Holocene year 3 issue 4

Year 3/Issue 04/December2017–January 2018

The World After 5th Extinction

Wildlife Corridor Designing for Conservation in India

Featuring Asian Biodiversity

Using Computational Aspects: A Preliminary Interaction Model (Part – II)

Why We Should Tigers

Is Creator The Protector (?)

Fo2Hunt…

Monthly Newsletter of

An Initiative to Save Nature

Enemy at the Gates…

Where Tigers are Targeted Cover Photo : Shadab Khan

Year 3/Issue 04/December 2017–January 2018

“Caterpillar dun' become butterfly-caterpillar die so butterfly can be. A new thing. We all must let ourselves die to be what we will be. But we cling to what we know.” ~ Ryan Winfield

Photograph by Dibakar Roy

Year 3/Issue 04/December 2017–January 2018

The Holocene is the geological epoch that began after the Pleistocene at approximately 11,700 years BP and continues to the present. As Earth warmed after the Ice Age, the human population increased and early man began to change the planet forever. For Exploring Nature, our newsletter Holocene is our platform to convey our concerns on human threat to biodiversity. We will use our newsletter as a media to highlight the current local and global issues which could impact biodiversity of Mother Nature and promote awareness of biodiversity in alignment with our group’s mission of promoting awareness of different aspects of Mother Nature among people.

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Content: Cover Story Enemy at the Gates… Where Tigers are Targeted… by Dwaipayan Ghosh Translated by Anwesha Ghatak from original Bengali 4|Page Editorial The Fading Stripes 7|Page Experts’ Voice Wildlife Corridor Designing for Conservation in India usin Computational Aspects, A Preliminary Interaction Model (Part–II) by Saurabh Shanu & Sudeepto Bhattacharya 9|Page Voice of Nature Why We Should Tigers by Vrushabh Borkar 11|Page Is Creator The Protector (?) by Arnab Basu 15|Page Newbie Hoary-Bellied Squirrel by Priyanku Chetia Pator 18|Page Cohabitation Fo2Hunt… An Nature

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19|Page Anwesha Ghatak Samiran Halder, Vrushabh Borkar

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Year 3/Issue 04/December 2017–January 2018

Dwaipayan Ghosh

Translated by Anwesha Ghatak from Original Bengali.

“Chhoti Kankati” is reported missing. The news flashing in the social media, on the rainy morning of October 9th, troubled me. Stranded in a chaotic traffic, near Netaji Subhash International Airport, I was worried if I could make it to the flight to Guwahati. But that was not the only reason I was concerned that morning. Not more than six months back, pictures of the female tiger “Chhoti Kankati” with her three little cubs, assured me that, “The wild looks pretty in the wilderness and the children in their mother’s lap”. Few of my friends were fortunate enough to witness the universal motherly bond in “Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve”. And now that image is gone with the wind. This brings back memories of “Baghin nala”, dying a horrific death in “Pench Tiger Reserve” one and half years ago.

On the fateful morning of 30th March, 2016, bodies of the female tiger “Baghin nala” was discovered, along with her two litters, near Turia Gate. The only surviving cub was so frightened that could not sustain long in the Bandhavgarh Enclosure. The tigers lost their lives due to alleged poisoning.

The search is still on for “Chhoti Kankati”. She was not spotted accompanying her 8 month old cubs, which is unusual for big cats like tiger, leopard or cheetah. Only once had I encountered a similar incident with a leopard mother, and then she was sighted near her cubs within 3-4 days. If “Chhoti Kankati” does not come back to her offspring anytime soon, we have to assume the unthinkable. And the worst fear could be brutal, has she ended up in the hands of the poachers?

Tigers are synonymous with Asian Wilderness, vital to our culture for many centuries. Tiger is the symbol of a lone warrior, famous for its enigma, hegemony and valor. This supreme beast is subject to numerous folktales and fables in Asian literature, predominantly in India, China and Japan.

Citation of tigers as an integrated part of tribal culture dates back as early as Harappa & MahenjoDaro civilization, almost 5000 years back. In an ancient Chinese writing, more than 2000 years back, tigers were delineated as, “existence of tigers is excellent for humans, as tigers prey on swine that destroy cultivation”. Since early Chinese civilization tigers embody fortune just like unicorns and dragons and have been deemed as protectors. But unlike unicorns and dragons, which are imaginary, tigers are very much real and a critical part of our eco-system. In Chinese alphabets, the pattern on a tiger’s forehead resemblances the ideogram that represents kings, hence tigers are revered as royalty. In Aryan as well as Non-Aryan religious practices in India, tigers are worshipped as or in 3|Page

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association with deities. Tigers have often been used as national symbols for many countries. In modern times India, Bangladesh, Malayasia, South Korea have crowned Tiger as the National Animal.

