Magazine by Environment & People

Shantha Biotechnics Limited 3rd & 4th floors, Vasantha Chambers, Feteh Maidan Road, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad-500 004. Tel: +91-40-66301000, Fax:+91-40-23234103. www.shanthabioteh.com

Editorial

Advisors Narne Prabhakar Kaza Krishna Rao Dr. N. Harinath Dr. V. Haraprasad Advisory Board M. Gopala Krishna, IAS (Retd.) C.S. Ramalakshmi, I.F.S, Dr. N. Bhaskara Rao Prof. P.G. Sastry Er. G. Prabhakar Prof. D.N. Reddy Dr. Rameshwar Rao S. Raghupathy Prof. I.V. Muralikrishna

IMPROVE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH n India July 1 is celebrated as a National Doctors' Day in honour of Dr.B.C.Roy, West

Bengal's second Chief Minister and a legendary physician. On this occasion, we have to review our public health policies and analyse how far they are successful in creating access

to poor and vulnerable people in our society. Since Independence, several committees have submitted reports giving important recommendations to the Government of India. But unfortunately succeeding governments have not taken them so seriously in implementing them. The

Editor Dr. P. Narayana Rao Associate Editor Dr.B.Ramana Naik

running thread in all those reports is emphasis on preventive and promotive healthcare. Environmental health is an important component of preventive health care . Enhancing environmental health means providing clean drinking water, clean breathe air and better hygiene conditions like toilet facilities, sewerage treatment and solid waste disposal. As a part of it,

Sub - editor

Government of India has taken up Swatch Bharat Mission, Clean Ganga programme and

Swarajyam P.

recently National Air Policy was announced. A separate Jal Shakti Ministry was set up. With all

Design arcongraphics@gmail.com

good intentions, actions are lagging on the part of central, state and local governments. In addition, water and soil pollution due to pesticides and industrial effluents are causing food contamination and air pollution is becoming the major cause of increasing mortality in Indian

Edited, Printed & Published by P. Narayana Rao on behalf of society

population. The enforcement agencies like Pollution Control Boards are often admonished by

for environment and education,

National Green Tribunal. More and more Effluent Treatment Plants are being dysfunctional

hyderabad.

and industries are polluting the ground water resources and ambient air. Government is going

Address for communication

ahead with establishing more and more Thermal Power Plants though Solar and Wind Power

302, Padma Nilayam,

are within the reach of ordinary consumer. Private transport is being encouraged at the cost of

St.No. 1, Shanti Nagar,

public transport. The only solution for this deterioration of environmental health is Public

Hyderabad - 500 028.

Action on large scale through civil society organizations. They have to make every Member of

email: nraopotturi@yahoo.com

Parliament and Member of Legislative Assembly to be accountable to their respective con-

contact: 9247385331

stituencies on environmental health. At every level, they have to monitor Water and Air Quality

(The views expressed by authors

Index through their own instruments which are now available within their reach.

may not be necessarily be the same

Environmental Health has to be made an election issue. Then the respective governments will

as those of magazine)

be quicker in their actions. June 2019

Environment & people

Beyond palak and methi, there are many Indian greens waiting to be rediscovered

content

'We are not tourist attractions': Indigenous leaders assert their voices in conservation

Top 9 Methods of Groundwater Recharge

Hunters Should Stop Using Lead Bullets and Help Save the Vultures

How mangroves protect people from tropical storms

South Africa's First Carbon Farm

Desertification 'More Dangerous and

Five reasons you should care about air pollution

More Insidious than Wars'

Kashmir is losing its crown

Namami Gange: Only 10 out of 100 sewage projects done

Decentralised water management is the future of South Asia

Behind Faรงade of Clean Mountain Towns, Kullu and Manali Struggle to Manage Waste

Eco Quotes

Eco IQ

Eco cartoons

Bicycle comeback amongst initiatives to help Hangzhou cut air pollution

Environment & people

June 2019

Empower Ocean Women

'Keerai Kadai', a store in Coimbatore, sells more than 100 types of indigenous greens and herbs. ave you heard of Thavasi keerai, a type of sweet spinach that is packed with vitamins and helps reduce blood pressure? Or Chukka keerai, with its broad leaves, which has a sour taste, but works wonders for your digestive health? When it comes to greens, most people in urban India cannot think beyond the ubiquitous palak (spinach), methi (fenugreek), coriander and curry leaves. Or recent trendy imports like kale. But beyond these exist a whole range of indigenous greens that are just as wholesome and, often, just as versatile. These forgotten greens are the focus of Keerai Kadai, an e-commerce portal and physical store in Coimbatore started by engineer-turned-agriculturist G Sriram Prasad. Keerai Kadai - which

means greens shop - sells more than 100 types of greens and herbs, several of which have almost disappeared from public memory. In its stocks can be found Manathakkali or Black Nightshade, Kasini or chicory leaves, Bhringraj or False Daisy, Ponnanganni or Sessile Joyweed, Pirandai or Adamant creeper, Red Amaranthus, and Chakravarthy keerai or Chenopodium album. When Prasad opened Keerai Kadai in 2017, the idea was just to sell greens, but consumer feedback propelled him to focus on forgotten indigenous varieties. Several of his older customers would reminisce about the native greens that were available when they were young, and how scarce they had become. "This got me thinking that if someone should work on bringing them back, it should be us," said the 35-year-old. "Native varieties are so much more powerful, flavour-wise, something that we did

not know ourselves until we began working on them. Just one mint leaf of the native variety can give you the flavour equivalent of a few leaves of the hybrid one." Some of the varieties Prasad sells are Keelanelli or Bhumyamalaki (gale of the wind), which is used in Ayurveda for jaundice treatment, and Mudakathan or Balloon Vine, which is "extremely good [to alleviate] joint pains and bone-related issues". Also in its stock is Adathoda Elai, or leaves of the Malabar Nut plant, which look similar to mango leaves, are bitter to taste, but are helpful in treatment of bronchial problems. There are also some greens like Pudina Thulasi and Pepper Thulasi for customers looking for some novel additions to their rasams and green teas. Prasad's father and grandfather were involved in agriculture, and he too was naturally drawn to it. In 2014, he set up an e-commerce platform for groceries, (cont.. on page no. 30)

The city of Hangzhou in eastern China was once described by the Italian explorer Marco Polo as the, "finest and most splendid city in the world". Today it is once again on the map thanks to a range of initiatives to cut air pollution and increase the livability of the city.

Environment & people

June 2019

ndeed, many cities across China have suffered from the effects of air pollution. To remedy the situation, China introduced an Air Pollution Action Plan in 2013 to reduce dangerous particulate matter (PM) 2.5 levels. For the city of Beijing, the solution has been to drastically eliminate the use of coal: the city closed its coal-fired power stations and banned people in surrounding areas from burning coal for heat. The city's efforts were so effective that, while in 2013, Beijing ranked as the 40th worst city for PM 2.5 by the World Health Organization, it ranked in 187th place in 2018. As part of nationwide efforts to curb air pollutants, other cities in China followed suit and dramatically reduced their PM 2.5 levels. The new 2018-2020 Three-year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky War, announced in July 2018, is the successor of the original air pollution action plan. It calls for a reduction of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide by more than 15 per cent compared with 2015 levels by 2020. Hangzhou's bike-sharing success The bustling city of Hangzhou, home to nearly 10 million people, is world-famous for being home to the high-tech industry, including the world's leading e-commerce group, Alibaba. However, like other cities in China, Hangzhou has had to tackle

the scourge of air pollution. Since most of the Hangzhou's PM 2.5 pollution comes from vehicle emissions, Hangzhou city authority started China's very first public bike-sharing scheme. Launched in 2008, the primary purpose of this initiative was to a provide a convenient public service for short journeys in the city. They ended up with two knock-on benefits: less traffic and a reduction in air pollution. In 2017, when the number of bikes hit a peak, a total of 10 companies, including commercial ones, operated more than 882,000 bikes. The number of bike trips is estimated in the range of hundreds of millions since 2008. Furthermore, the integration of the public bike-sharing scheme with other public transport in the city has increased its attractiveness and easeof-use. "This healthy transport has made our city better and its air quality is good," says Tao Xuejun, general manager of the Hangzhou Public Bicycle Service. China was known as the "Kingdom of the bicycle" in the 1980s. With economic progress, many people moved to motorized forms of transport. The reemergence of the bicycle in Hangzhou since 2008 may have been somewhat unexpected but its contribution to helping reduced air pollution is undeniable. In 2017, the Hangzhou bike-sharing scheme won an award from the Ashden charity which said that "the combination of convenient and free bicycles, well separated bicycle lanes and good public transport appears to have led to reduced use of cars and their associated congestion, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions". "Hangzhou is a great example of how cities can introduce initiatives like bike sharing to encourage people to get out of their cars and reduce air pollution," says Rob de Jong, Head of UN Environment's Air Quality and Mobility Unit. "We really need to encourage city governments and planners around the world to design cities for

people, and not cars - leading to safer and cleaner living spaces". Switching to non-polluting vehicles an international priority Tackling air pollution by removing cars from the road is the focus of UN Environment's Share the Road Programme. The Programme is centered around the concept that everyone begins and ends their journeys as pedestrians, and in cities, some people rely almost exclusively on walking and cycling. Yet, investors and governments

abandoned or broken bicycles have become a familiar sight in many big cities. Hangzhou itself has had to cut the number of bikes. Cities around the world are learning from this example and ensuring they have full control over the number of bikes released into the city within their bike-sharing schemes. Other initiatives in Hangzhou to reduce air pollution Conscious of the risk air pollution poses to health, Hangzhou has implemented

continue to prioritize road space for cars. To make the switch to more eco-friendly means of transport, UN Environment supports governments and other stakeholders in developing countries to systematically prioritize and invest in infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. Bike-sharing schemes have not been without criticism, however. As the number of bicycles grew rapidly across China, many found their way to massive dumps, as companies went bankrupt because of insufficient demand. Vast piles of impounded,

many other measures to improve air quality. It expanded its metro system to reduce traffic and invested in thousands of electric buses and taxis. The city also developed an innovative battery-swapping mechanism for the its electric taxi fleet, allowing one electric taxi to travel for 230 kilometers on two to three fully charged batteries every day. Hangzhou's goal is to reach a total fleet of 1,000 electric taxis, ultimately aiming at a zero-emission taxi fleet. (Source: unenvironment.org)

June 2019

Environment & people

Leah Duran oday marks the last day of the United Nations conference on indigenous issues in New York, a session that marks the 10th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. While this historic milestone affirmed indigenous peoples' rights on a global scale for the first time, the world's indigenous groups - stewards of nearly a quarter of Earth's land and the vast majority of its wildlife - still face critical challenges. With that in mind, Conservation International helped create an Indigenous Advisory Group to collaborate directly with global indigenous leaders in strengthening conservation efforts alongside the communities that rely on nature the most. At a recent meeting of the group, Human Nature sat down with six experts - including Joenia Wapichana, Brazil's first indigenous lawyer - to get their perspectives on indigenous-centered conservation.

