Dear Mr. Mohan,
    I may bring to you attention the flagrant and unimaginable violation of
coastal zone regulation in Kanyakumari.Kanyakumari is a heritage site according
to the CRZ and CMZ notifications. So it enjoys  the status of CRZ -I and no
permanent construction is allowed. But the Kanyakumari Town Panjayath has leased
out the  1.5 Km of the coast of Heritage site with an area of 6.5 acres to a
hotel (Sea view Hotel)for a sum of Rs.16000. The councillors and the executive
officer are bribed. The District Collector (Mr. Devraj, now he is transferrd)
was also made to believe that permission is sought for developement of a park
which was infact non existent.The disrtrict collector gives permission with out
visiting the spot.The hotel after getting the permission construct massive
granite structure just 15 meters from the hightide limit. I got all these
information under Right to information Act though the Executive officer refused
to give me the information. I have got the copy of the
  resolution passed by the Town Panjayat. The resolution  just give permission to
the Hotel Sea view to manitain a park.in the road puramboke. The CRZ-i heritage
site is called as road puramboke and permission is obtained from the District
Collector who has nt consulted the Coastal Management Committee.Now a massive
structure is coming up inspite of objection from the NGOs and the present
District Collector Mrs Jothi Nirmala. More over thers is fossilised Coral reef
of  36000 years old. It is ancient reef formation. Part of ther reef has 
collapsed due to the  construction. It should be saved.Question is whether a
Town Panjayat can give on lease a heritage site without the permission of Dept
of Environment  Govt of India and Coastal Management committe, can s massive
granite structure come within 15 from the high tide limit. This anachy sohould
be stopped.Kanayakumari is the constituency of the Tourism Minister.Mr. Suresh
Rajan. When asked he says that he does not want to
  interfere as ADMK ministers are involved.Please alert other environmental
groups. You can copy this letter to others
   Yours sincerely
   R.S.Lal Mohan, Convenor,INTACH (Nagercoil Chapter) 43.C water Tank Road ,
Nagercoil
   Phone  mob.9442006208, Land line: 04652 279027


T Mohan <devika68@...> wrote:
           Strange that on one hand we build the Sethu samudram canal,
threatening the habitat of the dugong and on the other sign MoUs to
protect them. Not so strange actually, considering my past record on
such matters.
mohan





---------------------------------
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Clearance mandatory to run pvt schools in Andaman
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 16:13 [IST]
http://news.indiainfo.com/2008/03/12/0803121614_clearance_mandatory_run_private_\
schools_andaman.html

Port Blair: The Andaman and Nicobar Administration today announced that
a clearance from the island s education department will be mandatory to
run any private school in the union territory.

In an official release, the Education Department directed all the
schools, which were yet to obtain permission, to do so by furnishing
required information. The department also observed that a number of
private schools were already functioning in various parts of the island
without obtaining permission from the administration, the official
release noted.

Private schools were mushrooming in every corner of these islands
ignoring the already existing rules. It has been observed that the
directorate was even not having the exact details of many schools like
location, recognition status, classes run, medium of instruction,
enrolment and management.

In last few years more than 20 private schools have come up in and
around the city with people complaining against the schools, as they did
not follow the rules of the government.

Ministry asks DGCA to frame guidelines to run seaplanes
Anubhuti Vishnoi
Posted online: Thursday, March 06, 2008 at 0050 hrs Print Emai

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/281036.html

NEW DELHI, MARCH 5: With 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
now permitted in the helicopter and seaplane sector, the stage is set
for Maldive-style air taxis to take off from the Indian seas. Also, the
Ministry of Civil Aviation, which held a high-level meeting on the issue
last week, has asked for regulations for seaplane operations in India,
to be formulated keeping in mind viable areas like Andaman & Nicobar
islands, Kerala backwaters and Lakshadweep islands.



“The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been asked to
formulate some guidelines for seaplane operators in India. We hope to
get seaplanes in the country on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
basis, and are looking at either foreign players or country-based
operators who will import these,” said a senior ministry official.

The ministry has been considering seaplane services for some time now
and had even sent a delegation from Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited
(PHHL) to Maldives last year to study their air taxi model. The
aircrafts, capable of taking off and landing on water bodies, have been
operating in Maldives for about two decades, and is also available in
the US, Canada, Bangladesh and several other countries.

The ministry had planned seaplanes initially for Andaman & Nicobar
islands, which face a connectivity problem to the remote pockets, but
the waters there were found to be far too rough for seaplanes. “So, the
seaplanes are now also being mooted for Kerala backwaters and
Lakshadweep, which have calmer waters, well suited for their operations.
The DGCA has been asked to keep these area in mind while preparing the
guidelines,” the official added.

The Lakshadweep administration hopes to address its problems of reaching
other islands through induction of seaplanes.

And its islands of Bangaram, Kadamat, Kalpeni, Kavaratti and Minicoy
were found suitable for the operations in a study conducted on safety
and operational requirements for the aircrafts.

Since seaplanes are not manufactured anywhere else in the world, the
ministry has been mulling over getting the Maldives air taxi operators
to run the services in India as well.

“We will have to engage someone for customised manufacture of seaplanes
and so we are keen on a PPP model involving a foreign operators. The
states can also independently engage them as we envisage in our
guidelines on the service,” he added.

Ads By Google

Strange that on one hand we build the Sethu samudram canal,
threatening the habitat of the dugong and on the other sign MoUs to
protect them.  Not so strange actually, considering my past record on
such matters.
mohan

Andaman and Nicobar Administration


                                                   Port Blair, April 09, 2008

Press Release

LG visits Carnic, Kamorta & Campbell Bay



As part of the two-day visit of southern group of Islands, the Hon’ble
Lt Governor, Lt General (Retd) Bhopinder Singh, PVSM, AVSM, yesterday
visited Great Nicobar, the southernmost part of A & N group of Islands.
The Joint Secretary (UT), MHA, Smt Bhamathi and a team of senior
officers of the A & N Administration accompanied the Lt. Governor on the
visit.



Soon after his arrival at Campbell Bay, the Lt. Governor visited the
RPRS and Joginder Nagar permanent shelters sites as well as North South
Road and inspected the progress of the projects. Thereafter in the
evening, he held a meeting with the PRI members, local Govt. officials,
ex-servicemen and general public at the APWD Guest house at Campbell
Bay. Various issues such as Shipping and Helicopter services, supply of
LPG Cylinders and Kerosene oil and a host of other important issues were
discussed during the meeting. Today, the Lt. Governor visited
Govindnagar permanent shelters site as well as Guddapiegan Basthi and
heard the problems and grievances of the people and assured them that he
would look into their problems on priority. Thereafter, he inspected the
road from zero point to water treatment plant of Campbell Bay and
directed APWD for reconstruction and maintenance of the road immediately
for public use. The Lt. Governor also visited Kamorta Island and held
meetings with the people of the area. Various issues such as roads,
water etc. were discussed in detail during the meeting.



Earlier, at Car Nicobar he interacted with the members of the Tribal
Council and discussed various important issues and projects relating to
the development of Car Nicobar including construction of permanent
shelters for tsunami victims. Later, he visited the permanent shelter
site at Perka village. After completion of the visit, the Lt. Governor
returned to Port Blair this evening.

Tsunami Houses in Andaman

Amma Gives Away Tsunami Houses in Andaman
http://news.amritapuri.org/362/tsunami-houses-in-andaman/


Port Blair,  Andaman — 24 March 2008

When the tsunami hit the Andaman-Nicobar Islands, nearly 10,000 houses
were destroyed. On March 24, Amma flew the 1255 kilometers from Kolkata
in order to bless the people there with her darshan and to distribute
the keys to 50 tsunami-relief homes constructed by the Ashram. The
program was held in Bambooflat, South Andaman. Houses were constructed
both there and in Austinabad.



A symbolic key to the houses was blessed by Amma and then handed over to
Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development, M.A.A. Fatmi.
The key was then received on behalf of the Andaman & Nicobar
Administration jointly by the acting chief secretary, Arvind Ray, IAS,
and the commissioner of R&R, Dharam Pal, IAS.

Another 150 homes are still in construction. They will be finished by
the end of April.

Amma’s program was the largest gathering in the history of the Andaman
Islands. More than 15,000 people gathered, with the grounds overflowing,
even before Amma’s arrival.

- Tulasi

Dear lal Mohanji:
How do I get a copy?
If you have an online copy available please e mail to me I will make full use of
it.
R. Ashok Kumar

lal mohan <samuelji2003@...> wrote:                             Dear
Sekhsaria,
    I read with concern about the dugong. I have published  long back a boo on
the Indian dugongs, It is the only book writen after 15 years of study on the
animals from mandapam camp. Even before one month i recorded on mature dugong
washed ashor in Kanyakumari coast. The politicians makes big noise but forget
about it immediately. The Sethusamundrum project will be the death knell to the
exisrting population of dugongs of Gulf of Mannar and Palk bay.
    Recently we have noticed large scale flagrant violation of CRZ violations in
Kanyakumari coast a heritage site.The coast id leased out to a Hotel(lSea View
hotel) for just Rs 16000 ruppess. The of lease is 6.5 Ha. The Kanyakumari Town
panjayath has done this. Please bring to this to National attention.
    Yours sincerely

    R.S.Lal Mohan
    Convenor. INTACH (Nagercoil Chapter)

  Pankaj Sekhsaria <psekhsaria@...> wrote:
            India joins global efforts to protect Dugongs or Sea Cows

 
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/India_joins_global_eff\
orts_to_protect_Dugongs_or_Sea_Cows/articleshow/2944681.cms

  NEW DELHI: India on Friday decided to join global efforts to protect and
  conserve Dugongs or Sea Cows, an endangered species found along the
  coastlines of Gujarat and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

  The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to enable India joining the
  Memorandum of Understanding on the conservation and management of
  Dugongs and their habitat throughout their range.

  "With this decision, the Indian efforts for conservation of Dugongs
  would get international recognition," Science and Technology Minister
  Kapil Sibal told reporters here.

  He said the protection, monitoring and management of this endangered
  species in the Indian waters would now become more effective. It would
  also facilitate availability of international expertise to carry out
  research studies on Dugongs in the area, Sibal said.