As a whole, in Asian civilization, the name tiger transpires awe and aura.

Though tigers are eminent parts of Asian Natural History, their stint with contemporary is daunting.

Among nine original sub-species of tigers, three declared extinct by 1980 (Bali 1940, Java 1970, Caspian 1981). Remaining six sub-species are trying hard to keep up with the shifting scenarios of natural habitats. Stretching from the snow-clad south of Amur Basin in the far North, to the tropical dry and moist deciduous, evergreen forests, rain forests and mangrove forests, there are only 3800 tigers left in the wilderness till date. To do an autopsy of this anatomy, two causes of concerns can be dissected. The first and foremost is, hunting gone out of control. The systematic execution of these big cats and collecting body parts as prized possessions were a must do for the Regal and Nouveau Riches. During colonization of Asia, many tigers ended up in the “Bucket Lists” of imperialism.

According to historian “Mahesh Rangarajan”, during the span of just 50 years (1875-1925), in India alone eighty thousand tigers have been wiped out in hunting expeditions. In the year 1911, “King George the Fifth”, took lives of 39 tigers in a single day! “Colonel Geoffrey Nightingale” hunted as many as 300 tigers in Colonial India! The Indian Royal families were not far behind in this cowardice and irresponsible display of attacking defenseless wildlife for trophies! The “Monarch of Reva” terminated 109 tigers in central India. Gunning down a tiger was particularly popular with the youth of royal descendants, to gain an “honored” access to adulthood. But not only trophies, tiger parts were exploited to yield medicines. Superstition that parts of tiger’s body can cure diseases or give extra strength to manhood, still endangers this critical animal. Few tiger deaths are related to mananimal conflicts, but numbers are less compared to hunting or poaching. This mindless extermination of this magnificent striped creature in the name of bravery in colonized Asia had seriously jeopardized their existence.

Post World War 2, after the fall of Imperialism in Asia, the power play altered. After acquiring freedom, the newly independent nations in Asia, began constituting their own Environmental laws. One of the noteworthy initiatives by the Governance of the Republic of India was, “Wildlife Protection Act, 1972’.

And that very year tiger was coronated as the “National Animal”. And a year after “Project Tiger” was launched aiming conservation of tigers. End of British Rule, abolition of Kingdoms, a protection act and a project to protect and preserve tigers, defied trophy-hunting of tigers. The good will and execution yielded primary success, but not in the long run. The catastrophic World War 2 unsettled the entire geography and politics of the world. As a result many nations were plagued by civil wars and weapons were trafficked alarmingly. At the same time, developing countries of the third world became haven for drug peddlers and illegal wildlife trafficking. In the aftermath of devastation, the war-torn countries banked upon counter-economy. The count of tigers worldwide harshly declined in next 20 years since 1990 and by the end of 2010, only 3200 tigers survived. Disproportionate and unsustainable development in post independent India has resulted in loss of habitats for wildlife and the national animals are also not spared. The increasing demand across the globe for trafficked wildlife body-parts has fuelled syndicated wildlife poaching in India. The scenarios in reserved forests in India looked gloomy and the promises of better days for the “Waghs” (Panthera tigris) soon faded.

The interim report, published by “Wildlife Institute of India” (23rd May, 2007) highlighted that, after the census of 2006-2007, in 16 among 26 tiger reserves (In Madhyapradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and reserves in Chhatishgarh except Indrawati), 50% decrease in tiger population was feared. To straighten the statistics, in those 16 reserves, the number of tigers recorded in 2002 was 1233 and in just 5 years, the number was staggering at 490. There was not a single tiger alive in Sariska, Rajasthan by 2004 and in Panna, Madhyapradesh by 2009. After 2010 tiger census, total number of tigers in this entire country amounted to 1706 and compared to 2006 (1811 tigers counted, the lowest after “Project Tiger” was launched in 1972) exceeded just by 300.