Environment & people

June 2019

Question: What is the greatest conservation challenge facing indigenous peoples today? Ole Kaunga, Kenya: Right now, there's a lot of conflict between conserved areas and access to resources for cultural and traditional reasons. In order to be complementary and not competitive, conservation needs to strike a critical balance between indigenous rights to natural resources and conservation. We need communityled and -owned initiatives to reduce conflicts and dispel the notion that conservation is a way to dispossess people of their lands. Kittisak Rattanakrajangsri, Thailand: Indigenous peoples play a key role in conservation work, but this important role isn't recognized by government laws and policies. Kevin Iro, Cook Islands: In the Cook Islands, every sector of our society, including government, is made up of indigenous peoples, so we haven't been ostracized or put in a different box. The rights and structure of our traditional leadership is being eroded over the years due to the Westernizing of our country, and the voices of indigenous leaders haven't been heard as they should. Our traditional leaders view conservation from the perspective of our forefathers, who considered the whole ocean sacred. Perhaps we flip how we think about modern-day conservation. Normally, we look at an oceanscape and say, "Show us your conservation areas." Instead, let's look at the whole ocean as a conservation area, and people should then ask us, "Where are your areas of industry?" Akosita Rokomate, Fiji: It's a challenge to develop sustainably while preserving traditional ways of life. We need to be able to compete economically with the rest of the fast-paced world without destroying the natural resources we rely on to survive. Joenia

Wapichana, Brazil: Indigenous peoples need governments to officially recognize indigenous territory. They also need opportunities to develop natural resources and be a part of the process. Especially in agrobusiness, there is a need not just to recognize indigenous rights, but to take responsibly for respecting and implementing rights. Q: What is the biggest conservation gain indigenous peoples have made in the past year? Ole Kaunga, Kenya: In places in Africa and Kenya where indigenous people participate in conservation, as compared to government-led conservation initiatives, they have experienced a number of gains. Through partnership-based conservation, they can make money off of their land while ensuring it remains intact, leading to improved incomes and livelihoods while preserving cultural traditions. Conservation can only be sustainable when people take the lead. Kittisak Rattanakrajangsri, Thailand: We've gained a lot from international advocacy - even the Paris climate agreement includes indigenous rights in its preamble. What's challenging is how to translate this progress into action at home on the local level, where we need to make sure indigenous communities can voice their concerns and fully participate in policy discussions. Kevin Iro, Cook Islands: We've been able to travel to our farthest-flung islands to raise awareness and educate people about indigenous rights. We're asking communities if they'd consider creating ocean conservation areas beyond what they can see. It has opened the eyes of indigenous leaders, who want to know about extractive activities and potential industries happening in our waters like deep-sea mining. They want transparency so they can make informed decisions about areas beyond their usual jurisdictions. What do you want Westerners to know about indigenous peoples? Ole Kaunga, Kenya: Indigenous people are people - they are human beings. They are not tourist attractions and they

are not primitive; they are living in cultures close to nature and expending a lot of effort to make sure they're using natural resources in a sustainable way. David James, Guyana: I faced a lot of discrimination as a youth attending school in the capital, where not many indigenous people were. It's important that people try to understand the philosophy of indigenous peoples and how they see the world. Kittisak Rattanakrajangsri, Thailand: For those who doubt, the rights laid out for indigenous peoples aren't special, they're basic - we need them for survival, we need them to be recognized. Kevin Iro, Cook Islands: If you're a

Cook Islander, you know the ocean is the lifeblood of your existence, so people should understand the fundamental connection that indigenous peoples have with the environment. Our kids are in danger of losing that connection, and we want them to grow up understanding there's also a living to be made in the Cook Islands as marine biologists, engineers and more - it's not just about conservation, but having Cook Islanders engaged in wisely using the ocean's resources. Joenia Wapichana, Brazil: Indigenous peoples were once invisible to some societies. People should understand why we want to be visible and have a voice, why we're asking to participate more in the international process, so they can support improvements. We can make a difference through land conservation, but we need legal land ownership. (Source: blog.conservation.org)

June 2019

Environment & people

Air pollution is all around us. Indoors, outdoors, in cities and in the countryside. It affects us all, whether we realize it or not. For the longest time, we have taken the air we breathe for granted. There was air, there were smells, there was cold wind, there was hot air. ut recent research has started to shed light on some rather worrisome aspects of what the air around us really contains, and how it affects our bodies. And the more we learn, the more we come to realize that this essential source of life for the planet needs some serious taking care of. Without air there can be no life but breathing polluted air condemns us to a life of disease and early death.

Environment & people

June 2019

Now that we know how air pollution harms us, there is no excuse not to act. Below are five great reasons to reduce and eliminate air pollution from our lives. Polluted air is creating a health emergency There is no doubt today that air pollution is a global public health emergency. It threatens everyone from unborn babies to children walking to school, to women cooking over open fires. On the street and inside the house, the sources of air pollution can be very different, yet their effects are equally deadly: asthma, other respiratory illnesses and heart disease are among the adverse health effects known to be caused by polluted air. According to the World Health

Organization, every year around 7 million premature deaths are attributable to air pollution-a staggering 800 people every hour or 13 every minute. Overall, air pollution is responsible for more deaths than many other risk factors, including malnutrition, alcohol use and physical inactivity. Children are most at risk Globally, 93 per cent of all children breathe air that contains higher concentrations of pollutants than the World Health Organization (WHO) considers safe to human health. As a result, 600,000 children die prematurely each year because of air pollution. As if that were not enough, exposure to dirty air also harms brain development, leading to cognitive and motor impairments, while at the same time putting children at greater risk for chronic disease later in life. Household air pollution is particularly harmful to women and children due to their traditional home-based roles in many cultures. About 60 per cent of household air pollution-related deaths globally are among women and children, and more than half of all pneumonia deaths in children under five can be attributed to indoor air pollution. Pollution and poverty go hand in hand Air pollution goes to the heart of social

justice and global inequality, disproportionately affecting poor people. In homes, air pollution comes mostly from fuels and high-emitting heating and cooking systems. Clean cooking and heating fuels and technologies are out of reach for low-income families, so polluting alternatives are the norm. About 3 billion people depend on burning solid fuels or kerosene to meet household energy needs and 3.8 million of them will die each year from exposure to these pollutants. A lack of awareness of the risks associated with breathing polluted air also contributes to the problem, as well as the cost and difficulty to access healthcare. Crowded cities and trafficked suburbs are hotspots for outdoor air pollution. According to the World Health Organization, 97 per cent of cities in low- and middle-income countries with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not meet the minimum air quality levels. Around 4 million of the approximately 7 million people who die from air pollution-related diseases every year live in the Asia-Pacific region. In high-income countries, 29 per cent of cities fall short of meeting the organization's guidelines. But in those countries, too, poorer communities are often those most exposed-power plants, factories, incinerators and busy roads are often located in or near poor suburban communities. The cheaper the fuels, the higher the costs When people get sick, the entire community suffers. Ill people require medical care and medicine, children skip school and working adults miss days of work, either as a result of their own poor health, or to care for a loved one. According to the World Bank, air pollution costs the global economy more than US$5 trillion every year in welfare costs and $225 billion

in lost income. A 2016 study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts that, if the situation remains unchanged, by 2060 the annual global welfare costs of premature deaths from outdoor air pollution would be US$18-25 trillion, with the costs of pain and suffering from illness estimated at around US$2.2 trillion. There are other less direct costs, which nonetheless affect us globally. Ground-level

form of legal protection available-in more than 100 countries. At least 155 states are legally obligated, through treaties, constitutions and legislation, to respect, protect and fulfil the right to a healthy environment. The right to clean air is also embedded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and fully enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals-the global blueprint for peace and prosperity.

ozone is expected to reduce staple crop yields by 26 per cent by 2030, creating food security and nutrition challenges. Air pollution also degrades materials and coatings, decreasing their useful life and generating costs for cleaning, repair and replacement. UN Environment's sixth Global Environment Outlook estimates that climate mitigation actions for achieving the Paris Agreement targets would cost about US$22 trillion. Meanwhile, by reducing air pollution, we could save US$54 trillion in combined health benefits. The math is clear: acting now against air pollution translates into saving US$32 trillion. The right to clean air is a human right The right to a healthy environment enjoys constitutional status-the strongest

Ready to take action? Find out what you can do to involve your business, school and families. And call on your government to enforce the World Health Organization guidelines for ambient and indoor air quality. Remember, clean air is your right! (Source: unenvironment.org)

June 2019

Environment & people

This article throws light upon the top nine methods of groundwater recharge. The methods are: 1. Spreading Basins 2. Recharge Pits and Shafts 3. Ditches 4. Recharge Wells 5. Harvesting in Cistern from Hill Sides 6. Subsurface Dams 7. Farm Ponds 8. Historical Large Well across Streamlet 9. Check Dams.