  Dugong (Dugong Dugon) or Sea Cow is the only herbivorous mammal that is
  strictly marine and the only member of the Order Sirenia found in India.
  They are restricted to the coastal shallow marine habitats where ample
  food is available.

  The Sea Cows found in the Indian coastal waters are legally protected
  under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, besides the Convention on
  International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora and
  the Convention of Migratory Species. India is a signatory to both the
  Conventions.

  __________________________________________________
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  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear All,
   Suggestion for engaging Civil defence  in the disaster management framework is
higly appreciable. The Govt. now understanding the need of Disaster Management
is good sign towards the managing natural disaster. Best wishes for the efforts
   Sharad Pant


Pankaj Sekhsaria <psekhsaria@...> wrote:
   Priority for big population states
02 April, 2008 03:53:15 NewsByte
http://howrah.org/india_news/8583.html

By Namrata Biji Ahuja

New Delhi, April 2: Even as the Northeast as well as Andaman and Nicobar
Islands fall under the seismically most vulnerable Zone V, the Centre is
concentrating on high-population states and Union Territories like
Delhi, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh as "high-risk" states for
giving "civil defence" back up in disaster management activities. A
decision on this front was taken at a high-level meeting convened by the
home minister’s Civil Defence Advisory Committee which met for the first
time on Wednesday. The Centre is adopting a three-phased approach to
extend civil defence back-up for disaster management in the country
beginning with high-population areas and finally covering 604 districts
spanning the entire country.

"The aim is to make a head-start by first making use of the existing
infrastructure for civil defence present in 104 towns. In the second
phase, all those districts will be targeted that have been termed as
‘multi-hazard’ zones. Finally, in the third phase all 604 districts will
be covered across the country," said an official. An approximate 37
districts in the country have been identified as "‘multi-hazard" districts.

The home ministry’s Civil Defence Advisory Committee, which is the
highest policy making body in civil defence, has unanimously agreed to
incorporate the necessary changes in the Civil Defence Act 1968 in order
to make disaster management an integral part of civil defence
activities. The role of civil defence has been demanding attention ever
since the committee formed under NDMA member K.M. Singh suggested that
civil defence should be integrated in the disaster management framework.



------------------------------------

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

dear Pankajji:Sea Cows:
I am deeply concerned. Where can we obtain online information data base on time
series for dugongs including the Indian)? For a study similar to that on fish
catch and radioactivity?
R. Ashok Kumar,B.E.,M.E(Negentropist, Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal,299, Tardeo Road

Pankaj Sekhsaria <psekhsaria@...> wrote:                              
India joins global efforts to protect Dugongs or Sea Cows

 
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/India_joins_global_eff\
orts_to_protect_Dugongs_or_Sea_Cows/articleshow/2944681.cms

  NEW DELHI: India on Friday decided to join global efforts to protect and
  conserve Dugongs or Sea Cows, an endangered species found along the
  coastlines of Gujarat and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

  The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to enable India joining the
  Memorandum of Understanding on the conservation and management of
  Dugongs and their habitat throughout their range.

  "With this decision, the Indian efforts for conservation of Dugongs
  would get international recognition," Science and Technology Minister
  Kapil Sibal told reporters here.

  He said the protection, monitoring and management of this endangered
  species in the Indian waters would now become more effective. It would
  also facilitate availability of international expertise to carry out
  research studies on Dugongs in the area, Sibal said.

  Dugong (Dugong Dugon) or Sea Cow is the only herbivorous mammal that is
  strictly marine and the only member of the Order Sirenia found in India.
  They are restricted to the coastal shallow marine habitats where ample
  food is available.

  The Sea Cows found in the Indian coastal waters are legally protected
  under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, besides the Convention on
  International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora and
  the Convention of Migratory Species. India is a signatory to both the
  Conventions.




  __________________________________________________
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear Sekhsaria,
   I read with concern about the dugong. I have published  long back a boo on the
Indian dugongs, It is the only book writen after 15 years of study on the
animals from mandapam camp. Even before one month i recorded on mature dugong
washed ashor in Kanyakumari coast. The politicians makes big noise but forget
about it immediately. The Sethusamundrum project will be the death knell to the
exisrting population of dugongs of Gulf of Mannar and Palk bay.
   Recently we have noticed large scale flagrant violation of CRZ violations in
Kanyakumari coast a heritage site.The coast id leased out to a Hotel(lSea View
hotel) for just Rs 16000 ruppess. The of lease is 6.5 Ha. The Kanyakumari Town
panjayath has done this. Please bring to this to National attention.
   Yours sincerely

   R.S.Lal Mohan
   Convenor. INTACH (Nagercoil Chapter)

Pankaj Sekhsaria <psekhsaria@...> wrote:
           India joins global efforts to protect Dugongs or Sea Cows

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/India_joins_global_eff\
orts_to_protect_Dugongs_or_Sea_Cows/articleshow/2944681.cms

NEW DELHI: India on Friday decided to join global efforts to protect and
conserve Dugongs or Sea Cows, an endangered species found along the
coastlines of Gujarat and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to enable India joining the
Memorandum of Understanding on the conservation and management of
Dugongs and their habitat throughout their range.

"With this decision, the Indian efforts for conservation of Dugongs
would get international recognition," Science and Technology Minister
Kapil Sibal told reporters here.

He said the protection, monitoring and management of this endangered
species in the Indian waters would now become more effective. It would
also facilitate availability of international expertise to carry out
research studies on Dugongs in the area, Sibal said.

Dugong (Dugong Dugon) or Sea Cow is the only herbivorous mammal that is
strictly marine and the only member of the Order Sirenia found in India.
They are restricted to the coastal shallow marine habitats where ample
food is available.

The Sea Cows found in the Indian coastal waters are legally protected
under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, besides the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora and
the Convention of Migratory Species. India is a signatory to both the
Conventions.




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear Sir,
    I am concerned with with what you have said about the radioactivity in
fishes.I am living in Nagercoil and being a scientist in marine biology and
radiatio physist and a anto nuclear activist I agree with your contention.We are
concerned with the 6 nuclear reactors to be commissioned in Koodankulam- a
nuclear graveyard.The poverty, unemployment and need for more energy is as an
excuse for more reactors in India. The only way to come out of the nuclear
quickmire id to reduce our consumtion. We can very well cut our lavish way of
life waste of Natural resources. The afforestation is not the answer though it
looks like s eay option. I am now concerned with the destruction of kanyakumari
town coast  with illegal construction 10 meters from the High tide timit.We have
to fight agaist this illegal action. Youirs Siuncerely  R.S.Lal Mohan

ashok kumar <rakumra@...> wrote:
          
http://deathdealersnukes.blogspot.com/2008/04/fish-catch-and-radioactivity.html
Dear Friends:
After reading the null report on fish catch in the A & N group of islands and
subsequent prohibition of fishing there in andamanicobar@yahoogroups.com I made
a study on my own on the worldwide catch and its relation to internal
radioactive contamination and the tragedy unfolded in front of me!
Here is my URL:
http://deathdealersnukes.blogspot.com/2008/04/fish-catch-and-radioactivity.html
The work seems to conform to the basic principles outlined in the ECRR 2003
Recommendations.
The issues raised by nuclear energy are so serious that the decision on the
immature nuclear energy cannot be taken without several rounds of intense
referendums with an informed public from every mega-city to every Grama sabha.
Several Consumer Unions in India are proactive in their efforts to convert India
into a just democracy in action. In Europe a similar action by the people is
being initiated:Excerpt from Press Release of La Leva de Archimede(Mar 4,
2008):www.eu-referendum.org
Six non-governmental organizations (NGOs), collectively representing consumers
from all 27 European Union (EU) countries, today announced the official launch
of a campaign for citizens to have the right to vote in referendums whenever
significant changes to laws affecting them are made at either national or
European level. In particular, they are demanding that all EU citizens should
immediately be given the opportunity to vote in referendums on the Lisbon
Treaty.
Arguing that the EU is increasingly favouring the interests of big business over
those of its own citizens, the six organizations say that unless this situation
is reversed and European citizens are given the right to be directly involved in
political decision-making, the European political system will rapidly degenerate
into a dictatorship where democracy, freedom of choice and the privacy rights of
individuals are routinely violated. Press Release Extract ends.
Anushakti Santanamukti! And this is resulting in a huge population explosion
through instinct:Read
http://nuclearnecromany.blogspot.com/
Also
http://stopnukes.rediffblogs.com/
The best alternative is reforestation with people's cooperatives.
1. Busby,C et al.Eds.2003. Recommendations of the European Committee on
Radiation Risk: Health
Effects of Ionising Radiation Exposure at Low Doses for Radiation Protection
Purposes. Regulators’
Edition: Brussels. p 183

---------------------------------
You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total
Access, No Cost.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

India joins global efforts to protect Dugongs or Sea Cows

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/India_joins_global_eff\
orts_to_protect_Dugongs_or_Sea_Cows/articleshow/2944681.cms

NEW DELHI: India on Friday decided to join global efforts to protect and
conserve Dugongs or Sea Cows, an endangered species found along the
coastlines of Gujarat and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to enable India joining the
Memorandum of Understanding on the conservation and management of
Dugongs and their habitat throughout their range.

"With this decision, the Indian efforts for conservation of Dugongs
would get international recognition," Science and Technology Minister
Kapil Sibal told reporters here.

He said the protection, monitoring and management of this endangered
species in the Indian waters would now become more effective. It would
also facilitate availability of international expertise to carry out
research studies on Dugongs in the area, Sibal said.

Dugong (Dugong Dugon) or Sea Cow is the only herbivorous mammal that is
strictly marine and the only member of the Order Sirenia found in India.
They are restricted to the coastal shallow marine habitats where ample
food is available.

The Sea Cows found in the Indian coastal waters are legally protected
under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, besides the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora and
the Convention of Migratory Species. India is a signatory to both the
Conventions.

*Colonised Epistemologies *





By Ashok Agrwaal ashokagrwaal@...





Some time back I received two questions in an email from an unknown group in
Calcutta (Kolkotta).  I believe that I was not the only recipient of the
questions.  The email appeared to be a general appeal to people for a
response to the questions posed.