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The clock was ticking and before tigers in India would vanish from jungles, the Administration decided to turn the table. A special committee named “Tiger Task Force” was formed under the supervision of the then Prime Minister of India. And by this committee’s recommendation, “Project Tiger” was remodeled to shape up “National Tiger Conservation Authority” (NTCA) in 2005. The authority led by experts, set in motion strategies to expand tiger reserves strengthening tiger shelters and security. By 2014, the striped ones thrived at 2226, exhibiting 30% growth since 2006. The moment called for celebration for all the tiger lovers in and outside India. But this success story should not bedazzle our sight and should not subdue challenges still looming around tiger conservation in India. Importantly, the flourishing tiger population will soon be out of habitats, if the scope of reserves does not manifold. At the same time, when we are jubilant at 30% growth of tiger population, 40% tiger habitats have been encroached, a topic less debated. As we know, big cats, except lions, are solitary animals and mark their own territory. After growing up when an adult tiger parts ways with the mother, it needs a den of its own. That’s why tigers roam from one reserve to another. A male tiger requires a lot of space to claim its realm, so often times a big male has to traverse distances, in search of a haven with plenty of prey but less contenders. For an instance, in 2008, a tiger reported missing from Pench Tiger Reserve, was spotted in and around Mukki zone, Kanha in 2011. Another full grown male travelled all the way from Nagzira, Maharashtra to Pench, Madhyapradesh between 2015 and 2016. The reserves should be inter-linked, but due to human population explosion and inordinate development the connectivity across the reserves are disrupted.

The tigers roaming around are at high risk of exposing themselves to life threatening conflicts. The extension of NH 7, affected the Pench-Kanha corridor greatly. Roads intercepting Dudhwa, Corbett, Katarniaghat reserves and urbanization and commercialization of Uttarakhand, has disconnected tiger reserves of northern India. The tigers are finding it hard to cross one reserve and find another, which is a key to their survival, especially after boom in numbers. If the competition is too arduous for the tigers, the consequence is more deadly. The encumbrance of modern human civilization is weighing heavy not only in the forest corridors, but also inside the protected areas. The recent ambitious project “Indian Rivers Inter-Link” launched by the central Government and the pilot project “Inter Linking Ken-Betwa” will threaten the habitats of Panna Tiger Reserve. In 2009 Panna was tigerless and again now this new peril might flood the 200 sq km Panna Reserve, drowning the habitats and the wildlife in it. After NBWL has issued clean-chit on “Kutku-Mandal Dam Project”, almost 1000 hectare of Palamou Tiger Reserve is feared to be submerged. In the beginning of this year, Central Government has passed one more motion to examine “Uranium mining” inside Amrabad Tiger Reserve, then they permitted fractions of the core areas of Satpura and Pench reserves for commercial fishing and also the “Denotification” by the rulers of our land for a portion of Achankamar reserve for “Bauxite mining”, will have momentous repercussion on the resident and travelling tigers.

Besides scant of habitats, poaching of tigers is still on the rise, despite strict laws. Last one and half years was a horror show considering the incidents of tiger poaching coming to light. In 2015 where 26 cases of tiger poaching reported, in 2016 it aggravated at 50 and till the month of May this year, the death toll has already reached 24! Illegal wildlife poaching is directly proportional to the global economic “swelling”. Trafficked wildlife body parts are exquisite in Asian black market. Chiefly tiger anatomy is in demand to be used in various traditional medicines rumored to cure rare diseases. A myth that tiger penis can enhance male virility and the availability of “tiger penis soup” in Asian restaurants, makes illegal tiger trade more lucrative. In 1998, one bowl of that exclusive soup costed a whopping $350-400 in USA currency! So the price of a dead tiger is primary arithmetic! Amidst sharp reprimand, tiger skin is misused in high fashion to date! Hence wildlife crime is a big business.

Experts at TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, estimate that Wildlife crime is a $20bn a year illegal business-it is the 4th largest illegal trade in the world. Like any other trade, the have-nots are at the rock-bottom and in case of wildlife commerce; the destitute forest dwellers are the crucial 5|Page

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hunters. The uneducated, disempowered village tribes deal with the mighty international racketeers and settle for marginal monitory gain. The wildlife hunted by the locals end up in International black market fetching big bucks. By 2012 “The People’s Republic of China” has officially forbidden trading of tiger parts. Surprisingly, liquors brewed from tiger bones are still a rage at Chinese black market.

Last year in a raid, TRAFFIC had seized body parts of as many as 1200 big cats, tigers and leopards combined in Myanmar black market. The “lion’s share” (read “tiger’s share”) of profiteering in east and south-east Asia’s illegal trade comes from illegal tiger trafficking. Body parts of tigers illegally hunted in Indian reserved forests steadily cross borders and arrive at Nepal, Tibet or Myanmar to meet the cupidity of global black market.