Method # 1. Spreading Basins: This method involves surface flooding of water in basins that are excavated in the existing terrain. For effective recharge highly permeable soils are suitable and maintenance of a layer of water over the highly permeable soil is necessary. When direct discharge is practised the amount of water entering the aquifer depends on three factors-the infiltration rate, the percolation rate, and the capacity for horizontal water movement. At the surface of aquifer, however, clogging occurs by deposition of particles carried by water in suspension or in solution, by algae growth, colloidal swelling and soil dispersion, microbial activity, etc. Recharge by spreading basins is most effective where there are layer below the land surface and the aquifer and where clear water is available for recharge.

Method # 2. Recharge Pits and Shafts: Conditions that permit surface flooding methods for artificial recharge are relatively rare. Often lenses of low permeability lie between the land surface and water table. In such situation artificial recharge systems such as pits and shafts could be effective in order to access the dewatered aquifer. The rate of recharge has been being found to increase as the side slope of the pits increased. Unfiltered runoff water leaves a thin film of sediments on the sides and bottom of the pits, which require maintenance in order to sustain the high recharge rates. Shafts may be circular, rectangular or square cross-section and may be back filled by porous materials. Excavation may be terminating above the water table. Recharge rates in both shafts and pits may decrease with time due to accumulation of fine-grained materials and the plugging effect brought by microbial activity.

Environment & people

June 2019

Method # 3. Ditches:

Method # 4. Recharge Wells:

A ditch is described as a long narrow trench, with its bottom width less than its depth. A ditch system is designed to suit topographic and geological condition that exists at the given site. A layout for a ditch and flooding recharge project could include a series of trenches running down the topographic slope. The ditches could terminate in a collection ditch designed to carry away the water that does not infiltrate in order to avoid ponding and to reduce the accumulation of fine materials.

Recharge or injection wells are used to directly recharge the deepwater bearing strata. Recharge wells could be dug through the material overlaying the aquifer and if the earth materials are unconsolidated, a screen can be placed in the well in zone of injection. Recharge wells are suitable only in areas where thick impervious layer exists between the surface of the soil and the aquifer to be replenished. They are also advantageous in areas where land is scarce. A relatively high rate of recharge can be attained by this method. Clogging of the well screen or aquifer may lead to excessive buildup of water level in the recharge well.

Method # 5. Harvesting in Cistern from Hill Sides:

Method # 6. Subsurface Dams:

In this method construction of small drains along contours of hilly area are done so that the runoff in these drains are collected in a cistern, which is located at the bottom of a hill or a mountain. This water is used for irrigation or for drinking purpose and the water is of good quality.

Ground water moves from higher-pressure head to lower one. This will help in semi-arid zone regions especially in upper reaches where the ground water velocity is high. By exploiting more ground water in upper reaches more surface water can be utilized indirectly, thereby reducing inflow into lower reaches of supply. Ground water is stored either in natural aquifer materials in sub-surface dams or in artificial sand storage dam.

Method # 7. Farm Ponds: These are traditional structures in rain water harvesting. Farm ponds are small storage structures collecting and storing runoff waste for drinking as well as irrigation purposes. As per the method of construction and their suitability for different topographic conditions farm ponds are classified into three categories such as excavated farm ponds suited for flat topography, embankment ponds suited for hilly and ragged terrains and excavated cum embankment type ponds. Selection of location of farm ponds depend on several factors such as rainfall, land topography, soil type, texture, permeability, water holding capacity, land-use pattern, etc.

Method # 8. Historical Large Well across Streamlet: If any historical wells are located near the streamlet, then allow the water into the well from streamlet by connecting drains. In this case the historical wells act as a recharge well so that ground water can be improved.

June 2019

Environment & people

Arjun Amar ultures in Africa are in crisis. Across the continent their numbers have declined so rapidly that most species are nowendangered or critically endangered. This means they face extinction in the wild. The main causes of these declines are mass poisoning, usually by livestock owners trying to kill other predators, and poachersdeliberately trying to kill vultures. The birds gather to feed on shot animals, giving game rangers a sign of where to look for poachers. African vultures are nature's clean-up crew. By disposing of animal carcasses left out in the open they stem the spread of disease to other animals and to humans. They also help to regulate populations of opportunistic scavengers that may spread diseases. Losing vultures could have farreaching implications and costs. But now evidence suggests a new threat to these birds is emerging: lead poisoning from ammunition used by game hunters. The birds eat fragments of lead bullets in the carcasses of animals that have been shot. Lead is highly toxic to all animals. It can cause death and even sublethal levels can negatively affect survival and reproductive rates. This threat has until now received very little attention. But our study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, suggests it should be taken seriously to increase the chance of saving vultures from extinction across their African range. Other studies have already shown that the amount of lead found in African vultures is higher than background rates. But

Environment & people

June 2019

our study is the first to reveal a direct association between the raised levels of lead in the blood of African vultures and the activities of big game hunters. Lead poison We tested the blood of nearly 600 critically endangered white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) in Botswana over four years. The birds were caught inside and outside the hunting season, and inside and outside hunting areas. Thirty percent had elevated blood lead levels. Most importantly, lead levels were highest during the hunting season and in hunting areas. This finding points toward lead ammunition used in hunting being the most likely source. When an animal is shot, a lead bullet fragments widely throughout the carcass. The carcass or the guts of these animals are often left out in the open. Vultures can then ingest fragments while they are feeding. Our results suggested this was happening in Botswana. The risk of lead poisoning has been known for decades. Its detrimental effects on many species of birds, particularly waterbirds, have resulted in legislative changes in many regions. The Californian condor plummeted towards the edge of extinction as a result of thedirect ingestion of hunters' ammunition in carcasses. Fortunately, following a state-wide ban on the use of lead ammunition and after intensive conservation efforts, the population is now recovering. But concern over the threat to other scavenging raptors is increasing. Recent research has shown that lead poisoning

can have negative effects even if it doesn't kill the birds. For example it can alter their movement patterns and reduce their breeding performance. For some birds, moderately elevated lead levels can even increase the likelihood of collisions with power lines. There are alternatives to lead ammunition. Copper or copper alloy bullets are the most obvious. But hunters are reluctant to use them because of cost and ballistic concerns. Policy change needed The threat of lead poisoning for vultures in Africa is under-appreciated. It may not be the main reason their populations are in decline, but unlike the illegal activities of livestock owners or poachers, it can be tackled through simple legislation. There must be a policy change. The Convention for Migratory Species has urged countries to phase out the use of lead ammunition. Botswana is one of the few countries that have not signed the convention. But it supports important numbers of five species of African vulture in danger of extinction. We would therefore urge the government of Botswana to follow the 29 countries that have regulated the use of lead ammunition, by imposing a nationwide ban. Botswana has taken action before on hunting. In 2014, it banned hunting on government-owned land. Hunting still happens on privately owned game farms, which offer hunting safaris. Stop using lead Our study also explored whether lead levels in vultures declined following this ban. We found the opposite effect. Lead levels were higher after the ban. The reason could be that vultures may have shifted their foraging to private game farms. Hunting - and vultures' food supply - may have become more concentrated on private land after the ban. Hunting of big game in Africa is of considerable economic importance in many areas. Hunters claim that their activity has conservation benefits as well. But for hunting to be truly sustainable, the issue of lead ammunition needs to be addressed. Vultures range over huge areas, frequently crossing international boundaries. So action to ban lead ammunition has to happen at a regional scale. Lead poisoning has been a risk for both humans and wildlife for centuries. Non-lead ammunition is now increasingly available and accredited for use by hunters around the world. It is time for the world's largest hunting continent to make the switch. (Source: thewire.in)

June 2019

Environment & people

How mangroves protect people from tropical storms Adam Moolna

New research confirms that mangroves are a vital component in protecting coastal communities from violent cyclones brought on by climate change, besides acting as carbon sponges angroves are incredibly productive coastal ecosystems found in the tropics and subtropics. These dense green forests are known for their bizarre-looking roots that poke up into the air from shallow water. Among the meshed webs of roots are fish nurseries, enabling humans to make a living from the marine life in and around the mangroves. Mangroves also play another important role for humans, protecting communities from major storms. Climate change is more than rising temperatures, and the increased frequency and intensity of cyclones, hurri-

Environment & people

June 2019

canes and typhoons is apparent. Cyclone Fani for example, which recently struck the Bay of Bengal, was one of the strongest to devastate India in the past 20 years. See: Rebuilding woes in the wake of Cyclone Fani Mangrove roots can break up the force of a storm surge, soaking up some of its energy and protecting people living on coasts from cyclone damage. Yet it is a challenge to effectively value and protect individual mangrove ecosystems. And we just don't have the people or funds to deliver detailed studies for even a fraction of the villages and towns sheltered by mangroves. Reliable rule of thumb That is where we need a global rule of thumb that can be applied anywhere. It needs to be rigorously evidenced, and trusted enough for economic values to be used in planning calculations by governments and financial institutions. This is provided for coastal mangrove protection by an innovative new study in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences. Jacob Hochard and colleagues use global data covering nearly 2,000 coastal communities in 23 countries and 194 mangrove areas. Meticulous statistical analysis of cyclones from 2000 to 2012 provides a convincing model of how economic activity is impacted and recovers. It is well established that how brightly lit an area is at night correlates to its economic activity. Hochard's innovation is to compare satellite imagery data of nighttime light levels with a timeline of cyclones. Economic losses are estimated from reduced nighttime light levels. The area of mangrove protecting a community is divided by the length of coastline to give an average extent of mangrove per metre of coast. The authors compare how typical communities protected by smaller areas of mangrove (6m per metre of coastline average) fared over the long term versus communities with larger areas of mangroves (25m per metre average). As differing levels of wealth make it tough to directly compare the economic (cont on page no. 33)