The questions were—



*How far the hegemony of the Western epistemological categories is
significant and perceptible in the knowledge processes of the East and to
what extent these can be considered epistemological violence?  *



*Considering the fact that the East and the West cannot remain pure and
unadulterated, and that the colonized as well as post-colonized East is of a
hybrid nature, can the subaltern East speak for itself and envisage its 'own
modernity'? *



Intrigued but not knowing what to say in response I saved these questions,
though I think I deleted the mail.  Therefore, I no longer know to whom I
should send my response.  I am therefore publishing it, in the hope that it
will reach the persons who posed the questions.



Though pertinent, there is something wrong with these questions.  On the
face of it, it is obvious that these categories do affect our "knowledge
processes".  In that sense the (first) question is unnecessary.  Why then
should it be asked?  The only possible reason can be – to intellectualise
it.  In other words, the question as posed invites an answer in terms of the
very categories that it questions.  Such an answer can only serve these
categories, not deconstruct them.  In fact, it seems to me that the
question, as posed, is a pointer to the cul de sac that "eastern" thought
finds itself in.



The second part of the question, suggestive of a way out of this impasse, is
actually confirmatory of the quagmire in which our thought processes are
stuck.  To suggest that this "violence" is inevitable, and ought not to
become a barrier to the expression of the east's "own modernity", is to say-
since there is no escape, is it not better for us to surrender and enjoy the
rape.  [I expect the reader to try and understand the reasons for the strong
(violent) language.]



To come back to the main point, no people in history, not even the
aborigines of the Andaman Islands and Australia, have actually remained
"pure and unadulterated".  This category (and all its binaries) is also
western and subject to questioning before being used.  However, the binary
here is not "pure and unadulterated" versus the "hybrid". (Hybrid implying
something that is not identifiable as any one or more of its constituent
parts (or strains) but is something new, even as it is within the category
of its constituent parts.)  The metaphorical east (actually the 'rest of the
world') stands overwhelmed, in terms of epistemology and, the related
science of pedagogy.  It is, in fact, deemed not to have an epistemology
(and, largely, a pedagogy) relevant to "modernity".  (In fact, one follows
the other, without anything else intervening.)  As such, the "east" stands
permanently reduced to the category of the unlearned, unlettered,
uncivilised child, eternally condemned to be "led" to school by the
pedagogical west.

Detractors of this view would certainly point to the enormous amount of
knowledge (and its categories) that the west has gained from the east.  They
may also refer to Edward Said and many others who have shown in graphic
relief that enslavement is a two way relationship, no matter how hard the
master may try to resist this.  I think neither of these examples can stand
in the way of my proposition.



The operative word in the first example is "gained".  Undoubtedly, the west
has gained from its engagement with the "east".  This "gain" is what permits
Said and others to propound their thesis.  Without questioning Said, I would
only wish to point out that whatever the west has gained has enriched
western epistemology.  On the other hand, there has been no "gain" to
"eastern" epistemology from this exchange.  On the contrary, as the west
consolidates its hold (deeper, more pervasive), eastern epistemology is
vanishing at an ever increasing rate.



Take an example.  I have repeatedly come across educated Indians carping
about the "pure" Hindi that newsreaders on Doordarshan, the Government of
India's television service, speak.  They complain (and perhaps rightly so)
that such difficult language puts people off.  On the other hand, the very
same Indians will not think twice about looking up the meaning of
epistemology the first time they come across it, and then, using it, with
pride.  Why?  Because, like Indian thought (and its categories and
processes), Indian languages are in decline.



Take another example.  Just yesterday a friend who is actually very "Indian"
in many ways (but a complete brown sahib in many others) called to ask if I
could suggest to him a Hindi equivalent of the word 'mass' (as in mass
communication).  With my limited vocabulary, I could only suggest
*saamajic*(social).
He dismissed it as inaccurate.  He then said that the official equivalent,
used on the board that he was reading from, was *saarvajanic* (public or,
more accurately 'for all people').  He rightly said that this too was an
inaccurate translation and rang off saying that there was no equivalent for
'mass' in Hindi and, that this was a "shortcoming" of the language.



Marvelous example, even though I say so myself, of the point that I am
making.  Hindi is incapable of "expressing modernity" eastern or western.  So,
learn English, oblivious of the irony that the notion of the mass (somewhat
distinct from 'multitude') – which the Shorter Oxford defines as "an
aggregate in which individuality is lost" – arose in the individual centric
west rather than the collective/ community centric east.



I will stop here.  I think I have made my point and to say more would be to
indulge in the very categories that I suggest should be repudiated.  But the
question remains.  Is there any sense in opposing the hegemony of western
epistemology?  After all, what human beings need is 'an epistemology'.  How
does it matter if that epistemology is western or eastern?  Aren't these
categories rather parochial and, hence, otiose, in an increasingly
cosmopolitan, increasingly global world?  Is it not likely that over time we
eastern people, with our remarkably sharp minds (just look at how well "we"
are doing in the west), will take over much of world thought, including
epistemology?



In answer, I would ask the following questions.  Is there any sense in
opposing monoculture?  Would you like to see Eucalyptus take over the Indian
terrain?  Would you like to have just one variety (the Monsanto one) of
rice, wheat, etc grown on Indian farms?  If not, then why would you like to
have western epistemology as the only one available?  Is it because you
believe that other epistemologies are incapable of "expressing modernity"?



If the answer to the last question is yes, then I say that it is not
epistemology that is the problem.  The problem is the mind that has made
"modernity" into a thing.  Why?  Is it because of the actual superiority of
"modernity" over all other "ities"?  Or, is it because of the trappings that
we think accompany "modernity"?  Trappings that we think we cannot do
without.  The electricity, the mobility, the connectivity, the
individuality.  In other words, the power that we partake of by virtue of
our familiarity with western epistemology.  The power that the west has
"shared" with us, the handful of local elites in each "eastern" polity, in
order to better hegemonise the vast mass of us.



To conclude, having implanted their epistemology in our hearts and souls,
the west could choose to "decolonise", secure in the unlikelihood of our
ever being able to escape their grip.



                                                           -- *  --



On 4/11/08, Pankaj Andaman <psekhsaria@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Ashok,
> Your posting to the andamanicobar egroup 'Colonised Epistemologies' came
> in blank. I assume it was sent as an email attachment and this get
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> the mail and not as an attachment.
> thanks
> pankaj
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> --
>
> http://pankaj-atcrossroads.blogspot.com
>
> C/o Kalpavriksh
> Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa,
> 908 Deccan Gym
> Pune 411004
> India
> Tel: 020 25654239
> Mob: 09423009933
> Email: psekhsaria@...
>
>


--
Ashok Agrwaal
56 Todar Mal Road
New Delhi-110001
Tel: 91 11 23714531(o)
http://reversingthegaze.blogspot.com/
http://works.bepress.com/ashokagrwaal/
Visit: http://groups.google.com/group/article21now


--
Ashok Agrwaal
56 Todar Mal Road
New Delhi-110001
Tel: 91 11 23714531(o)
http://reversingthegaze.blogspot.com/
http://works.bepress.com/ashokagrwaal/
Visit: http://groups.google.com/group/article21now


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Priority for big population states
02 April, 2008 03:53:15 NewsByte
http://howrah.org/india_news/8583.html

By Namrata Biji Ahuja

New Delhi, April 2: Even as the Northeast as well as Andaman and Nicobar
Islands fall under the seismically most vulnerable Zone V, the Centre is
concentrating on high-population states and Union Territories like
Delhi, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh as "high-risk" states for
giving "civil defence" back up in disaster management activities. A
decision on this front was taken at a high-level meeting convened by the
home minister’s Civil Defence Advisory Committee which met for the first
time on Wednesday. The Centre is adopting a three-phased approach to
extend civil defence back-up for disaster management in the country
beginning with high-population areas and finally covering 604 districts
spanning the entire country.

"The aim is to make a head-start by first making use of the existing
infrastructure for civil defence present in 104 towns. In the second
phase, all those districts will be targeted that have been termed as
‘multi-hazard’ zones. Finally, in the third phase all 604 districts will
be covered across the country," said an official. An approximate 37
districts in the country have been identified as "‘multi-hazard" districts.

The home ministry’s Civil Defence Advisory Committee, which is the
highest policy making body in civil defence, has unanimously agreed to
incorporate the necessary changes in the Civil Defence Act 1968 in order
to make disaster management an integral part of civil defence
activities. The role of civil defence has been demanding attention ever
since the committee formed under NDMA member K.M. Singh suggested that
civil defence should be integrated in the disaster management framework.

*/NEWS RELEASE ? FOR IMMEDIATE USE /*

*Sierra Club announces $100,000 "Green Energy and Green Livelihoods Award"*

*for Outstanding Environmental Success by NGOs in India*



/Mumbai, April 3, 2008/: The Sierra Club, the oldest and largest
grassroots environmental organization in the U.S., today announced a new
$100,000 "Green Energy and Green Livelihoods Achievement Award" to
recognize "outstanding environmental success in India" by civil society
organizations ? NGOs, cooperatives, small businesses and labor unions
working at the grassroots level in India.



The announcement was made by Mr Carl Pope, Executive Director of the
Sierra Club, at a news conference here today. The winner of the first
"Green Energy and Green Livelihoods Achievement Award" will be announced
in early 2009 in Mumbai. The award will be worth Rs 40 lakhs at the
current dollar:rupee value.



"The purpose of our award is to build public support for community
organizations in India that are helping the country leapfrog past
polluting and inefficient technologies in order to create green
livelihoods and a green economy.* *Effective grassroots organizations
deserve more credit for helping to promote positive societal change.
That's why the Sierra Club has created this award. Our environment
doesn't protect itself ? civil society must actively be involved in the
process," Mr Pope said.



*Center for Green Livelihoods *

In addition to the award, Pope also announced that the Sierra Club would
be establishing a Center for Green Livelihoods in India and partnering
with other civil society organizations to explore other ways of creating
a robust dialogue on developing a green economy.