The “clear and present danger” for tigers is imminent. Episodes of tiger deaths in last 18 months inside our protected forests make us anxious for the 35% tiger population, who live outside the shielded areas. The carcass of “Chhoti Kankati” might have been identified, but other cats are not as fortunate. On several occasions, a death only comes to attention if body parts of a tiger are confiscated. The sad and lonely demise of a critically endangered species is served in a bowl in fancy restaurants through the borders of Myanmar to China, Laos, Taiwan or Singapore and the organized wildlife criminals known as “the Syndicate” raise a toast to the “deadly” surfeit. Once ruled by tigers, east and south-east Asian passages should not be ravished by the “messengers of deaths”. Instead let lives blossom in the wild at their full capacity and let the beasts of royal lineage reclaim their lost glory. May tigers reign the terrains.

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Editorial

The Fading Stripes The jungle has music of its own. The crested serpent eagle, crested hawk eagle, barbets and mating calls of deer concoct a melody and peafowl joins them to increase the resonance. The dances of hornbills, rollers and peacocks enkindle a rhythm that resounds into the woods and the perennial plants stand witness to that feral concert. Male deer fight to mate often consuming intoxicating mahua fruits (Madhuca longifolia). The winner responds to the female beckoning to make love. And the romance in forest blossoms with the possibility of fostering new lives. Jungle is a tough terrain and only the most sterling shall survive. The amorous tune can quickly shift to warning calls of the langurs and the herbivores run for their lives taking covers. And enter the king of the jungle with much ado. Like a scene from a period movie when the royalty arrives with the sound of trumpets and the hoi polloi gives way in his awe and aura. ‘Bengal tiger’ (Panthera tigris tigris) is a charismatic megafauna ruling the realm of Southeast Asian wilderness. Awarded as the National Animal for both India and Bangladesh, the longitudinal striped beauty in yellowish orange velvet, stands guard of our forests. Tiger, the muscular animal is an emblem of a warrior and vital to our eco-system. Positioned at the top of the food pyramid, the well being of natural habitat is entwined with the health of tigers.

We need to save tigers in order to save ourselves. But the rapacity of mankind is pushing tigers to the edge of extinction. Population of tigers is under serious threat owing to loss of habitat and illegal hunting. The global racket of wildlife trafficking, known as ‘the syndicate’ is employing local have-not in systematic poaching of tigers. The credulous villagers are often duped to set death traps for tigers with a promise of few bucks. Little to their knowledge, tigers parts are traded internationally with high revenues. The poor become killers of endangered animals to satiate the gluttony of rich. In Asian black market, tiger parts are processed for various perverse purposes and delivered to the targeted customers with ‘deep pocket’ across borders. More the proceeds, more the syndicate is equipped with cutting edge machineries. Our national forest guards often encounter the poachers with bare hands, with a lantern or a stick. Pertaining to this, the entire tiger population of Sariska Reserve was wiped out. In Manas Tiger Reserve the defying guards were assassinated by the poachers. The newest edition to this story of gore is the poaching of ‘Nayi Kankati’ (T-35) in the core area of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. ‘Nayi Kankati’, the magnificent mother of three cubs fell in the wrong hands who showed no mercy to her and the soil of one of the most celebrated National Parks, a ‘tiger land’ of India became bloodied.

Human-tiger conflicts are on the rise as the wild is engulfed by human population explosion. Forest, once home for born-free, is obtruded by civilization and tigers are left with no choice but to prey on cattle agonizing people living by the reserves. The authorities are often reluctant to compensate for the loss of farm animals, through which the forest dwellers earn their livelihood. So they take things into their own hands and poison the carcasses of the hunted domesticated animals killing the hunter.

During any jungle safari, these village folks are sighted who strive to co-exist with wild animals. The forest guards, guides and drivers despite their hard-work and dedication to uphold rules of the jungle, are under-paid. The highways intersecting forest corridors are not constructed with desired number of speed-brakers. Wild animals with no idea about traffic, eco-tourism become victims of human activities in and around reserve forests. The ‘Wildlife Protection Act’ (1972) should be amended which is the foundation of ‘National Tiger Conservation Authority’ and other endangered species crime control bureau. The violators should be executed with stringent punishment amounting to capital punishment. Anti poaching vigilance should be strengthened and the squad be provided with modern 7|Page