Exclusive: Inside India’s First Water Clinic For Elephants on the Banks of Yamuna What’s awesome is that this unique rehab has a 11-foot deep hydrotherapy jumbo pool— equipped with 21 high-pressure jet sprays—that gives a massage to the elephants’ feet and body! o rescue and rehabilitate elephants from abuse and captivity and provide them with the best medical care, India has opened its first exclusive hospital for elephants in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. The hydrotherapy treatment centre was established in November last year, near the banks of the river Yamuna, by the Wildlife SOS’ Elephant Conservation and Care Centre (ECCC) in collaboration with the State Forest Department. The country’s first hospital is designed to treat injured, sick or geriatric elephants. Speaking to The Better India, Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder & CEO Wildlife SOS, says: This is a huge milestone for elephant protection in India, a hospital that will help us take better care of injured elephants in distress. We hope it will put our country on the map as a scholarly destination for humane management of elephants, and address their protection and conservation. So far, six elephants have been admitted to the hospital and are undergoing treatment to heal their physical and mental wounds. There are four veterinarians and a dedicated team of trained care staff who cater to the gentle beasts round the clock. The hospital is equipped to test and diagnose elephants for a host of diseases and pathogens with an inbuilt path lab. Regular veterinary check-ups take place through the weighing scale and treatment pen. The hospital design accounts for space for the veterinary team to store medicine

and critical equipment, including portable x-rays, ultrasound machines, foot care tools as well as a room for staff to stay in overnight for observation and to keep an eye on the animal. It also has a 11-foot deep hydrotherapy jumbo pool equipped with 21 high pressure jet sprays that gives a massage to the elephants’ feet and body. This, in turn, helps in increasing blood circulation. Speaking about the problems associated with the rescued animals, Dr Yaduraj Khadpekar, Senior Wildlife Veterinary Officer, says: We have been rescuing elephants from circuses, temples, and so on. A common health issue between them is Osteoarthritis, joint pains, foot issues and oedema. Because they are made to walk for hours on unnatural surfaces (tar roads) against their will, they develop prolonged foot problems. Dr Khadpekar strongly believes that we need more awareness in terms of managing the distressed elephants. “There are very few courses which offer elephant anatomy, and most regular veterinarians do not know how to treat them. We need more such separate facilities. Hopefully, our health centre becomes a model that can be taken across India. We also need to establish a provision wherein the elephants get regular vaccinations and health checkups,” he says. Why India Needs More Rehabilitation Centres For Elephants Dressed in vibrant and colourful attires, this majestic wild animal is often

found parading up and down like a model during festivals and cultural programmes. The tug-of-war and beauty contests between elephants are considered a sight to behold. While people from India but from all over the world appreciate the sight of elephants walking in processions, they fail to realise the trauma and cruelty that these beings face daily. A country which was once known for having lakhs of elephants now has merely 26,000. Of these, around 3,500 are kept in captivity for multiple reasons, which include weddings, campaign processions or tourist entertainment. During an inspection at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Mannuthy, experts from PETA India, Animal Rahat, Wildlife SOS, and the Centre for Studies on Elephants, found that elephants are often chained with spiked hobbles and housed on hard floors. Handlers even pierce their ears and drill holes into their tusks, maiming them for life. “My only appeal to people is to think about how the wild animal ended in our concrete jungles. If you see an elephant walking in the market, circus or temple, it is safe to assume that it has been through trauma. Do not encourage such practices. Using elephants for entertainment purposes is a big no,” says Dr Khadpekar. Elephants are known to be wise and highly social animals who have close bonds with their families and adore their children. During troubled times, they work in unison. Capturing such majestic creatures is the most inhuman act, and as a country, we must end this cruelty. (Source: thebetterindia.com)

June 2019

Environment & people

South Africa's First Carbon Farm Tim Christophersen

Land restoration could attract large private investments in the fight against climate change over the coming decades, if Governments and the United Nations put the right incentives and conditions in place. hen the goats on his farm had nothing more to eat, because the soil was eroded and most of the vegetation destroyed, South African farmer Pieter Kruger had to make one of the toughest decisions of his life. "I have always been a farmer," he says, "but that moment in 2007, I knew that I could not go on. There was no more water. Zandvlakte is

the last farm in our valley in the Bavianskloof, and our river had run dry before it reached my farm." Pieter reluctantly gave up goat farming, and embarked on the Working for Water programme, a government pilot effort to restore degraded watersheds. Over the next three years, he and a team of over 100 workers planted 1,500 hectares of his farm with millions of cuttings of an indigenous succulent tree, the spekboom (Portulacaria afra) which can grow well even in dry conditions. "I have never regretted that decision", says Pieter Kruger, "the trees are now well established, and in the big flood this year, we managed to keep runoff of water to penetrate the soil, improving ground water levels, instead of washing away our topsoil into the river." Spekboom forests can act as 'natural water dams': in mountainous areas, the trees can grow even on steep slopes, and when rare rainfall occurs in the semi-arid regions of the Eastern Cape, they suck up all the moisture quickly, and can store if for months. Spekboom forests can serve as grazing and browsing areas of last resort for wildlife and livestock, even when all else has withered in a drought. Sekboom trees also absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere faster than most other trees in dry conditions. However, farmers are usually not paid for carbon storage, water security and other essential ecosystem services which well-managed land provides for downstream water users, and for the global community. That could change, however, if Governments and the global community set the right conditions. "Spekboom is an amazing plant. It can take root and regrow, just from simple cuttings from existing trees. It can quickly reform the soil because it continuously sheds a lot of leaves, which help to build up soil organic carbon", explains ecolo-

gist Anthony Mills, who has published extensively on the sub-tropical thicket ecosystem of South Africa, one of the country's lesser known plant biomes. Spekboom is the dominant tree of the thicket ecosystem, a complex forest which creates its own microclimate. Thicket forests used to cover up to 5 million hectares across the dry areas of the Eastern Cape, until about 200 years ago, when massive overgrazing by goats and sheep started, and turned much of this ecosystem into a mere shadow of its former biodiversity and natural splendour. "You can drive for four hours across degraded areas, which look like a savannah woodland, because all you see are some of the surviving jacket plum trees (Pappea capensis), which were originally part of the thicket ecosystem. The richness of this ecosystem is almost all gone today, but we could bring it back," says Mills. "Today, more than 1.3 million hectares of severely degraded thicket landscapes in the Eastern Cape Province are ready to be restored to their former ecological functionality, which can also increase their productive use for livestock," he adds. Scientists from Stellenbosch University came upon the remarkable ability of spekboom to regrow in degraded areas almost by chance. In 1976, a farmer in the Kromport area of the Eastern Cape had planted cuttings of the sturdy tree on a steep slope of about 200 by 100 metres behind a barn on his farm, because he was trying to find a way to stop annual floods that were threatening his livestock. He soon discovered that not only did spekboom rapidly establish itself in the degraded soil, but it also stopped the floods very quickly after it had been planted. "Some of the plants in this area are now over 40 years old, and we can see some of the original thicket ecosystem reforming. Other plants are joining, and birds and wildlife are returning," says Mills. Although the area is rather small, it has yielded valuable scientific information, including on the amount of carbon stored below ground, in the roots of the spekboom plant and in the soil. The discovery prompted the South

African Government in 2007 to start what is arguably the largest ecological experiment in the world: they planted 330 plots of half a hectare (50 by 50 metres) with spekboom across the entire degraded area, almost 1,000 kilometres. Ten years after the planting, the plots have yielded promising results. In almost all the plots which were planted in degraded thicket and which had their fences maintained, the replanting with cuttings from spekboom has been successful, under a variety of conditions and planting techniques. The most important factor, according to scientists from Stellenbosch University and Nelson Mandela University, is that the grazing pressure from goats must be reduced for at least five years through fencing, and the cuttings need to be planted well and deep enough in the soil. "By finding a way to boost agricultural productivity, restore a lost ecosystem and store carbon quickly and at scale, we would have a real win-win for farmers and for the global community", says Tim Christophersen, Coordinator of the Freshwater, Land and Climate Branch at UN Environment. The goal is to restore an area of thicket of over one million hectares, almost 200 times the size of Manhattan. There is potential to plant more than 2 billion tree cuttings across this immense landscape, providing work and income for thousands of people, for several years. "This might sound daunting but given the opportunities for combining the real, long-term restoration of these degraded lands with diversified economic benefits to the local economy, the potential is amazing," says Tim Christophersen. The South African Government sees thicket restoration as one of the low-hanging fruits for the achievement of national climate and biodiversity goals, and recognizes that private investments are key. "We planted the pilot plots back in 2007 to attract private investors, by demonstrating that this can work," says Dr. Christo Marais, Chief Director at the Department of Environmental Affairs, which runs the Working for Water programme. "We have studied this thoroughly, and we believe there are big opportunities for ecosystem restoration investments across South Africa." One of the next steps in scaling up the

restoration could be to establish carbon and livestock farms, where several thousand hectares can be replanted with spekboom, and where income from carbon is combined with other income streams and economic activity. "Farmers like to look over the fence, and see what their neighbour is doing," says Pieter Kruger. "Having big demonstration plots on existing farms is important to spread the word that becoming a carbon farmer can pay off, both for restoring the land, and for making a decent return from the land," he adds. Even though Pieter has not yet received any compensation for the carbon he has sequestered on his farm, he remains opti-

their emissions which cannot be otherwise reduced. Offsets are not a replacement for ambitious climate mitigation action across all sectors. They can only provide a temporary solution while we deeply de-carbonize our economies. Ecosystem carbon credits often also have many other benefits beyond carbon, such as biodiversity, water, or better income options for farmers. The carbon market is highly complex and volatile, and farmers should not only rely on carbon for their income. "We must try to blend different income streams for farmers, so that carbon credits are only one of several revenue streams. At the same time, the restoration of degraded lands will increase the value of the farmland in the

mistic. "We never give up," he says. His Zandvlakte farm lies in the Bavianskloof, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, one of the most remote and beautiful areas of South Africa. Pieter and his family have also branched out into eco-tourism, where visitors can experience the success of Pieter's shift from conventional farming to restoring his land first-hand. "The global carbon market, including for carbon offsets, for example from the aviation industry, is starting to boom again, after several years of uncertainty. If current trends persist, carbon credits might provide some income for farmers like Pieter," says Mills. Carbon credits are compensations which nations, companies, or individuals, can buy to offset part of

long run and will improve resilience and ecosystem services for local communities, and for entire nations", says Tim Christophersen. "We are running out of time for climate and biodiversity action, and large-scale opportunities like the thicket restoration in South Africa must be urgently explored. We would like to support the Government of South Africa and other partners, like Living Lands and Commonland, to realize the potential of the Eastern Cape thicket restoration, as we are moving into the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030." (Source: ipsnews.net)