"Western lifestyles, typified by the wasteful, inefficient use of the
most polluting energy resources, have set a poor example for citizens in
developing economies eager to improve their quality of life," said Sunil
Deshmukh, a founding member of Sierra Club's India Advisory Council.
"However, the reliance of both India and America on carbon fuel does not
come without a steep long-term price for both countries. Hence, the
importance of recognizing those working at the grassroots to cut carbon
emissions in innovative ways," he added.



*Communicating India's success to America and vice versa*

"Our new award is only part of the new Sierra Club effort we are
developing in India," said Pritpal Singh Kochhar, another founding
member of the Sierra Club's India Advisory Council. "We are also eager
to develop strategic regional partnerships with India's exceptional
environmental organizations to promote two-way communications. We want
to inform Americans about India's environmental successes and Indians
about America's environmental achievements."



The award will be given annually to one exemplary environmental or
environmentally-related organization that satisfies predetermined
criteria for constructive community-based work.



"And in case there is any confusion on this point, our new India
initiative will in no way lessen the vigor of the Sierra Club's U.S.
campaigning to push both the American public and our government to
drastically reduce America's overconsumption of natural resources," said
Stephen Mills, Director of the Sierra Club's International Programs. "We
are very aware that industrialization in America and in Western Europe
created the climate crisis, but the fact is the impact of global warming
will be felt globally, particularly in India. We must collaborate on
both the economic and environmental solutions."





The award process will occur in close consultation with an Indian
nominations board and a Sierra Club Prize Jury drawn from prominent
Indian, American NRI and environmental experts.  Sierra Club staff and
representatives from the India-based recommendation committee will
carefully research each nominee, perform due diligence with respect to
each organization's authenticity and history of performance, and review
the qualifications of staff and financial viability of each organization
before recommending three semi-finalists to the Sierra Club prize jury.



The jury will examine recent community-based organizational
achievements* *that have broadened public support for green livelihoods.
Grassroots initiatives rather than scientific, academic or governmental
activities will merit greater consideration. The jury will look at
efforts to promote green economic empowerment, the creation of green
jobs, adaptation of renewable energy alternatives and initiatives that
have inspired others in the green movement. Organizational leadership in
a grassroots campaign that seeks to have, or results in, a significant
impact at the regional, national or global level will play a major role
in selection of the award.



*About The Sierra Club*



Established in 1892 by John Muir ? naturalist, writer and
conservationist ? the Sierra Club is the oldest and largest grassroots
environmental, organization in the United States with chapters in all 50
states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and also in Canada since
1963.



Named "the most influential environmental organization" in Washington
D.C. by the Aspen Institute after a survey of every member of Congress
and key federal officials, the Sierra Club gives the public the
information and the means to make their voices heard. The Club's 1.4
million members and supporters in 65 chapters and over 400 local groups
possess the unique ability to empower people and influence public policy
through community activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation.



Its international activity program includes 'Stop Global Warming' to
limit the amount of greenhouse gases to ensure a stable environment for
the future; protecting the environment by ensuring equal civil
liberties; supporting family planning programs to manage world
population growth; and promoting Responsible Trade to maintain strong
environmental and health standards while expanding international commerce.



For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org/india
<http://www.sierraclub.org/india>



Email Stephen Mills at Stephen.Mills@...
<mailto:Stephen.Mills@...>  or india.program@...
<mailto:india.program@...>
India mobile: +91 97 489 54284

or

R&PM:Edelman

Allwyn Fernandes (allwyn.fernandes@...
<mailto:allwyn.fernandes@...>)          :           +91 98200 48601

Sushil Sharma (sushil.sharma@...
<mailto:sushil.sharma@...>)                     :           +91
98210 23469












--
Darryl D'Monte
Chairperson, Forum of Environmental Journalists of India (FEJI)
International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ)
Kinara, 29-B Carter Road, Bandra West,
Mumbai 400 050, India
Tel 91 22 2642 7088, 2645 9286
& 3060 9014
Cell: 98203 68872
Fax c/o 91 22 2645 8870
E-mail: darryldmonte@... <mailto:darryldmonte@...>

--

http://pankaj-atcrossroads.blogspot.com

C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa,
908 Deccan Gym
Pune 411004
India
Tel: 020 25654239
Mob: 09423009933
Email: psekhsaria@...

TRINET For the coast Weekly News April 7, 2008


TRINet has transitioned into "The Resource and Information Network: for
the coast" from 1st April 2008.

Three years after the Indian Ocean tsunami, TRINet's focus has changed
from looking at tsunami rehabilitation to long term development of the
coastal zone. Specifically, TRINet's focus will be on providing
information on coastal issues from the perspective of the coastal
communities whose livelihoods depend extensively on access to coastal
resources. The Weekly News Roundup that has been focusing on tsunami
rehab news, has in the last year, slowly shifted its focus to coastal
issues in general though tsunami related news continues to be featured.
The same goes for the monthly newsletter. "Alayathi", the Tamil
newsletter is now produced by BEDROC (www.bedroc.in) Nagapattinam. The
electronic version will continue to be available on the TRINet website.

   Please visit our website www.trinet.in for more information



·         TRINet Newsletter – April 2008 can be accessed at:

http://www.trinet.in/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?cid=35&lid=460

·         Alayathi – April 2008 can be accessed at :

http://www.trinet.in/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?cid=38&lid=461



CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change to hit coastal pregnancies : New Delhi: A rise in sea
levels due to global warming will force people in India's coastal areas
to drink salty water, thus affecting pregnant women and their unborn
children, says a scientist associated with the Inter-governmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC). "Global warming will increase the sea level
and engulf the coastal belt. Since India has a long coastline, the
impact here will be severe," said Anthony J. McMichael of the Australian
National University, Canberra. "There will be a severe problem of
potable water and people will drink salty water. This will adversely
impact pregnancy in coastal India," McMichael said. He was in Delhi last
week to deliver the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) foundation
day lecture. "The extra intake of salt through drinking water will lead
to high blood pressure mainly during the last three-four months (of
pregnancy). It has the potential to make deliveries difficult," he said.
"Salt is associated with heart problem as well and the sea water
exposure may affect the normal life cycle of an unborn baby. The baby
may develop complications after birth," he warned. He said a group of
British scientists had carried out a survey in Bangladesh and found that
the surge in sea level had started affecting pregnant women there.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Planet_SOS/Climate_to_hit_coastal_pregnancie\
s/articleshow/2918986.cms



'Kochi in climate change zone' : Kochi: 'Climate change zone ahead,'
warned the blue hazard signs put at many points at Marine Drive, Kochi.
Curious pedestrians and passer-by could not initially make out what they
pointed to. Uniformed Greenpeace activists explained: these areas could
go under water, or face other extreme consequences, as a result of the
climate change in the decades to come. Greenpeace activists, as part of
their 'Blue Alert' climate change campaign, put up several such hazard
signs at three places in the city on Sunday—on the foreshore close to
Vasco Da Gama Square at Fort Kochi; on Jews Street, Mattancherry and at
Marine Drive. Greenpeace reckons that Kochi would be among India's
coastal cities which would be worst-hit by climate change caused by
global warming.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/31/stories/2008033153610400.htm



Climate change is creating a new geological age : Canberra, March 31: A
leading environmental scientist has suggested that humans are causing
such an unprecedented climatic change that it is creating a new
geological age. "The planet is already amid a "human-induced mass
extinction event" which is defining a new geological age known as the
Anthropocene," said Professor Will Steffen, director of the Centre for
Resource and Environmental Studies at Canberra's Australian National
University. According to Steffen, human history is littered with
examples of civilisations that have collapsed because of their inability
to adjust to environmental change - such as the Mayans in Meso-America,
the Norse colonies in southern Greenland and the Akkadian civilisation,
which was located in what is now Syria. "With no one sure what the
tipping point was, the best course of action was to mitigate climate
change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible," he said.

http://www.topnews.in/climate-change-creating-new-geological-age-228703

top

FISHERIES AND COASTAL MATTERS

Sea safety training modules : Soft copies of the training module for
small boat fishermen and the handbook on sea safety for small boat
fishermen (in Tamil) is now available at the links given below. This
module is being used by 22 sea safety trainers across 12 coastal
districts of Tamil Nadu and about 30,000 copies of the handbook is being
distributed among small boat fishermen in Tamil Nadu.

Handbook in Tamil:

http://seasafetysouthasia.org/Documents/Tamil%20handbook%20on%20sea%20safety.pdf
Training module:
http://seasafetysouthasia.org/Documents/Sea%20Safety%20Training%20Module.pdf



A lesson in safety for fishermen of Nochikuppam :  Chennai: Fishermen
from Nochikuppam, near the Lighthouse here, learnt about the use of
safety equipment at the first Coast Guard District Headquarters'
interaction with local fishermen on Thursday afternoon.All fishing
vessels should have first aid kits on board to deal with medical needs
that required immediate attention, officials said. The fishermen were
urged to maintain communication equipment such as radios and
walkie-talkies on board, besides lifebuoys and life jackets and distress
alert transmitters. The Global Marine Distress System would receive and
transmit signals from such transmitters globally. This would enable the
authorities to direct the nearest craft towards the distressed vessel
and hasten rescue efforts. Some transmitters have been given on a trial
basis to fishermen in Royapuram, Coast Guard officials said.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/04/stories/2008040458520200.htm



Fishermen brace for the annual bane : The ban that the Union government
will impose from 15 June to 31 July on the west coast and 15 April to 15
June on the east coast is an annual affair aimed at allowing fish stock
to regenerate. But for nearly 300,000 people working in some 40,000
trawlers across the country, and their dependents, it's a period of
forced idleness because an alternative source of income is hard to come
by. Often, it means increased borrowing, hardship and a sense of
desperation.

http://www.livemint.com/2008/04/03003651/Fishermen-brace-for-the-annual.html



Pondy waives Es 12.85 cr loans due from fishermen : Puducherry :
Puducherry Administration has waived loans, interest as well as penal,
to the tune of Rs 12.85 crore due from 6258 fishermen, Education and
Fisheries Minister M.O.H.F.Shahjahan said on Wednesday. He told the
Puducherry Munnetra Congress member K.Lakshminarayanan during question
hour in the Assembly that the loan was provided t the fishermen under
different schemes by the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare
to purchase boats and catamarans. This amount was outstanding from the
borrowers for some time. The government was considering a proposal to
liquidate the loans due to the cooperative societies from fishermen and
the total amount involved was Rs 63 lakhs.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200804021740.htm



Shrimp farmers in dire straits : Visakhapatnam: Dwindling numbers due to
indiscriminate fishing, dollar slide and unhealthy competition have put
shrimp farmers in dire straits. Most trawlers are either being converted
into tuna long-liners or lying idle at Visakhapatnam and other fishing
harbours due to failure to get a good catch and returns. The curbs
imposed by European Union and the duties levied in the United States
following detection of anti-biotic residuals in the consignments have
also hit the industry very hard. Industry sources said that at present
there is no institutional finance to majority of farmers and over 90 per
cent of Rs.6,500 crores invested in farm infrastructure is from personal
savings or private lending.