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amenities. Forest guards and locals should be educated by conservation experts with the implications of illegal killing of endangered species. The state reserves should be aided by central projects. All tiger reserves should have well formulated management plans encompassing long and medium term targets. Estimating tigers according to prey, habitat and other contending predators should be accessed scientifically. Our Governance should take actions to resettle forest tribes from the core and buffer areas of the Tiger Reserves. Intelligence network and Task Forces should be implemented to stop crimes against tigers. We as civilians should work hand in hand withholding our Government’s initiatives to conserve tigers. We should spread awareness that tigers need space and time to thrive and shine, just like us. We should allow them to do so. The Greek name ‘tigris’ comes from the old Persian word for ‘tiger’ which means ‘the fast one’. It might also be argued to come from Kurdish. In Kurdish ‘Tir’ means arrow. Let the tiger, be an ‘arrow’, ‘move fast’ in the bushes and reclaim its glory deep in the woods.

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Experts’ Voice

Saurabh Shanu

Depertment of Virtualisation School of Computer Science and Engineering University of Petroleum and Energy Studies Dehradoon, Uttarakhand

Sudipto Bhattacharya

Depertment of Mathematics School of Natural Science Shiv Nadar University Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttarpradesh

We next compute the costs incurred on tigers in using the connections between different populations in the given landscape complex. With each possible edge (corridor) between any two vertices (habitats), we associate a numeric weight c, thus rendering Γ a weighted graph. We designate the weight assigned to an edge (corridor) as the cost incurred by the tiger for passage through that corridor, and define this cost function as the mapping

c : E→ℵ

∍e ↦c (e) =r∊ℵ∀e∊E,ℵ={0.1…} We assume that the cost of using a corridor is a numeric proxy for the perceived (by the tiger) mortality or (even physical) risk associated with the corridor, and hence to the risk incurred by the tiger in traversing that corridor. We further assume that the risks being essentially and only incurred due to the presence or the absence of even one or all, of the above mentioned landscape features.

The costs to each of the possible corridor is assigned taking into consideration the possible kind of features mentioned in the foregoing, that a traversing tiger is likely to encounter while negotiating that corridor. The payoff matrix for the game G is constructed based on these costs. One of the prime objectives in designing tiger corridors would be to minimize the risk(mortality or physical injury) or cost objective to minimize this risk or cost incurred by the tiger in using a particular corridor as a 9|Page

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passage, we describe the research problem as: Given an undirected, connected graph

Γ(V, E,Ψ Γ , an index set | = {0,1,..., n}∊ℵ, ∍ V, e with i ∊ |, the cost function c i = c (e i ) ∀ i ∊ |, compute a spanning tree T such that ∑ c, is minimum. i∊N

Therefore, the objective of our work is to compute a spanning tree for the given graph, such that the sum total of the costs incurred by the tiger in its passage between the habitat patches embedded in the given landscape complex, through the landscape matrix, is minimized.

One of the most commonly used solution procedure to address the research problem is the BoruvkaKruskal algorithm (Kruskal’s algorithm) (Boruvka 1926; Kruskal 1956, 1997). Kruskal’s algorithm is a tree-search algorithm that accepts as input a weighted connected graph, and returns as output an optimal spanning tree. The execution of the Algorithm starts with |V | isolated trees in the forest (a set of trees, and hence essentially an acyclic graph), each initially with 1 vertex. The Algorithm then constructs a spanning tree edge-by-edge, by making a decision to select the least cost path that connects two trees, to return a single tree in the forest. At the termination of the Algorithm, the forest has only 1 component, namely, the output spanning tree. Being a greedy algorithm, Kruskal’s algorithm makes a ‘greedy’ (locally optimal) decision at each stage of its run, without being concerned about the impact of this decision on the global optimality of the output.

A major advantage of using Kruskal’s algorithm for solving our defined problem is that the Algorithm has a linear time complexity, given by O ( E log E) . Additionally, for Kruskal’s Algorithm, the following theorem guarantees the optimality of the output spanning tree:

Theorem 3 Every Bourvka-Kruskal tree is an optimal tree (Bondy and Murty 2008).

Fig.6 Logic gate circuit for the decision flow for evaluation of a viable linkage between two habitat patches.

To be Continued…

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Voice of Nature

Vrushabh Borkar

At the turn of the 20th century, it is estimated that India probably had many thousands of tigers in the wild.

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Government of India, have been conducting tiger estimation surveys in partnership with NGOs. WWFIndia was the key NGO partner of the WII and NTCA in conducting the comprehensive country-wide tiger estimation exercise in 2010-11, which revealed a mean tiger population estimate of 1,706.