July 2019

Environment & people

By Desmond Brown Businesses are being encouraged to follow the lead of the youth to halt desertification, reduce degradation, improve agricultural sustainability and restore damaged lands. he youth is a very particular case. The youth give me a lot of hope because I see their passion, and I see their vision," head of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Ibrahim Thiaw told. Each minute, 23 hectares of productive land and soil is lost to desertification, land degradation and drought, according to U.N. Environment. Thiaw said when this happens young people are forced to leave their homeland, and most never return. He said restoring land will help in reducing risks of irregular migration - a major component of population change in some countries. According to a new U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs' Population Division report launched on Monday, Jun. 17, between 2010 and 2020, 14 countries

Environment & people

July 2019

or areas will see a net inflow of more than one million migrants, while 10 countries will see a net outflow of similar magnitude. "What is left for the young girl or young gentleman of Haiti if 98 percent of their forest have been degraded and they have barren hills that cannot generate food anymore? What is left for them to do but to flee?" Thiaw questioned. "Therefore, restoring land would reduce migration, it will keep people on the ground, help them generate their own income and live their own lives. They don't want to leave their families. They migrate because they have no choice. So, restoring land is also bringing stability in our countries." As countries observed World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (WDCDD) on Monday, Jun. 17, Grenada's Minister of Agriculture and Lands Yolande Bain-Horsford said while soils and land continue to play an integral role in the economic shift the island nation is experiencing today, these resources are under threat. "The agricultural sector is a major contributor to national development through the provision of employment, household income, food and government revenues," Bain-Horsford told IPS.

"As we boast of the importance of this sector to our economies, unfortunately we must face the harsh reality of the challenges facing the sector, which include land degradation, lack of sustainable farming practices, climatic variations and droughts." Bain-Horsford said Grenada has been spearheading the fight against desertification at local, regional and global levels. Locally, the island nation has set ambitious targets to ensure it addresses and, in some cases, reverse the impacts of negative agricultural, construction, and other actions which lead to desertification. Some of the actions taken include the Cabinet approving Grenada's Voluntary Land Degradation Neutrality targets that should be achieved by 2030. To achieve the targets, Grenada has agreed to;  increase the fertility and productivity of 580 hectares of cropland by 2030,  transform 800 hectares of abandoned cropland into agroforestry by 2030,  implement soil conservation measures on 120 hectares of land by 2030,  the rehabilitation of 383 hectares of degraded land at Bellevue South in Carriacou by 2030,  the rehabilitation of 100 hectares of

degraded forests in Grenada and Carriacou by 2030, and ď Ź increase forest carbon stocks by 10 percent by 2030. The island also completed and submitted its 2018 National Report on the state of land degradation, nationally linking it to gender and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. But Thiaw said land restoration cannot be left in the hands of governments alone, explaining that it will not be sufficient. With two billion hectares of land in need of restoration, the UNCCD head said the best solution would be for the governments to not only mobilise communities, but to mobilise private investments. "As long as business does not see that investing on land and restoring land is a good business case, it will not happen," Thiaw said. "Governments will have to review some of the land tenure systems that they have. It may be just a concession saying if you restore this land, I will give you the concession over the land for the next 50 years or for the next 60 years. Then they can harvest and they will leave the land restored rather than leaving it barren." The government of Turkey is hosting three days of activities in observance of the 25th anniversary of the UNCCD and the WDCDD. Turkey's Agriculture and Forestry

Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said countries are facing a silent danger that constantly grows and threatens the planet. "This danger is indeed more dangerous and more insidious than wars," he said. "This danger that takes our lands away, makes them unusable and risks our future is nothing but desertification." Pakdemirli said just as desertification is a disaster that threatens the entire world regardless of national borders, degraded and destroyed lands pose a direct threat to the lives of people living on land-based activities. He said these social problems sometimes force people to migrate, especially in countries such as Africa that are most affected by the consequences of desertification. "Nobody wants to leave the land where they were born, grew up, and felt belonging to. Migration is a way to addressing the most desperate and needy situations," Pakdemirli said "In such cases, children and women are viewed as the most vulnerable category of victims. Therefore, before it is too late, we should take necessary measures before lands lose their productivity and become completely uninhabitable. "While taking these measures, we must act in unison and adopt the principle that all lands around the world should be protected," Pakdemirli added. (Source: ipsnews.net)

July 2019

Environment & people

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage

Our oceans play a major role in everyday life, but they are in grave danger. To protect the ocean, we must look to a crucial, largely overlooked component: gender.

Empower F Ocean Women

or World Oceans Day this year, which occurs every year on Jun. 8, the United Nations and the international community is shining a spotlight on the intersections between the ocean and gender-an often underrepresented and unrecognised relationship. "Gender equality and the health and conservation of our oceans are inextricably linked and we need to mainstream gender equality both in policies and programs and really in our DNA," UN Women's Policy Analyst Carla Kraft told IPS.

Environment & people

July 2019

Founder of Women4Oceans Farah Obaidullah echoed similar sentiments to IPS to mark the occasion, stating: "It's a great step that the UN is recognising the importance of addressing gender when it comes to achieving healthy oceans. You can't achieve healthy oceans without achieving gender equality." Women make up approximately 47 percent of the world's 120 million people, working in fisheries around the world, outnumbering men both in large-scale and small-scale fisheries. However, women in the fisheries sector are largely concentrated in low-skilled, lowpaid seasonal jobs without health, safety, and labour rights protections. In fact, women earn approximately 64 percent of men's wages for the same work in aquaculture. At the same time, women's contributions both towards ocean-based livelihoods

and conservation efforts remain invisible. "There's a disproportion valuation or recognition of women's work and skills in marine and coastal development and ocean and marine resources," Kraft said. "Women's economic empowerment is very much related to ocean activities and resources so it's really about having gender equality as both a goal and a process through which we can conserve, preserve, and use the ocean in economic activity," she added. As ocean degradation and climate change deepens, women are left with even less access to economic resources, protection, and stable livelihoods, which thus exacerbates gender inequalities. According to UN Women, women and children are 14 times more likely to die or get injured in natural disasters due to unequal access to resources. While women's political participation is increasing, Obaidullah noted that women are still left out of the table in decision-making and lack recognition around fisheries and ocean governance, telling IPS of her own experiences as an ocean advocate. "It's difficult-sometimes it's because I'm a woman, sometimes it's because of my ethnic background-to have my voice heard in certain settings. I'll go to a conference and try to talk about serious topics with fellow delegates but [only to] be put down," Obaidullah told IPS. "I have seen how women have left the conservation movement and academia because of being in the minority in the fields that they work. And that has to change because we are losing out on all this capacity, intelligence, and training because of the

inequality in this sector," she added. For instance, UN Women found that in Thailand men make 41 percent of decisions compared to 28 percent by women regarding fish farming. Such decisions are often related to establishing farms, business registration, feeding, and dealing with emergencies. Obaidullah highlighted the need to empower and support women across the globe to ensure sustainable ocean governance, including at the UN. "Bringing in different voices from different backgrounds and from different genders is essential if we are going to set a healthier course for humanityâ&#x20AC;Ś. we need to be making role models across geographies, across cultures if we are to get people motivated and inspired to take action for the ocean," she said.