Similarly, over 90 per cent of Rs.2,400-crore working capital is also
mopped up either from personal savings or private financiers.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/02/stories/2008040253840300.htm

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ENVIRONMENT

Authority to assess environment impact : Chennai: The Union Ministry of
Environment and Forests has constituted the State Level Environment
Impact Assessment Authority for Tamil Nadu. The State Government has
nominated three members to the authority to function as chairman, member
secretary and member. The retired IAS officer, C. Thangaraju, will be
the chairman, and the Director of Environment, Tamil Nadu, will be the
member secretary. A fourteen-member State Level Expert Appraisal
committee has also been constituted. The appraisal committee will make
recommendations on projects that seek clearance. The members will have a
three-year tenure.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/02/stories/2008040254950500.htm



"Consult local bodies before allowing industries in rural areas" :
Cuddalore: Women presidents of the panchayats have sought powers to
protect the common resources such as land, waterbodies and environment.
If necessary, the government should amend the Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act,
1994 to facilitate this. A resolution was passed at a meeting held under
the aegis of the Tamil Nadu Federation of Women Presidents of Panchayat
Government here recently. R. Silambu Selvi, district panchayat chairman,
presided.It noted that the panchayats should be vested with powers to
decide on the usage of common resources. The Central and State
Governments should take the local bodies into confidence before allowing
any industries to come up in the rural areas. The panchayats should also
be empowered to close down the industries that violated the pollution
control norms, caused environmental degradation and spoiled the
agriculture lands and water sources.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/01/stories/2008040153640300.htm



Report handed over : Cuddalore: Kattumannarkoil MLA D. Ravikumar on
Friday handed over the report of the National Environmental Engineering
Research Institute on the status of pollution in the Cuddalore SIPCOT
Industrial Estate to T.P.M. Mohideen Khan, Minister for Environment. In
a statement released here, the MLA said the report had stated that at
least 15 volatile organic compounds were found in excess of the
permissible limit in air in the area. The MLA requested the Minister to
take immediate measures to regulate the industries in the estate.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/05/stories/2008040551960300.htm



Steps to prevent flooding of low-lying areas sought : Nagercoil: The
Conservation of Nature Trust here has urged the Government to take steps
to prevent the flooding of low-lying areas in and around Nagercoil
municipal limits. The chairman of the forum, R.S. Lal Mohan has said
that there were about 60 tanks, small and big, within the periphery of
the town The municipality, the district administration and individuals
filled most of the tanks unwisely. After the merger of Kanyakumari
district with Tamil Nadu, officers who viewed these areas as wastelands
converted them into bus stands, shopping complexes, housing sites and
even marriage halls. This has resulted in water scarcity in summer and
flood during rainy seasons. Hence the Conservation of Nature Trust here
has demanded the Government conduct a detailed survey so that a master
plan could be formulated to prevent flooding. Moreover one of the
important suggestions to prevent the flood was to remove encroachments
in odai poromboke. The officials should undertake periodic check-up so
that encroachments could be removed to ensure free flow of rainwater,
said Mr.Lal Mohan.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/31/stories/2008033155060800.htm



How Poor Nations Pay The Environmental Cost : The environmental damage
caused by rich nations disproportionately impacts poor nations and costs
them more than their combined foreign debt, according to a study led by
Indian American researcher Thara Srinivasan at the University of
California at Berkeley. The first-ever global accounting of the dollar
costs of countries' ecological footprints, assessed the impacts of
agricultural intensification and expansion, deforestation, overfishing,
loss of mangrove swamps and forests, ozone depletion and climate change
during a 40-year period, from 1961 to 2000. In the case of climate
change and ozone depletion, the researchers also estimated the impacts
that may be felt through the end of this century.

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=42d997d15529fb81001d\
c086bbfe3c4d

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TSUNAMI REHABILITATION

General

Tsunami Emergency and Recovery Revised Plan and Budget 2005 - 2010
Appeal No. M04EA028 Ops Update No. 63. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives,
Thailand, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Somalia, Seychelles, Regional and
Global Support: Three years after the massive earthquake and subsequent
tsunamis on 26 December 2004, which devastated countries around the
Indian Ocean, recovery programmes undertaken by the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (International
Federation) and its partner national societies continue to provide
assistance to those communities most affected by the disaster. For the
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the tsunami disaster has brought
about the largest emergency and recovery operations ever undertaken.
Over CHF 3 billion was raised within the International Federation and by
more than 100 national societies around the world. The focus of
assistance continues to be in the four most affected countries:
Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand. However, support still
continues in lesser affected countries that include Bangladesh, India,
Myanmar, Seychelles and Somalia. In order to support the long term
nationwide capacity building work in the three countries most affected
by the tsunami, appeals for 2008-2009 have been launched, to provide
support to the core programmes of Sri Lankan Red Cross, Indonesian Red
Cross and the new Maldivian Red Crescent Society, which is under
formation. Partner national societies are asked to support these
important appeals. Full report at:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/retrieveattachments?openagent&shortid=EDIS-7\
D9KHF&file=Full_Report.pdf

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EDIS-7D9KHF?OpenDocument



Disaster Preparedness – Government and NGO partnership : The Evangelical
Fellowship of India Commission on Relief (EFICOR), a Delhi based relief
and development organization conducted a programme on 29 March 2008 at
Hotel Comfort Inn on the theme, "Disaster Preparedness – Government and
NGO partnership". This programme also commemorated the successful
completion of 3 years of intervention of EFICOR for the tsunami affected
people in coastal Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Speaking on the occasion the key note speaker, Prof. N. Vinod Chandra
Menon, member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
commended the work of EFICOR, in particular the temporary shelters in
MGR Thittu village, Cuddalore. He also stressed the importance of
preparedness and said that it was the cornerstone of involvement as
there is 'high probability of low probability event anytime, anywhere'.
He also added that there should be 'zero tolerance to avoidable deaths
by disasters'. The Executive Director of EFICOR, Rev. Dino L Touthang
presented the work of EFICOR and the various relief and development and
training activities that it undertakes throughout the country. He also
presented a video on the work done by EFICOR in the tsunami affected
areas of Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari which included building
1142 permanent shelters. Also present on the occasion, Dr. Jayakumar
Christian, National Director of World Vision India spoke on Government
and NGO partnership. A book in Tamil on the "Communities
responsibilities in disaster preparedness" prepared by EFICOR was also
released. This book will serve as a valuable tool for the communities
where EFICOR has been involved in tsunami work for the community to be
prepared for facing any future disaster.

Source: David Chandran, Project Director: (davidbeulah@...)

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LIVELIHOODS

Women SHGs' savings cross Rs.63 crore : Nagapattinam: Women self-help
groups are functioning well in the Cauvery delta region of Nagapattinam
district, particularly in the tsunami-hit villages, and they have
achieved a total savings of Rs.63.30 crore, said the Collector Tenkasi
S. Jawahar, here on Monday. Addressing the public grievances day meeting
after receiving petitions from the public, the Collector said that as
many as 11,808 women SHGs were in the district with a total 1.86 lakh
members and most of the SHGs were functioning well by carrying out
several income-generating economic activities. He said that the
Government had provided a revolving fund of Rs.67.77 crore and pointed
out the commercial banks had advanced nearly Rs.27 crore to the SHGs and
the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing Development Corporation (TAHDCO) had
provided Rs.6.77 crore assistance to the SHGs. The Collector said that
as many as 793 women SHGs were formed in the district during 2007-08
against the target of 777 groups because of tremendous response from
women in rural areas.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/01/stories/2008040150490200.htm



NABARD's initiative bears fruit : Tiruvarur: An initiative by National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) involving 25
unemployed youths in the district by training them under its Skill
Development Initiative has yielded the expected results, creating job
opportunities for them. At Muthupettai, a block affected by Tsunami,
basic and upgradation skills on welding technologies was imparted to 25
youth in the age group of 18 to 35, spread over a period of 8 weeks
through Shiela's Unit for Health and Social Affairs (SUHSA), a
Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO). The initiative attracted one of the
reputed entrepreneurs, Cethar Vessels Ltd., from Tiruchi, who came
forward to offer job opportunities for them. All the 25 youths will be
placed in one of their units in Tiruchi on induction training for a
period of six months after which they will be permanently absorbed based
on their performance.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/03/stories/2008040351360300.htm



Tsunami-hit fishermen's wards turn nursing assistants : Villupuram: The
tsunami has spawned a set of determined girls to become nursing
assistants. The death and devastation caused by the killer waves have
imbued the service motto in the residents of the coastal village of
Kottakuppam. Some of them have passed Standard X and some, Plus-Two. All
of them belong to the fishing community and hence, the novelty of taking
to nursing profession is all the more striking. Ms. Kalaivani told The
Hindu that when they were groping in the dark on what to do after
schooling, they heard of the Asian Development Bank-aided Tsunami
Emergency Assistant Programme (TEAP) launched under the aegis of the
Commissionerate of Town Panchayat, to provide alternative livelihood
measures. For the ilk of Ms. Kalaivani, it was not a question of
livelihood but a pursuit of career. Hence, they enrolled under the
programme and underwent three-month training imparted by Dr. Reddy's
Foundation, Hyderabad. After the first batch completed the training,
Vanaja Vaithianathan, director, Jothi Eye Care Centre, Puducherry, who
gave a guest lecture to the trainees, inducted the entire batch in her
hospital. Dr. Vaithianathan, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon, said the
candidates had the right aptitude for the profession but their schooling
in Tamil medium slowed down the mastery of skills as the record keeping
ought to be done in English. They were all adept in handling hi-tech
equipment and their services would also be utilised in the community eye
camps being organised periodically by the hospital.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/06/stories/2008040653030300.htm