Based on a census using the pug mark technique, the number of tigers in 2002 stood at 3,642. As per the 2008 tiger estimation exercise conducted by WII in association with the NTCA using camera traps, there were only 1,411 tigers left in the wild in India.

The tiger is not just a charismatic species or just another wild animal living in some far away forest.

The tiger is a unique animal which plays a pivotal role in the health and diversity of an ecosystem. It is a top predator which is at the apex of the food chain and keeps the population of wild ungulates in check, thereby maintaining the balance between prey herbivores and the vegetation upon which they feed. Therefore, the presence of tigers in the forest is an indicator of the well-being of the ecosystem. The extinction of this top predator is an indication that its ecosystem is not sufficiently protected, and neither would it exist for long thereafter.

If the tigers go extinct, the entire system would collapse.

For e.g. when the Dodos went extinct in Mauritius, one species of Acacia tree stopped regenerating completely. So when a species goes extinct, it leaves behind a scar, which affects the entire ecosystem.

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Another reason why we need to save the tiger is that our forests are water catchment areas.

Therefore, it’s not just about saving a beautiful animal. It is about making sure that we live a little longer as the forests are known to provide ecological services like clean air, water, pollination, temperature regulation etc. The natural population of these beautiful felines that we are used to seeing under captivity is disintegrating slowly. Tigers are among the most endangered animals on earth. The natural population of these beautiful felines that we are used to seeing under captivity is disintegrating slowly. That has huge implications for this ecosystem that we inhabit, as tigers have a crucial role to play in the ecosystem.

Evolution and extinction According to Project Tiger, tigers are believed to have evolved over 1 million years ago in Asia. From there, the tiger spread north to the Amur region of eastern Russia, south to the islands of Indonesia, and southwest to Indochina and the Indian subcontinent, eastern Turkey, and the Caspian Sea. This species, which a century ago was believed to number 1,00,000 the world over, is today reduced to about 3890, according to the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Tiger Forum. However, even these figures are disputed. The IUCN currently recognises nine subspecies, three of which are extinct in the wild. Of the six subspecies still found in the wild, three are considered to be Critically Endangered -- the South China Tiger, the Sumatran Tiger and the Malayan Tiger. The first of these has not been observed in the wild since the 1970s and may be extinct. Three further subspecies have been declared extinct; Bali, Caspian and Javan Tigers.

Diminishing ‘source sites’ High-density tiger populations which are likely to produce ‘surplus’ animals that can disperse and expand the populations now occupy less than 10 per cent of the remaining 1.2 million square km of natural tiger habitat, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. Almost 70 per cent of all wild tigers survive within these population ‘source sites’. Here the recruitment of tiger cubs exceeds mortality of tigers within the population, explains conservation biologist Sanjay Gubbi. They are recovering slowly, only in some reserves where protection has improved, WCS says. Outside these source sites lie vast ‘sink landscapes’, which are continuing to lose tigers and habitat due to hunting and man-animal conflict due to developmental pressures. Forest land is now only 26 per cent of the total land area in Asia and the Pacific put together, which accounts for about one-fifth of the world's forests or 734 million hectares, according to a 2005 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report.

What that implies is that the tiger, whose population is largely found in this region, is restricted to 26 per cent of the land area.

Barometers of ecological health According to the Global Tiger Initiative, tigers are indicators of the ecological wellness of planet earth.

Being the dominant predators of the ecosystem, they ensure that the numbers of herbivores like deer are kept balanced. A steep fall in tiger population could lead to a rise in herbivore population, which could potentially destroy forests by consuming the trees and plants. And forests have a huge role to play in preserving this earth that we live in.

Carbon storage value At a time when the phenomena of climate change have increased concerns about environmental hazards, conservation of tigers offer immense ecological services in terms of carbon storage value.

Forests have to be saved to ensure that carbon storage is achieved. In fact, under the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REED) approach, climate change is sought to be 12 | P a g e

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addressed by using forests as carbon sinks. Poaching or killing of large bodied vertebrates such as tiger results in increase of herbivore population, which in turn results in forests getting decimated.

In a study conducted in Ranthambore tiger reserve and published in 2012, geographer Kuldeep Pareta found that the estimated carbon stock in Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve fell progressively between 1975 to 2012: 34.15, 32.35, 30.66, 28.78, and 27.52 M. Kg. / Ha for the years 1975, 1990, 2000, 2006, and 2012 respectively. Agricultural expansion and resultant deforestation were to blame for this, which has serious consequences for tiger population as well. Tigers feed on mammalian herbivores such as chinkara, chital and sambar in this reserve area, thus keeping their population in check and helping to preserve the forests. Tiger habitats also provide critical ecosystem services such as flood control and hydrological services/securing watersheds.