"There are a lot of women and people from different cultures and countries that are really on the ground fighting the fight for our ocean but they don't get the spotlight." Already, the work towards inclusive conservation has begun. In Seychelles, numerous organisations have put women and youth at the centre of efforts. One such organisation is SOCOMEP, a woman-run fisheries quality and quantity control company. In Kenya, women are promoting conservation education within the mangrove forests through the Mikoko Pamoja mangrove conservation and restoration project, helping contribute to ecotourism, better health care and education while generating an income. Kraft pointed to the need for data as the intersections between gender and the ocean still remain unexplored. "One of the biggest issues right now that we have is the lack of sex-disaggregated data so it makes it harder to make really adequate policy responses when we don't know the exact status of where women are in the economic activities in ocean and marine-related fields," she said. At the end of the day, the international community must also recognise that gender is related to and should be mainstreamed through all sectors. "We have gone too long without having a gender lens really used for all of these policymakersâ&#x20AC;Śgender equality will benefit sustainable ocean governance and sustainable ocean governance with a gender lens will contribute to gender equality and women's economic empowerment," Kraft said. (Source: ipsnews.net)

July 2019

Environment & people

by TERI Glacier Research Programme Team

Long-term research shows how the icy tongue of the Kolahoi Glacier is receding due to climate change and deforestation ising up to 5,425 metres, Mount Kolahoi crowns the most famous glacier in Kashmir, in the western Himalayas. Kolahoi Glacier flows from near the peak to about 35 kilometres upstream from Pahalgam, at the head of the West Lidder Valley. Known locally as the 'Goddess of Light', the glacier boosts the rural economy and tourism as the Lidder River flows into the Jhelum. The famed fertility of the Kashmir Valley owes a lot to the meltwater of the Kolahoi Glacier. But now, as the average temperature in the Jhelum basin is on the rise due to climate change, deforestation in the Upper Lidder Valley is rampant, and human activity has increased near the glacier, the shrinking of the Kolahoi glacier is more evident with the scarcity of snowfall every season. Another tipping point is the timing of snowfall which is slowly shifting to late winter months. Fallen snow from the late winter does not settle quickly and melts away as every day gets warmer. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) initiated its Glacier Research Programme in 2008 to analyse climatic and hydrological changes in the Himalayas. Kolahoi was selected as one of the two glaciers, other being East Rathong Glacier in Sikkim, that make an ideal case for longterm measurements. In the autumn of 2009, a team of scientists from TERI installed an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) at an elevation of

Environment & people

July 2019

3,925 m in the Kolahoi Glacier Monitoring Observatory. Now they have evidence over nine years to show that the amount of ice and snow in the glacier is growing less in winter and shrinking more in summer. The primary goal of the project is to get an understanding of the degree of livelihood dependence of downstream communities and melt contribution of the glacier to the river. The team records water level at the Lidderwat Discharge Station, located in the West Lidder River, and frequently makes snow density measurements at the accumulation zone of the glacier. The measurements show that the Kolahoi Glacier has begun to melt inconsistently. As a result, the Lidder River is losing its equilibrium. The scientists have been measuring the mass balance of the glacier - how much snow and ice it accumulates and how much it loses. Corroborated by satellite data, the

Kashmir is losing its crown

measurements on the ground show an incremental pace of melting. To make matters worse, the team found that the glacier is covered with large crevasses, debris from adjacent mountains, and has gone brown and grey from white. That hastens melting, because darker colours absorb more heat from the sun and reflect less. Explaining the way the scientists have reached their conclusions, Shresth Tayal, Fellow, Centre for Himalayan Ecology at TERI says, "Glacier area change for Kolahoi was calculated from 1980 to 2015 using satellite images. It shows a decline in length by 10%, reduction of glacier boundary (aerial surface) by 13.5% and a loss in volume by 18%." TERI's analysis indicates that Jhelum basin lost almost 7.4% of Snow Cover Area since 2000. The glacier receded by about 1% of its length from 1980-90 and 1.1% from 1990-2000. However, in the next decade, the rate of retreat spiked to 5.4%. On a cumulative scale, the glacier is losing ice at an alarming rate. What does this mean to people downstream? Almost 50% of the snow covered area in the Jhelum basin disappears at the onset of summer, leaving the farming community water stressed exactly when their crops need water. The glacier is the source of about 62% of its water of the Lidder River. Apples and rice - two of the staple crops in the region - need regular watering, and the Kolahoi Glacier has traditionally supplied most of the water. Another huge money earner in the area is cultivation of saffron. But when the snowfall is insufficient, soil moisture is too low to sustain the saffron crop. The (cont.. on page no. 30)

Namami Gange: Only 10 out of 100 sewage projects done Swati Bansal

Under Namami Gange mission, only 10 out of 100 new sewage projects completed s per the records, the government has been able to finish only 10 of the 100 sewage infrastructure projects under the Namami Gange mission. Nearly Rs 28,000 crore has been sanctioned for the sewage management work under the mission but only Rs 6,700 crore spent till date. According to a report on the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) website, most of the projects completed under the current government's regime are the ones that were commissioned before the Ganga mission. The incompletion of projects is being reflected in the quality of Ganga river water. UPPCB probes pollution in Hindon river After farmers complained to the Uttar Pradesh pollution control board (UPPCB) about oil being discharged by unidentified factories into the Hindon river, a UPPCB team collected water samples from the river near Momnathal village in Noida, for

a probe. Villagers observed oil-like waste enveloping the water flowing through their village and birds and animals dying drinking the water. As per the UPPCB officials, the exact cause of water turning oily and dark will be known only after the investigation reports are out. Ahmedabad initiates three-pronged approach to meet the city's water demands As the water crisis worsens in several parts of the city, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is providing water to citizens through tankers. As per the data of the civic body, more than 19 lakh litre of water is being distributed by the tankers. In a single day, nearly 70 tankers deployed to provide potable water, make about 383 trips to different parts of the city. In order to tap its groundwater resources, the civic body is conducting a massive survey and mapping of tube wells that have been lying defunct. The survey has identified over 250 defunct tube wells in the city. Greenfield international airport in Goa and waterfront development plan for Mundra Port get green nod The ministry's expert appraisal committee (EAC) has granted environmental

clearance to the development of a greenfield international airport in north Goa and approved terms of reference (TOR) to the expansion of a waterfront development plan for Mundra Port by Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd (APSEZ). However, as per the environment experts, green laws have been violated in both the projects. In both cases, there have been incomplete environmental assessments while the existing and potential impacts have been clearly established under these projects. Union minister rejects global report on pollution death As per the US-based Health Effects Institute report, around 1.2 million people were killed in India in 2017 due to air pollution. However, the union environment minister Harsh Vardhan has disagreed to the claims. According to him, pollution can cause premature illness and other health effects but not death. He further added that the report has been prepared to create panic. He highlighted that Centre is making several initiatives to tackle air pollution in the country. (Source: indiawaterportal.org)

July 2019

Environment & people

July 2019

As ia

ou th

fut ur eo fS

ater management is arriving, if it has not already, at a crossroads where long-established and successful approaches are deemed inadequate in meeting the ambitious Sustainable Development Goal targets. Large-scale, centralised infrastructure, which was the hallmark approach to water management in the last two centuries, has certainly allowed us to make great progress in urban water supply access, but progress on rural water supply lags behind. In South Asia, around 206 million people lacked access to basic drinking water in 2015. Of these, 81% lived in rural areas. Addressing this inequitable access to water supply services will be at the heart of water management for the future. Given this context, there have been increasing calls for decentralised solutions to address inequities in access to water. Decentralised water systems complement traditional centralised ones in meeting not just the interim needs of urban slums, but the needs of scattered villages too, where centralised systems are not viable. Part of the reason for this is that cost per capita of constructing traditional water systems is higher in rural areas, given the smaller population scattered over a large area. This leads to high operating costs to be recovered by fewer users. Decentralised systems solve this problem, because they are lowcost yet adaptable. These systems can be expanded into fully centralised ones as communities grow, without locking in too much capital. Moreover, such systems allow for innovation while also providing income opportunities locally. Learning from past mistakes But not all decentralised solutions will do. Past experience shows that decentralised water and sanitation solutions from NGOs and charities have been unsustainable, with donors building water infrastructure and leaving, without providing

meet the most pressing issues like water. In South Asia alone, there has been a surge in social enterprises in the past decade, many of which are working on water - a resource that for long was exclusively managed by the government. India, in particular, has been a breeding ground for innovation, with many local businesses demonstrating success across the water supply delivery chain. Online apps such as TrolleyFresh are becoming commonplace in urban centres as they deliver drinking water to customers at their preferred time and place. Water kiosk franchises such as WaterWalla are helping entrepreneurs in Mumbai and Dharavi establish micro-businesses to sell and

water manage d e me is l a nt tr is n e the c e

As the public sector struggles to provide water in South Asia, a bustling start-up industry is stepping in, but these entrepreneurs need to understand the complexity of what they are addressing

beneficiaries the training or market infrastructure for upkeep. This problem is best demonstrated by the handpump crisis in Africa, where tens of thousands of boreholes in rural communities have fallen into disrepair. What the next generation of water management calls for are marketbased, decentralised solutions from social enterprises. This requires moving from a 'charity' approach of giving free or subsidized water to people, towards enabling them to invest for themselves to ensure sustainability. One criticism of this approach has been that the entry of private actors may make it more expensive for marginalised communities to access a resource that the public sector should provide. The reality is not so black and white. The 1990s saw a massive privatisation of water supply utilities, with different results in different countries. In Uruguay and South Africa, this wave of privatisation had devastating consequences - extreme price hikes resulting in poor people losing all access to water. In the case of South Asia - and Asia in general - public service provision is extremely poor and the private sector has played an important role to ensure affordable service delivery, for example in Singapore. Usually, to ensure public interest, some form of balance is arrived at such as a public-private-partnership management contracts. For decentralised projects, local governments in many South Asian countries still largely do not have the ability to maintain their own budget or deliver services. This means that they are unlikely to invest in solutions, or be motivated to maintain existing solutions. When the local governments fail to provide solutions, many good - but some exploitative - solutions will appear from the private sector. It is not wrong for the private sector to provide public services for which there is demand, nor is it wrong for them to charge for this. However, a better model is one where a balance is struck and the private sector innovates and operates, while the public sector oversees to ensure public interest is maintained. A surge of entrepreneurship This is the perfect time to explore such a balance. We live in times when impact investors and tech philanthropists are keen to invest in entrepreneurial solutions to