Theera Mythri project nearing completion : Kollam: The Theera Mythri
project is nearing completion on a time-bound manner. The project is
being funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as part of the
Rs.245-crore Tsunami Emergency Assistance Project (TEAP). The assistance
for the project is Rs.33 crore and it is being implemented by the
Fisheries Department. According to N.K. Sasidharan Pillai, team leader
of TEAP's project implementation unit, Rs.18 crore from the assistance
amount had already reached the beneficiaries for livelihood improvement
projects and they had started utilising the projects under the
programme. He said there were 26 livelihood improvement projects to be
implemented by the Fisheries Department under TEAP. The aim was to
assure an everyday steady income for the beneficiaries. The projects
comprised seafood kiosks, fish drying units, mussel culture, fresh fish
marketing, ornamental fish projects. Other projects included training
for master resource persons, development of micro enterprises, working
capital for revolving fund, branding and marketing support, starting of
super markets and risk mitigation through supply of life saving
equipment for those going to sea. Women were the major beneficiaries.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/04/stories/2008040452580300.htm

top

HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Healthcare centre opened at Pazhaverkadu : Chennai: KPMG Foundation, a
body set up by KPMG International, commissioned two desalination plants
and a healthcare centre at Pazhaverkadu in Tiruvallur recently as part
of its initiative to rehabilitate tsunami victims. According to a press
release, the project was started with the assistance of the
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which offered consulting
services, and charitable trust Aim for Seva. They have been working
together to enhance medical care and drinking water facilities in
tsunami-affected villages across the State. The health centre set up in
Pazhaverkadu would offer emergency and basic medical care to 15 villages
in the neighbourhood. Residents would otherwise have to travel about 20
kms to reach the nearest hospital. The health centre would also promote
the use of alternative treatments, the release said.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/31/stories/2008033158140200.htm



They wave SOS flag : Chennai, April 5. Even after more than three years
elapsed since the tsunami waves struck the Chennai coast, the government
is yet to fulfil its promose of rebuilding the tenements of the affected
families of Nochikuppam and Srinivasapuram near the Marina. The state
government had issued an order in December 2006 to rebuild the tenements
built by the TN Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) with the latest technical
and disaster resistant features under Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction
Project with World Bank assistance after the board declaring the
tenements have become weak structurally due to salty air and moisture
and are in a dilapidated condition after the tsunami. The board has
proposed to demolish the existing 2,862 tenements and construct 7,320
tenemens in the same place to accommodate the existing occupants along
with 4,5458 tsunami-hit slum families. However the project ran into
rough waters following complaints of irregularities in the allotment and
opposition from the locals as they doubted the government's intention
fearing that they would be moved out once and for all from their area.
But now the residents are in favour of the housing project as the
condition of the tenements is getting worse.

Deccan Chronicle, 6 April 2008, Chennai Edition (print), p4.

top

Other Countries:

INDONESIA

Earthquake hits North Maluku : Jakarta - An earthquake measuring 5.3 on
the Richter scale rocked North Maluku on the wee hours on Friday, but it
did not trigger tsunami. The Meteorological and Geophysics Body said the
quake occurred at 0.04 degree south latitude and 127.29 degrees east
longitude, or some 97 km beneath the sea. The epicenter of the tremor
was located 69 km north west of Labuha - North Maluku, 91 km south west
of Ternate - North Maluku, 286 km south east of Bitug - North Sulawesi
and 320 km south east of Manado - North Sulawesi.

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2008/4/4/earthquake-hits-north-maluku/

top

THAILAND

International board chair of Habitat for Humanity witnesses on-going
work in southern Thailand to help families affected by 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami : Bangkok 4th April 2008: Chairman of Habitat for Humanity's
International board of directors Ron Terwilliger started 30 families in
southern Thailand on the road to a new life when he presented special
Habitat savings boxes so they could start saving for their new homes.
Saving just 30 baht a day – less than US$1 a day – will give each family
a down payment for their new Habitat homes in less than a year. 'It's
terrific to see Habitat in action even here in the south of Thailand,
helping working working people to have a chance to have a decent home,'
said Terwilliger.The families are the latest group of families in
southern Thailand set to benefit from an on-going partnership between
Habitat for Humanity Thailand and World Concern to help those affected
by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/MUMA-7DE4P6?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=\
TS-2004-000147-LKA

top

MALDIVES

A new nest for tsunami survivors : The British Red Cross has finished
constructing 216 houses across four islands in the Maldives after the
devastating Boxing Day tsunami. Ahumad Ali (49) and his family are among
44 families that have recently moved into their new homes in Fonadhoo.
He said: "The house is extremely good, much better than my old house
before the tsunami. The house is bigger, stronger and comfortable. And
most importantly, if there is another tsunami I am sure there will not
be any damage to the structure." As well as constructing houses, the
British Red Cross is helping communities rebuild their livelihoods and
learn how to be prepared for future disasters.

http://www.redcross.org.uk/news.asp?id=79921

top

Disclaimer:

This news update is provided by TRINet for the benefit of those working
in coastal areas and in tsunami rehabilitation

purely for information purposes only.

Please send your comments to info.trinet@...

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MAP News, 196th Ed., 2 of 2Andaman observers should note that yellowfin tuna is
on the "red list". The world's fish stocks have been extracted to exhaustion to
satisfy western and Japanese appetites. The Andaman area is one of the last
havens. Enormous care must be taken to ensure that the high-tech fishing now
being introduced does not destroy local populations... there is nothing left to
take their place.
The item below suggests that Indian steel companies are exporting their methods
to other unfortunate countries.


Trinidad & Tobago

21 February 2008

Cops block fishermen from jetty (Trinidad & Tobago)

Four police officers formed a human barricade along the Claxton Bay jetty
yesterday, to prevent fishermen from getting to the site where land was being
surveyed for the construction of a port to be used by Essar Steel Limited.

Employees of the Institute of Marine Affairs, who went to collect samples at the
site, were also questioned by the officers.

Kishoore Boodram, president of Claxton Bay Fishermen's Association, said the
officers were preventing them from walking on the jetty they had built for their
own convenience.

"The old jetty was broken down, so we used boulders and gravel to construct this
jetty. This is like putting a man out of his own house," he said.

The fishermen were joined by several residents of Pranz Gardens, Claxton Bay,
who are also against the construction of the steel mill. Prof Peter Vine and Dr
Wayne Kublalsingh were also present.

Boodram said fishermen were prepared to give up their lives to save the nearby
mangrove.

"We are going to save the mangrove no matter what we have to do," he said.

Boodram, a fisherman for more than 30 years, said industrial estates had already
taken up 80 per cent of the fishing bed along the Gulf of Paria.

"Please leave our 20 per cent alone," he pleaded.

He said removing the mangrove meant destroying the spawning ground for fishes
and oysters.

"And there is no way a man-made mangrove would replace this natural habitat," he
said.

Basdeo Ramdath, who is responsible for the Claxton Bay Fishing Depot, said over
the years fishermen have been reeling in fewer fish because of pollution. He
said more than 100 fishermen would be out of work if the steel mill was
constructed. "And we haven't counted their families as yet," he said.

Boodram said fishermen were determined to fight to protect their livelihood.

Source:  Trinadad & Tobago Express
<http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161281746>http://www.tr\
inidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161281746

================================================

=====================================================
STORIES/ISSUES

19 February 2008

Who's Really Paying for Cheap Shrimp?

Not you and me. That farmed tiger shrimp costs five times what we're paying. So
who's getting charged the difference? Local poor people and the local
environment. This according to Daniel A. Bergquist of Uppsala University.
Despite what many international aid organizations claim (and fund), Bergquist
says his studies in Sri Lanka and the Philippines prove that a major portion of
the local population is excluded from aquaculture and continue to be as poor as
ever. "The winners are the local elites," he says. What's more, aquaculture
often entails cutting mangrove forests for shrimp and fish ponds, creating
environmental problems that eventually impact aquaculture.

By using methods that factor in all costs, Bergquist was able to show, for
instance, that the price of tiger shrimp would need to be more than five times
higher than it is today for the environment and the local population to receive
fair compensation for their input. "Aquaculture is a clear example of how the
colonization of the southern hemisphere is still going on, finding new avenues
via globalization and international trade," says Bergquist.

So maybe the good folks at Blue Ocean Institute will add tiger shrimp to their
excellent sustainable seafood texting service, and keep a few more of us from
eating it until the price gets real.

Julia Whitty is Mother Jones' environmental correspondent, lecturer, and 2008
winner of the John Burroughs Medal Award. You can read from her new book, The
Fragile Edge, and other writings,
<http://julia.whitty.googlepages.com/books>here.

<http://www.motherjones.com/blue_marble_blog/archives/2008/02/7268_whos_really_p\
ay.html>http://www.motherjones.com/blue_marble_blog/archives/2008/02/7268_whos_r\
eally_pay.html

New 'red list' seeks to stave off global seafood collapse

Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com
March 3, 2008

Over-fishing and destructive fishing practices have had a considerable effect on
oceanic ecosystems. In 2006 a highly-reported study found that without drastic
measures all wild seafood will disappear from the oceans in 50 years.
Greenpeace, working against such a crash, has started a campaign that highlights
'red fish'. The twenty-two 'red' species are seafood that consumers and
suppliers (including supermarkets) should avoid due to their plummeting
populations and/or the damage caused by harvesting them.

Greenpeace uses five different gauges to establish their 'red' fish: 1) the
status of the fish, whether they are threatened or endangered; 2) if destructive
fishing methods are used, like bottom trawling, which harms the ecosystem; 3) if
harvesting the fish has negative impact on non-target species through by-catch;
4) fish which are caught illegally by unregulated fishing operations, often
called pirate fishing; 5) and if the fishery involved negatively impacts on
local communities dependent on fishing. Phil Kline, an oceans campaigner for
Greenpeace, stated that the species had to have low-marks in just one area to
avoid the list; he added that "the list could be a whole lot longer, however we
think it's important to try and address the worst of the worst first."