What are the current efforts being made to save the tiger?

India is home to 70 per cent of global tiger population. Therefore, the country has an important role to play in tiger conservation. The Government of India started ‘Project Tiger’ in 1972 with a view to conserving the animal. As part of this project nine core buffer areas for maintaining tiger population were notified. Now, this has >expanded to 48 tiger reserves.

In-principle approval has now been given for more tiger reserves to be set up to help expand and preserve their territory. The in-principle approval has been accorded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority for the creation of four new tiger reserves at Ratapani Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh), Sunabeda Tiger Reserve (Odisha), and Guru Ghasidas (Chhattisgarh). The Centre has given approval to Kudremukh National Park (Karnataka) for the State to declare it as a tiger reserve, which is yet to be done. The State Governments have been advised to send proposals for declaring the following areas as tiger reserves: Suhelwa (Uttar Pradesh), Mhadei Sanctuary (Goa), Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary / Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary / Varushanadu Valley (Tamil Nadu), Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary (Arunachal Pradesh) and Cauvery-MM Hills (Karnataka).

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Besides protecting tiger territory, other measures being taken to save the tiger include: curbing wildlife trade through international agreements. CITES is an international agreement between governments aimed at ensuring that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants, including tigers, does not threaten their survival. India ratified this treaty in 1976.

Global Tiger Forum (inter-governmental tiger conservation network) Established in 1994, the Global Tiger Forum is the only inter-governmental body for tiger conservation. Its membership includes seven tiger range countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal and Vietnam. International NGO members consist of World Wildlife Fund, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and TRAFFIC. Several national NGOs from India and Nepal are also members.

Threat remains As we have seen, apart from the ecological services provided by the animal, the tiger also offers direct use such as attracting tourists, which provide incomes for local communities. The aesthetic, ethical and cultural value of tigers have also proved to be critical factors for saving tigers, which has also ensured the success of tiger conservation in India.

However, despite measures being initiated to protect wild tigers, habitat loss and poaching continue to pose a threat to the animal’s survival. Tiger parts are used in traditional Chinese medicines, tiger skin is used for decorative and medicinal purposes and tiger bones are again used for medicinal 13 | P a g e

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purposes for curing body pain, et al. Between 2000 and 2014, TRAFFIC's research found that parts of a minimum of 1,590 Tigers were seized in Tiger range States, an average of two Tigers per week.

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Arnab Basu

The United States will withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change, President Trump announced recently. Environmental scientists say the consequences could be catastrophic for the planet. But for some Trump supporters, there’s no reason to worry.

“As a Christian, I believe that there is a creator in God who is much bigger than us,” Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) told constituents sometime back at a town hall in Coldwater, Mich. “And I’m confident that, if there’s a real problem, he can take care of it.”

Among conservative evangelicals, that is not an unusual opinion. Nearly all evangelicals — 88 percent, according to the Pew Research Center on Religion & Public Life — believe in miracles, suggesting a faith in a proactive God. And only 28 percent of evangelicals believe human activity is causing climate change. Confidence that God will intervene to prevent people from destroying the world is one of the strongest barriers to gaining conservative evangelical support for environmental pacts like the Paris agreement. When scientists began sounding the alarm over climate change in the 1980s, conservative evangelicals, who had been somewhat accepting of environmentalism in the 1970s, became convinced that the Antichrist would use the fear of climate change to seize power.

The 1970s environmental movement had enjoyed widespread support as it focused on smaller issues like pollution and litter. In the 1980s, though, scientists revealed problems such as the depletion of the ozone layer and global warming, which required worldwide cooperation and significant economic changes to redress. Economic conservatives downplayed the science or even argued that global warming wasn’t actually happening, and premillennialists like Texe Marrs seized on such arguments to accuse environmentalists of perpetuating a hoax in the service of the Antichrist.