Decentralised water management is the future of South Asia Laila Kasuri

distribute water by giving them a storefront, marketing assistance and access to technology. Other start-ups like NextDrop are using mobile phones to collect real time water delivery data to ensure transparency and enhance utility performance. India is not the only country demonstrating innovation in the water sector. In Bangladesh, micro-franchise enterprises like Drinkwell provide local entrepreneurs with low-cost technology that removes arsenic and fluoride from water, so that these entrepreneurs not only have a livelihood for themselves, but are able to provide clean water to nearly 200,000 villages in rural Bangladesh. But are these enterprises the exceptions? And can these innovations really solve South Asia's water woes? While

there is hype around these enterprises especially those using mobile technologies, given South Asia's IT boom - there is also doubt from the public sector on whether such enterprises can really understand the depth of the problem and deliver on their ambitious goals. Such doubts exist for good reason, because managing sectors like water requires an understanding of the entire institutional, legal and political systems that surrounds it. In South Asia, in particular, it is often not the lack of infrastructure or technology that is the largest hurdle in providing access to water - it is the more parochial and political issues. Take the example of Xyla Water, a startup born out of an acceleration program in Norway but with most of its operations in Lahore. The startup aimed to provide lowcost, low-energy filters to poor communities in Pakistan, and received significant support and grants to develop its business. Ultimately though, the start-up failed to deliver. One reason was that it put too much focus on product development, but very little on determining the appropriate market, business model or service delivery chain for disseminating the filters. Moreover, the team was not only scattered across the globe but had little knowledge of the water landscape within Pakistan. After all, while filters can purify water and remove pathogens, they still have to be part of a combined solution that looks at the cause of the problem, which could have more to do with sourcing and distribution of water, or sometimes perverse policies. Xyla's story is not unique. Many start-ups suffer from this dilemma: they tend to be too focused on developing a solution, be it a technology or product, rather than understanding the actual problem itself and determining the appropriate solutions that would address that problem. Then, there is the story of Sukoon Water, a social enterprise founded - and recently ended - by Stanford-graduate Rehan Adamjee, as penned in his start-up postmortem post. After graduation, Rehan had returned to Pakistan filled with the drive to fix a social problem - in his case, to provide access to clean water free from faecal contamination in Shirin Jinnah Colony in Karachi. Though his enterprise showed promise and growth early on, it could not reach a level of sustainability to continue

operations. After a few years, his market had plateaued to a few households educated enough to know the value of buying clean water; the remainder continued using contaminated water sources. The enterprise thus failed to grow because it operated on a false assumption of expected behaviour change from consumers. Moreover, as Rehan began to understand the depth and scale of the water challenges in Karachi, he began to feel that his "work began to not only feel small, it began to almost feel irresponsible and irrelevant." Embracing failure Rehan's story, however, can be seen as a success, because he realised that for his enterprise to really succeed, not only did the business model need to be sustainable, but that it should address the actual root of the problem. This is the start of building better, sustainable enterprises. Yes, entrepreneurs in Pakistan - and overall in South Asia - have a long way to go in addressing water challenges. But like start-ups in any other sector, water startups will need to fail first (and perhaps multiple times) before they learn how to build sustainable business models that can work independent of grants and subsidies. They will need to focus on designing solutions to actual problems, not just glamorous solutions that win recognition. Sometimes, that could also mean working without the support of foreign grants, which can be easy to get hold of in low-income countries, but only skew perceptions of long-term financial sustainability. The responsibility lies on the shoulders of the public sector as well. For local entrepreneurs to really deliver impactful solutions, governments need to not only engage with big business but support and encourage young entrepreneurs, many of whom are oblivious to issues like water. They also need to equip businesses with the necessary data and knowledge about the sector to develop relevant solutions. In the end, what works in the water sector is a grounded business model that fits within the legal and institutional framework, addresses a problem, has an existing market and can work with the government to provide an integrated solution. (Source: thethirdpole.net)

July 2019

Environment & people

Kesang Thakur

Authorities blame the surge in tourism for mounting waste, thus sidestepping issues of rise in domestic consumption and lack of effective management. n conventional imagination, mountain societies are seen as embodying ecological sufficiency and simplicity. Ideas and images of rurality are carefully constructed, kept uncontaminated by processes characterising the urban, like consumerism, poverty, toxicity, violence, etc. The mountains today are entangled in several processes of change. The everyday here is a constant negotiation between the 'traditional' and the 'modern'. Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, where I was born and currently live, has undergone significant socio-economic and cultural shifts, especially in the last four decades. People's incomes have risen and the market has become an integral part of the everyday. Different kinds of consumer goods have percolated into our lives, leaving Kullu a wastegenerator. While we value our ability to consume, we despise the rubbish this very act of consumption produces. Given the visibility of waste due to lack of proper management mechanisms, it has become a site of both anxiety and conflict in the two municipalities of Kullu and Manali. Authorities blame the surge in tourism for mounting waste, thus sidestepping issues of rise in domestic consumption and lack of effective management. As urban local bodies, Kullu and Manali are struggling to manage their waste. Unsegregated municipal solid waste is transported to the landfill

Environment & people

July 2019

and sits there untreated. However, in May, Manali's municipal council issued notices stating that from April 1, it will collect only segregated waste. The council considers this necessary to prepare the people for a waste-to-energy plant coming up in the area despite a policy that calls for decentralisation of waste systems. The plant is a capital-intensive fix, if that. A project official says it is the first of its kind in India and only the second in the world after one in Australia. The plant aims to produce 35 tonnes of refuse-derived fuel from 100 tonnes of waste per day, all of which will be used to generate electricity. According to the Manali municipal council's data, the town generates 35.2 metric tonnes of solid waste per day at the peak of tourist season - May-June - and 14 metric tonnes per day for the rest of the year. Biodegradable waste is estimated to make up 25% in both seasons. However, council officials themselves aren't sure. "We do not reach the 35 tonnes capacity in high season," one said. "To say the truth, we haven't conducted any 'scientific' survey to understand the waste composition of the town." In 2017, the town's municipal council could no longer overlook the overflow at the existing Rangri landfill, about 2 km outside the town, and made several attempts to find a new site. All nine panchayats outside the council area refused to grant land. Waste is a contentious subject in Kullu as well. The council of Kullu and the deputy commissioner's office have been negotiating with local panchayats since 2002. Kullu's trash used to be dumped at a site in Pirdi village, but after a while, panchayats in and around the settlement protested and a local resident filed a writ petition in 2012. Five years later, the National Green Tribunal ordered it shut. The council was asked to identify a new site within two weeks, and also ordered the existing waste cleared. But the council only flouted it and truckloads kept coming in, including biomedical waste from the adjoining district of Bilaspur. In fact, the story of the Pirdi landfill goes back to 1996. It was originally the site of a designated incinerator, and officials had obtained permission by promising

local development projects. The Balh panchayat granted the Kullu council a 'no objection certificate' in 1996 explicitly stating that the okay was contingent on the waste being dealt with 'appropriately'. In return, the council offered street lights, a park and a cafeteria in five of the 20 bighas. However, officials had grossly underestimated the amount of waste that would come in and soon there was a mountain of it. "We wouldn't have faced this problem today if only the waste [had been] properly managed by the municipality," Joginder Singh, a resident of the Balh panchayat and

then an extension of eight weeks. When even that lapsed, the council appealed for more time but was refused. Disappointed by the administration's inability to manage waste, the 11 panchayats decided to seek their own solutions. They plan to conduct discussions in each ward and also consult with experts. "In rural areas, there isn't much waste being generated," said Tikam Ram, a resident of Pirdi. "We will compost the organic waste. We need to understand how to deal with non-biodegradable waste." However, the official at the waste-toenergy plant dismissed composting and

president of the forest rights committee, said. The tipping point came in 2018, when the stench from the landfill became unbearable. In September, all 11 panchayats embarked on a month-long dharna and blocked the road to the landfill site. The protesters also familiarised themselves with rights granted under the Forest Rights Act, and subsequently the forest rights committees asserted that their rights to clean environment and good health were being violated. Caught in an impasse, the Kullu council approached the Supreme Court and was granted four weeks to find a new site, and

recycling as obsolete processes, possibly because for the plant to remain viable, it will need a steady supply of waste with high calorific value. Then again, the amount of waste is only going to increase because Kullu and Manali are likely to be visited by more tourists, not fewer. According to official tourism data, 3.4 million people visited Kullu district in 2015. The official also said the administration planned to "take control of the entire waste chain, from door-to-door collection up until processing of the waste". It's unclear what fate awaits the workers informally engaged in recycling waste for a living.

July 2019

Environment & people

Like Kullu, the municipal council of Manali has not implemented any decentralised solutions either. But unlike Kullu, Manali depends more on these workers during tourist season because of the extra waste generated. Given the paucity of safai karamcharis, the workers play a crucial role in ensuring that more local waste enters the recycling chain. "There are close to 200 informal waste pickers in Manali alone. For any solution to be implemented, they have to be incorporated into the waste management chain," a junior official at the council said. When the author visited a local scrap dealer, five waste-pickers showed up in a span of 20 minutes, with their collections neatly separated into different kinds. One young boy working at a hotel nearby brought a sack full of tin cans. This particular dealer has been in the business for 30 years. He says notebooks go for Rs 10/kg, PET bottles for Rs 20/kg and cardboard, for Rs 5. "Half of Manali's waste comes to us for recycling. What remains is the wet waste, which the council used to compost earlier," he said. The waste pickers collect recyclable waste from around the town and sell it to the dealer. He then compresses it and transports it to grinding factories in the neighbouring districts of Solan and to units in Chandigarh and Delhi. The dealer and others like him in Manali are certain the upcoming waste-to-energy plant won't disrupt the existing waste economy. Even though the project plans to co-opt the informal waste pickers, they say it will materialise only if the conditions of profit are met. According to the Solid Waste Management Rules of 2016, all urban local bodies are required to set up material recovery facilities with sufficient space to allow waste-pickers to easily separate recyclable from non-recyclable waste. However, no such systems are currently in place. Every day, waste workers rummage through mounds of unsegregated waste to extract valuable stuff. Most privately owned scrap outlets are cramped makeshift structures. Here, the workers are exposed to poisonous conditions. In effect, a valuable first step towards establishing effective waste management practices in the mountains would be to address a fundamental contradiction. Will an inclusive solid waste management policy based on values of circularity do any good if the solutions on offer are based on exclusivity and linearity? (Source: thewire.in)