In an interview with Mongabay.com Kline said that the fish most threatened by
population collapse are the Atlantic Halibut, the Monkfish, all sharks, and the
Blue Fin Tuna, which he described as "the poster child for stock depletion".
Most of the depletion of shark population is due to the finning trade, where
sharks have the fins caught off while the rest of the body is thrown back into
the sea. The fins are used in an extremely popular and expensive Chinese
delicacy called shark-fin soup. Sharks as by-catch is adding even more pressure
on the populations. Kline stated that since sharks have long gestation periods
and produce few young they are particularly vulnerable.

The Hoki, Atlantic Sea Scallops, Orange Roughy, and the Alaskan Pollock made the
list due to destructive fishing practices, including by-catch and
bottom-trawling. By-catch means the fish, mammals, reptiles, and birds that are
caught by fisheries in pursuit of target species. Bottom-trawling and other
practices greatly damage the environment. Fishing the Hoki, or Blue Grenadier,
comes with a high yield of fur seals as by-catch, including the endangered
southern fur seal. Orange Roughy stocks are highly depleted (it is on the
Endangered Species list in Australia) and bottom trawling is the only way to
catch the fish.

Populations of Atlantic Sea Scallop are abundant, but catching them destroys
habitat; "it actually cuts into the very first inches of sea floor," Kline says.
Additionally the Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery impacts the population of
Loggerhead Sea Turtles (already listed as endangered by the IUCN) during their
annual migration. Kline says that the recorded by-catch is "close to 860
Loggerhead Sea Turtles in a year, although we are pretty sure that's an
underestimation." He adds that many by-catches go unrecorded. Since they only
happen during the turtles' migration Kline says that the problem would be "easy
to change"-simply don't allow Atlantic Sea Scallop fishing during the turtle's
migration.

The Alaskan Pollock industry proves just as problematic. Comprising the world's
largest fishery, the pursuit of this fish causes tremendous amounts of by-catch
in species across the ecosystem. Last year "160,000 King Salmon were caught as
by-catch," Kline says, "30,000 of these were King Salmon that didn't go back up
the Yukon river." The King Salmon of the Yukon River are a source of food for
native populations, who closed their fishing on the river due to lack of fish.
"No-where in management plans do we budget for marine mammals, birds and other
fish that are killed as by-catch" says Kline and the Alaskan Pollock fisheries
has already caused "catastrophic declines of animals", including the Northern
Fur Seal, which is classified as endangered.

In its current campaign Greenpeace is aggressively pursuing supermarkets to stop
carrying these 'red species'. Their website states: "The public shouldn't have
to bear the burden of checking seafood red and green lists. Instead, we will
start at the source. Supermarkets need to remove the worst fish from their
counters." Considering the devastating impact industrial fishing on the ocean,
Mongabay.com asked Phil Kline if we had reached a point where seafood should be
avoided altogether by consumers. "It's not a position that the organization has
put out," he said, "but it is between you, and me, and people who are educated
on this issue a very reasonable position to have. It is certainly a fool's
mission to encourage eating more seafood." He added that "there are some
fisheries in some areas that are very well managed, I can see no reason to tell
people not to eat fish from those fisheries, and there are communities that
depend on their small-scale fishing industry." Kline has a rare perspective on
the fishing industry, since for thirty years he was a commercial fisherman. He
says that "watching us deplete the oceans turned me from a fisherman to an
advocate for the fish".

In addition to the red list and providing pressure on the food industry,
Greenpeace also advocates making 40% of the world's oceans no-take zones,
allowing fish populations to recover and become sustainable for the future. The
current no-take zones comprise less than 1% of the ocean.

Twenty-two species have been listed by Greenpeace as 'red species': suppliers
and consumers should avoid these due to their detrimental effects on the oceans:

Alaska Pollock
Atlantic Cod or Scrod
Atlantic Halibut (US and Canadian)
Atlantic Salmon (wild and farmed)
Atlantic Sea Scallop
Bluefin tuna
Big Eye Tuna
Chilean Sea Bass (also sold as Patagonia Toothfish)
Greenland Halibut (also sold as Black halibut, Atlantic turbot or Arrowhead
flounder)
Grouper (imported to the U.S.)
Hoki (also known as Blue Grenadier)
Monkfish
Ocean Quahog
Orange Roughy
Red Snapper
Redfish (also sold as Ocean Perch)
Sharks
Skates and Rays
South Atlantic Albacore Tuna
Swordfish
Tropical Shrimp (wild and farmed)
Yellowfin Tuna

<http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0303-hance_seafood.html>http://news.mongabay.com/\
2008/0303-hance_seafood.html

======================================================

19 February 2008

Alien species 'wreck world's oceans and rivers'

By Paul Eccleston

Alien species are wreaking havoc on the world's oceans and river systems, say
scientists.

Marine invasive species damage waters and land that native species and plants
rely on to survive.

And governments have to spend millions of pounds trying to get rid of them, says
the Nature Conservancy study.

Examples in the UK include Floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides) a
native of North America which was brought to Britain in the 1980s as a garden
pond plant but which quickly spread to the wild.

The pennywort chokes rivers and streams depriving water creatures and plants of
essential oxygen and light. Individual stems can grow up to 20cm in a day,
creating a mat of vegetation up to 15m from the bank in one season.

Invasive and predatory marine animals which cause massive problems for our
native creatures on waterways include the American mink, American crayfish, and
the zebra mussel from the Caspian sea.

Once in the wild, these aquatic invaders cause massive disruption and with no
natural predators and a benign climates they expand rapidly to nuisance
proportions.

The latest study contains a global assessment of the impacts and causes of
invasive marine species and says 84 per cent of the world's coasts are being
affected by foreign aquatic species.

Stephanie Meeks, acting president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, said:
"Everyone in the world depends on healthy oceans and coasts for survival.
Invasive species are severely impacting native plants and animals, and are
causing significant economic damage at the same time.

"By understanding the scale and scope of these invaders, we are better equipped
to stop them."

According to the study, in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment,
international shipping and aqua culture are the major causes of the spread of
harmful species introduction world-wide with 80 per cent of all invasive
introductions accidental.

The economic costs of invasive species are huge with the US alone spending £60bn
annually to control and repair damage from more than 800 invaders. Throughout
the world's oceans, aquatic aliens damage economies by hitting fisheries,
fouling ships' hulls, and clogging intake pipes. Some can also pose a threat to
human health through disease.

Examples of the damage invasive species can cause include:

* The comb jellyfish carried to the Black Sea on a ship in the early 1990s. It
devastated fish populations and disrupted the entire food chain by feeding
voraciously on fish eggs and zoo plankton.

* The Pacific oyster was transported from Japan to be farmed in coastal waters
around the world since the early 1900s. Once introduced, they aggressively
attach themselves to rocks and group together, squeezing out other species. In
Australia and elsewhere, this fast-growing species can smother prized native
oysters and mussels, hurting local fisheries.

* Wild Atlantic salmon stocks in Scotland and Scandinavia are being decimated by
new pathogens, while escaped farm salmon are weakening the genetic resilience of
native fish. Each year, up to 500,000 salmon escape from fish farms in Norway
alone.

* San Francisco Bay, California, is the most invaded aquatic region on earth.
More than half of its fish and most of its bottom-dwelling organisms are not
native and new species are being introduced at an alarming rate.

Jennifer Molnar, conservation scientist at The Nature Conservancy and lead
author of the study, said: " "The scale of this problem is vast. Every day,
thousands of vessels cross our oceans with invasive species hitchhiking on their
hulls. Because of this, as many as 10,000 species are estimated to be in transit
at any one time.

"Once alien species become established in marine habitats, it can be nearly
impossible to remove them, The best way to address these invaders is to prevent
their arrival or introduction in the first place."

Source:  Telegraph (U.K.)
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/02/19/eainvas119.xm\
l>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/02/19/eainvas119.x\
ml

======================================================

15 February 2008

Study paints grim picture of human impact on the world's oceans

A new marine "map" has allowed scientists to chart the human trail of
destruction that currently blights some 41 percent of marine ecosystems. Writing
in Science, a multidisciplinary group of authors, led by Ben Halpern at the
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara gathered 17
global data sets covering a wide range of anthropogenic drivers, including
invasive species, acidification, pollution, commercial shipping and fisheries
bycatch rates. Many areas were affected by several factors together: the North
Sea and Eastern Caribbean being particularly hard hit. We all know that coral
reefs and mangroves are in trouble, but Halpern's study shows that rocky reefs
and continental shelves are suffering even more. Although the findings only
provide an overview - the scale of the data misses finer detail - they clearly
show how multiple pressures can accumulate. The least affected areas appear to
be those tricky-to-reach polar regions, but with climate change expected to free
up access to many currently ice-bound seas, who's prepared to bet on that
remaining the case? Source: Halpern BS, Walbridge S, Selkoe KA, Kappel CV,
Micheli F, D'Agrosa C, Bruno JF, Casey KS, Ebert C, Fox HE, Fujita R, Heinemann
D, Lenihan HS, Madin EMP, Perry MT, Selig ER, Spalding M, Steneck R & Watson R
(2008) A global map of human impact on marine ecosystems.
<http://www.sciencemag.org>Science DOI:
<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/319/5865/948>10.1126/science.114\
9345

Source:  Conservation Magazine
<http://journalwatch.conservationmagazine.org/2008/02/15/poles-apart-for-now/>ht\
tp://journalwatch.conservationmagazine.org/2008/02/15/poles-apart-for-now/

=====================================================

The Debt of Nations

8 February 2008

Tracking the worldwide depletion of ecosystem resources is a complex
international problem. Srinivasan et al. have used a simplified accounting
framework to link populations who experience ecological damage to those who
cause it. The largest and most blatant imbalance is the debt we (high-income
countries) owe to low-income countries because of climate change. On a per
capita basis, people in high-income countries are responsible for almost six
times more greenhouse gas emissions than their low-income counterparts. Included
in the tally is, for instance, the luxury debt accrued by high-income consumers
of farmed shrimp; this demand encourages the destruction of coastal mangrove
trees to clear the way for shrimp ponds. The resulting loss of storm protection
is increasing the risk to adjacent cities as sea levels rise and coral reefs
collapse (see also Grimm et al., Review, p. 756). Similarly, middle-and
high-income countries consume most of the world's fish; nevertheless, several
food-deficient African countries charge only modest access fees for the mining
of their rich offshore fisheries. Despite the difficulties of measurement and
the need to simplify, this analysis raises provocative questions about the
division of responsibilities for environmental harm. -- CA
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105, 10.1073/pnas.0709562104 (2008).