Climate change raises many questions with strong moral and ethical dimensions that are important to address in climate-policy formation and international negotiations. Particularly in the United States, the public discussion of these dimensions is strongly influenced by religious groups and leaders. Over the past few years, many religious groups have taken positions on climate change, highlighting its ethical dimensions. Interestingly, religious sources that plea for strict environmental policies often reframe the topic to ‘creation care’ or ‘environmental/climate stewardship’, avoiding such connotations (Harden, 2005; The Economist, 2007c). Some groups specifically present themselves as religiously or politically conservative. Regarding Christian traditions in general, some 15 | P a g e

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have argued that the classic ‘dominion’ argument (mankind transcends and has rightful mastery over nature) and anthropocentrism enhance abuse and destruction of nature (e.g. White, 1967; Greeley, 1993; Guth et al., 1995; Schultz et al., 2000; Trevors and Saier, 2006). Others have pointed to ‘End Times thinking’ (dispensationalism) as an additional barrier to support for environmental policy (Guth et al., 1995).

However, to directly relate religious beliefs to environmental attitudes seems too simplistic; Greeley (1993) and Schultz et al. (2000) argue that, while studies have found a negative relation between Christian beliefs and pro-environmental attitudes.

Now if we shift our focus from this contemporary debate of “whether climate change is real” to basic relationship between religions and environment, we find, all religions influence the environment to a greater or lesser extent. All religions promote attitudes to the physical environment, the birds, animals, landscape that surround us. For example, if we take traditional Judaeo-Christian ideas as represented in the books of the Old Testament the overriding concepts is that God created the earth for men to use in ways that were useful to him. He has given ‘domination’ over the earth and beasts.

Some species were ‘taboo’, and we find in many religions that certain bird species and animals are taboo and not to be eaten or killed. In such ways religions act to conserve the environment. But in general the mood of Christianity is to make man the master of environment and in the modern society where pollution and rape of the environment are common.

Christian values towards the environment are diverse. Different traditions, for example, emphasise different aspects of the creation narratives. White's (1967) seminary work in this area focused on branches of the church that emphasise texts such as Genesis 1:26–28. This states that humans were given a divine edict to have dominion over the earth and increase in number. However, other traditions, especially among liberal and Protestant denominations, teach divinely sanctioned stewardship (e.g., Genesis 2:7–15) where humans are put in Eden to care for and till the earth. To add further complexity, some contemporary movements focus on apocalyptic rather than creation narratives. Apocalyptic beliefs are widely reported in American fundamentalist and Pentecostalist movements. Guth et al. (1995) express concern that the outlook of these churches risks their members becoming disengaged from current environmental concerns as they focus on preparing for the afterlife. Fundamentalist Christian faith may even encourage individuals to welcome growing environmental problems as positive signs of the Second Coming. In support of this assertion, a recent US study found that American citizens most dismissive of climate change were more likely to be Evangelical Christians demonstrating a high level of religious observance. This group was found to oppose international treaties to address climate change, only supporting low cost environmental policies.

In contrast American citizens' claiming to be most alarmed by climate change and expressing the strongest intentions to adopt more sustainable behaviours and support pro-environmental policies including cleaner energy generation, were more likely to describe themselves as non-religious, atheist or agnostic and to have low attendance rates at religious services. This builds on previous studies which found that secularists are more likely to support environmental spending and regulation; and perhaps indicates that individuals who do not subscribe to Christian mastery values and eschatological beliefs are more likely to engage with environmental and political issues.

Although, all holly books of almost all religions eventually admits responsibilities of human being in environment protection and religious guidance could be seen as a motivator for pro-environmental action, reduced consumerism and the promotion of social justice; however, beliefs in an afterlife and divine intervention reduced perceptions of risk-urgency. The more relaxed attitude of religious populations of the world, especially in relation to population growth is in clear contrast to that of 16 | P a g e

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their secular counterparts. In the secular group there was a sense of great urgency because secular population believes humans were ultimately and solely responsible, as rational beings, for their own future and for the environment. These differences in risk-perception will always have implications for climate change mitigation including the transition to cleaner fossil fuel technologies and other contemporary and alarming environmental issues.

Reference: 1. Religion and the Environment, By R. Tanner, C. Mitchell 2. Technology in Society, Volume 38, August 2014, Pages 48-59

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Cohabitation

Fo2hunt is is working on Eco-Tourism Development and photographic expedition in unexplored places in India.

Primary objectives To find out unexplored places rarely included in tourism almanac.

Development and promotion these sites as for eco-tourism aspect Conducting unique Expeditions And Training programs on natural resources and photography.

Secondary objectives Learning to save Nature and ecology Training on Flora and fauna conservation Physical n mental enrichment by living in nature and adopting local food habit Skill Development operations in Undeveloped Villages in assistance with the Government and non-government organisation.

Moto Of our organization Encouraging students to face the real life problems Developing curricular activity Connecting more people to the nature saving mission Mutual benefits and good understanding

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