Environment & people

July 2019

(page no. 5 cont...) but quickly realised that his passion lay in the field. He started working on his friend's farm near Coimbatore and soon grew his first batch of keerai. After spending about 18 months learning techniques and meeting farmers, he set up Keerai Kadai with his brother Sriram Subramanian. Keerai Kadai sources greens and herbs from about 75 farmers in and around Coimbatore. The team works with the farmers on contract basis, gives them food and accommodation, provides them with seeds, and trains them in natural farming techniques, such as using cow urine, cow dung, sugarcane juice, sugarcane pulp and chickpea flour to grow plants. Finally, the produce is bought at market price and sold directly to the customers. In the last year and a half, the Keerai Kadai team has delivered fresh greens and herbs to over 25,000 customers across Coimbatore. "Our USP is that post-har-

(page no. 24 cont...) area under saffron has seen a sharp decline. Almost all parts of the Lidder Valley that are not cultivated are dotted with pastures. But the grass is drying due to lack of soil moisture, and shepherds are being forced to look for pastures elsewhere. Tayal says, "The faster melting of the glacier is permanently altering the fabric of an already fragile ecosystem that is the key selling point of tourism in Kashmir. Without Kashmir's natural beauty that drives the tourism industry, the local economy is going to dwindle altogether. Any change in length or volume of Kolahoi will directly affect the meltwater which, in due

vest, we deliver the greens within two to three hours," said Prasad. The greens are harvested twice a day and are sold in the store as well through the website and the Keerai Kadai app. Apart from Coimbatore, Keerai Kadai is also present in Madurai, where it has a store and a restaurant, which was opened in October 2018. The restaurant serves dishes such as keerai rasam, palak biryani, keerai vadai and keerai pakoda. "Madurai is a city of food lovers, so we thought it would be the right place to see if a restaurant based on greens would be appealing to people," said Prasad. On his own farm, Prasad grows green leafy vegetables and conducts trials on older varieties of greens. He recently came across a herb with brittle leaves, which lends an onion-like flavour when added to food. For now, it has been named "Omelette Keerai" because they "think it will be a good addition to omelettes". Prasad hopes that in the future, more farmers will join him to help create a robust supply chain for greens across South India. "Farming and technology in agriculture today need an upgrade," he said. "We have to provide the right opportunities if we want people to come forward and choose agriculture." (Source: scroll.in)

course, hampers the long-term sustainability of livelihoods banking on the river." Together, tourism and agriculture generate about 95% of the household income in the Lidder Valley. The effects of the glacier retreat are showing already. The population in the state of Jammu and Kashmir has grown by 23.6% in the first decade of this millennium, but the population of Anantnag district - through which the Lidder flows dropped by 10% in the same period. Academics think this may be due to migration out of the area. (Source: indiaclimatedialogue.net)

July 2019

Environment & people

Eco Facts State of cities - By 2050, India is projected to add 416 million urban dwellers to the world's urban population and will be home to about 58 per cent of the total global population. Keeping this in mind, India in 2015-16 announced its ambitious plan of creating 100 smart cities. Four years later, only 21 per cent of the allocated funds for the smart cities have been spent. In the meanwhile, most urban cities have a sizeable population living in slums, which are unfit for habitation. India has 2,613 towns with slums. Of them, 57 per cent are in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. State of waste - The burden of solid waste is becoming unmanageable. In fact, 79 major protests against unsanitary landfills and dump yards have been recorded in 22 states in the past three years. Maharashtra, which registered 16 major protests, leaves 43 per cent of its waste unprocessed. While India claims to process 96 per cent of its biomedical waste, eight states and UTs have defaulting hospitals. The country has also recorded a 56 per cent increase in the number of hazardous-waste generating industries between 2009 and 2016-17. At the same time, most of these industries are not properly maintaining their waste inventory, as mandated by the law. State of energy - India's natural gas and hydro-based power plants are in shambles. Gas-based plants are running at 24 per cent of their capacity due to the acute shortage of domestic natural gas. Hydropower projects, on the other hand, are running at just 19 per cent of their capacity and their share in total installed capacity has consistently declined since 1962. The country's progress in renewable energy in 2018-19 has also been dismal. In wind, the country met only 6.3 per cent of the target this year. In solar, it met 5.86 per cent. State of climate - There has been a 22 per cent increase in India's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 2010 and 2014. This has been fuelled by the energy sector, which is responsible for 73 per cent of the total GHG emissions. Besides, India phased out ozone depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbon by 2011, it shifted to substances such as hydrochlorofluorocarbon, which have high globalwarming potential. India continues to bear the brunt of extreme weather events. In 2018, 11 states recorded major extreme weather events that claimed 1,425 lives. State of forests - India has recently shifted to a powerful forest fire monitoring and alert system, SNPP-VIIRS, which can capture forest fires with better accuracy and precision. In April 2019, the new technology recorded 69,523 forest fires, which was 9.5 times more than that recorded by the earlier technology. Environment & people

July 2019

Eco

Quotes Economic growth and environmental protection are not at odds. They're opposite sides of the same coin if you're looking at longer-term prosperity. Henry Paulson Anything built by man can be destroyed by Mother Nature. Russel Honore Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. Aldo Leopold We are aware only of the empty space in the forest, which only yesterday was filled with trees. Anna Freud It's Nixon who created the Environmental Protection Agency. Clean Air and Water Acts. Endangered Species Act. Promoted affirmative action. One could go on and on with Nixon as a New Deal liberal on domestic policy and a hawk, but one with great geo-political skills. Douglas Brinkley Environmental protection doesn't happen in a vacuum. You can't separate the impact on the environment from the impact on our families and communities. Jim Clyburn

Factory farming is one of the biggest contributors to the most serious environmental problems. The meat industry causes more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, planes and ships in the world. Joan Jett The Endangered Species Act is the strongest and most effective tool we have to repair the environmental harm that is causing a species to decline. Norm Dicks Mankind has probably done more damage to the Earth in the 20th century than in all of previous human history. Jacques Yves Cousteau The quicker we humans learn that saving open space and wildlife is critical to our welfare and quality of life, maybe we'll start thinking of doing something about it. Jim Fowler If the federal government had been around when the Creator was putting His hand to this state, Indiana wouldn't be here. It'd still be waiting for an environmental impact statement. Ronald Reagan

Eco (page no. 16 cont...) impacts of mangroves in, say, Florida and Haiti, Hochard and colleagues instead express losses not in US dollar value but as relative to months of economic productivity. Losses per cyclone for communities with 6m of mangroves per metre of coastline were double that of communities protected by 25m per m of mangroves. In the former group, losses are somewhere between 5.5 and 6.5 months of economic activity. In the latter, the extra mangroves kept cyclone impacts down to between 2.5 and 5.5 months. Blue economy Mangrove forests cover just 0.5% of the world's coasts but account for an estimated 1015% of coastal carbon capture. As we try to stop CO? levels rising and put the brakes on climate change, protecting mangroves for their blue carbon value is key. Mangrove protection from cyclones also reduces longer term deterioration of low-lying inland areas with rising sea levels. Storm surges and flooding from cyclones, which deposit salts, are greater without mangrove protection. In Bangladesh, for example, rice agriculture is increasingly impossible as fields are flooded with seawater. One way communities are adapting is to shift production to shrimp farms. Booming shrimp aquaculture, however, ironically requires further mangrove clearance to create space - as seen graphically in Sri Lanka. Loss of mangrove protection from cyclones then worsens coastal deterioration. Mangroves aren't only lost to aquaculture, or harvested for wood, however. Mangroves are strongly affected, for example, by polluted freshwater flowing to the coast. Conflicting objectives at different levels of government and in different locations need joining up. And mangroves are just one aspect of coastal ecosystems and economies - effective management will mean integration with seagrass systems, coral reefs and so on. The complexity is daunting. We need to be able to act using general principles that can be translated to the great majority of locations for which there are not the resources for local studies. Robustly evidenced global models such as this make that possible. The clock is ticking as mangroves are rapidly lost worldwide.

Environmental Quiz - Questions 1. According to a global study of wind power in 2005 what extent of the world's total energy usage could be satisfied if all viable wind power locations were exploited: 1%; 10%; 75%; or Five times? 2. What word, derived loosely from 'two oxygens', refers to a highly toxic group of pollutant chemicals produced typically as by-products from manufacturing processes? 3. A photovoltaic module is more commonly known as what? 4. Sulphur/sulfur dioxide and (various) nitrogen oxides are the main contributory factors in what unhelpful environmental effect: Acid rain; Landfill run-off; Global warming; or Pesticides? 5. What structural modification of oxygen is an air pollutant in the lower atmosphere but beneficial in the upper atmosphere? 6. Used in various environmental terminology referring to organic life, what prefix derives from the original Greek meaning 'the course of human life'? 7. What is the climate change agreement aimed at stabilizing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, named after the Japanese city in which participating nations agreed its framework in 1997? 8. Photopollution is a technical alternative word for what sort of pollution? 9. In excess of how many gallons of water are lost each day in the USA to leaks, equating to 14% of all 'withdrawals': Six million, Sixty million, Six hundred million; or Six billion? 10. The UN Stockholm Convention signed in 2001 seeks to limit the produc-

(Source: indiaclimatedialogue.net)

tion and use of what, abbreviated to POPs?

July 2019

Environment & people

Climate Emergency Is the heatwave that scorched Europe last week a prelude to our future?

Sorry, Son! What kind of world are we handing over to the next generation? Environment & people

July 2019

Environment & People

RNI - 63997/94