Source:  Science
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol319/issue5864/twil.dtl#319/5864/701b

=====================================================

Bangkok Post  Nov.19, 2007

GLOBAL WARMING

Asia's growing oil palm farms seen as climate change threat

PIYAPORN WONGRUANG

A new global report on climate change compiled by a consortium of NGOs demands
that closer attention be paid to the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations in
Asia to prevent the region's already precarious environmental situation from
worsening.

The report, ''Up in Smoke: Asia and the Pacific,'' has revealed that the rapid
expansion of bio-fuel production in the region might accelerate the exploitation
of forest land, thus resulting in severe deforestation, which is second only to
the energy sector in its culpability for carbon emissions, say scientists.

Indonesia, the third largest global emitter of carbon dioxide after the United
States and China, already has a huge area of oil palm plantations covering some
60,000 square kilometres, while its government is actively encouraging further
expansion, according to the report, which was launched in major cities in the
region including Bangkok.

This would only increase emissions of carbon dioxide, not help reduce the gas in
the atmosphere, the report said.

Asia has already experienced drastic changes associated with global warming.
Over half of its population, including people in Thailand's coastal regions, are
directly vulnerable to rising sea levels.

Less predictable and more extreme patterns of rainfall are also likely to
emerge, putting small-scale farms in Asia, which account for over 80% of the
world's 400 million farms, at risk, it added.

The report has called for a halt of forest clearance in the region to contain
bio-fuel expansion.

It suggested Asian countries conduct an urgent assessment of the situation for
the sake of food security, and protection of traditional livelihoods of local
populations. It also emphasised greater cuts of greenhouse gas emissions by
developed countries.

The report is a four-year review of international research carried out by a
coalition of over 20 environmental and development advocacy groups, including
Oxfam International, the International Institute for Environment and Development
(IIED), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Dr Saleem Huq, head of Climate Change at the UK-based IIED, has called on the
Asian public to raise the issue of climate change loudly by exerting pressure on
their governments to take urgent action to reverse the situation before the
upcoming Bali meeting, where world leaders will meet to discuss possible ways to
combat global warming together.

''Without this, Asia will continue to suffer, as will communities worldwide who
are contributing the least to climate change but suffer the most,'' he said.

Anond Snidvongs, director of the regional climate research agency, START, said
it was likely that the region would face the consequences of global warming
projected in the report. Even a slight change in the world's climate could put
certain islands in the region at risk.

Dr Anond said there was no doubt that extreme weather events in Thailand were
influenced by climate change. Asian countries should re-address their stance on
the issue because they are likely to suffer more than others. Adaptations should
be addressed more firmly than before, he said.

''The fundamental thing is that we need to develop our own knowledge and human
resources in this field so that we can negotiate better when we need to and get
what we deserve. More research and studies are needed in the region,'' he said.

Asia-Pacific countries will hold a meeting in Bangkok this week to address their
approaches to addressing climate change before engaging in the Dec 3-14 Bali
meeting.

======================================================

CONFERENCES/ WORKSHOPS/ PUBLICATIONS/ RESOURCES

The International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) News Alerts

Global conference on small-scale fisheries to focus on sustainable social
development

Date: 26-02-2008     Source: <http://>FAO
A Global Conference on Small-scale Fisheries will be held 13-17 October 2008 in
Bangkok, to address how small-scale fisheries have the potential to
significantly contribute to sustainable development, in particular with respect
to such key issues as poverty reduction, food and livelihood

The conference is co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) and the Royal Government of Thailand. It is convened in
collaboration with the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC)
and The WorldFish Centre.

According to the organizers, the conference will have abroad scope, allowing for
the discussion of a wide range of issues including, inter alia, wider social and
economic development and human rights issues, governance, fisheries policy
processes and systems, fisheries management approaches and market access aspects
and means of increasing post-harvest benefits. A special focus of the
conference, however, will be on the issue of securing access and user rights by
small-scale fishers, indigenous peoples, and fishing communities to coastal and
fishery resources that sustain their livelihoods.

The subject matter and focus of the conference is of particular importance to
developing countries and stakeholders from directly concerned countries are
encouraged to participate. Since management issues as well as valuable
experience from different systems and approaches exist also in industrialised
countries, those concerned with small-scale fisheries in the North and
sub-tropics are also encouraged to participate. The organizers look forward to
the participation of fish workers, fisheries managers, social scientists,
government officials, representatives of professional associations, NGOs and
other civil society organisations, the private sector, and international and
regional development partners and agencies.

Given the important role of women in the small-scale fisheries sector, the
organizers will ensure their presence and as wide as possible participation in
the conference. Since the issues to be discussed combine social development and
fisheries management, officials, professionals and representatives dealing with
both - or one or the other - of the two issues are invited to participate.
Representation from the local community level is sought, according to the
organizers.

For further information and registration, a conference website (www.4SSF.org )
will become active in March 2008.

======================================================

Mangroves and Halophytes: Restoration and Utilisation
Series: <http://www.springer.com/series/6613>Tasks for Vegetation Science , Vol.
43

Lieth, Helmut; García Sucre, Maxímo; Herzog, Brigitte (Eds.)

2008, LVIII, 162 p. 74 illus. in color., Hardcover

ISBN: 978-1-4020-6719-8

Not yet published. Available: April 14, 2008
$149.00
<http://www.springer.com/business?SGWID=4-40517-34-173756103-0&addToBasket>
About this book
|
<http://www.springer.com/life+sci/ecology/book/978-1-4020-6719-8?detailsPage=toc\
>Table of contents
<http://www.springer.com/life+sci/ecology/book/978-1-4020-6719-8?detailsPage=toc\
>http://www.springer.com/life+sci/ecology/book/978-1-4020-6719-8?detailsPage=toc
About this book

Focusing on Venezuela and Mexico, this edited volume from the International
Society of Halophyte Utilisation (ISHU) explores the environmental issues facing
South and Central America's coastal ecosystems, and discusses the uses of
mangrove species and other halophytes in addressing issues of both coastal
pollution and upland soil salinisation.

The book draws on expertise from Europe and South America to present a series of
case studies that detail Venezuela's saline ecosystems and examine the economic
potential of mangrove restoration and halophyte production. It includes
cutting-edge research into the establishment of new mangrove stands which could
serve as prototypes for the sustainable use of halophytes, including Chenopodium
quinoa and Tamarix aphylla. Moreover, the detailed examples from Venezuela and
other Caribbean countries provide useful models for comparison with halophyte
utilisation in other parts of the world - especially the Mediterranean region,
where much of the earlier research of the ISHU had been conducted.

Including insights from 50 years of research on the Venezuelan coastline this
unique book provides a useful reference for researchers working on saline
ecosystems and economically useful halophytes around the world.

Source:  Springer
<http://www.springer.com/life+sci/ecology/book/978-1-4020-6719-8>http://www.spri\
nger.com/life+sci/ecology/book/978-1-4020-6719-8

======================================================

Review

On the reliability of the data of the extent of mangroves: A case study in
Mexico

Arturo Ruiz-Luna, Joanna Acosta-Velázquez and César A. Berlanga-Robles
  a Unidad Mazatlán en Acuicultura y Manejo Ambiental, CIAD, A.C.,
Sábalo-Cerritos s/n, Mazatlán, 82010 Sinaloa, Mexico
b CONABIO, Av. Liga Periférico-Insurgentes Sur No. 4903, Col. Parques del
Pedregal, Tlalpan, México D.F., CP 14010, Mexico

Available online 2 October 2007.

Abstract

We analyze part of the available information on the extent of mangroves and
discuss the consistency of the records, because of the importance of mangrove
cover at both a global and local scale and because of the differences among
time-series figures and estimated trends, with special emphasis on the mangroves
in Mexico. The analysis includes the most important scientific and technical
reports on the surface of this cover on a national scale. The methods reported
in literature were compared when possible, because many cases were poorly
described and the accuracy of the data was not indicated. Finally we discuss the
possible implications of using the statistics of the extent of the mangroves on
mangrove deforestation rates estimated for Mexico when these data have a high
degree of uncertainty.

<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VG5-4PT7WY6-4&_user=\
10&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F2008&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C00\
0050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=6c0835753ffbc94c5731436c3afcb39b\
#bcor1> Corresponding author. Tel.: +52 669 9898700; fax: +52 669 9898701.


<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09645691>Ocean & Coastal
Management
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%236029%2\
32008%23999489995%23682794%23FLA%23&_cdi=6029&_pubType=J&_auth=y&_acct=C00005022\
1&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=9f85bc1458ce9ef408af436ddd7234f0>Volum\
e 51, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 342-351

======================================================

Book:  Mangrove guidebook for Southeast Asia

16 January 2008

This book represents the first attempt at covering all mangrove plant species in
Southeast Asia, and aims at providing those involved with the management and
conservation of mangroves in Southeast Asia with a guidebook for identifying
mangrove plants.

For more information please visit the special
<http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ag132e/ag132e00.htm>FAO webpage
<http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ag132e/ag132e00.htm>http://www.fao.org/docrep/010\
/ag132e/ag132e00.htm. There you can also find a downloadable version of the book
and contact details for requesting a paper copy.

Source:  Wetlands International
<http://www.wetlands.org/publication.aspx?ID=3236c101-930d-41e5-b04b-80f6f4d81b8\
1>http://www.wetlands.org/publication.aspx?ID=3236c101-930d-41e5-b04b-80f6f4d81b\
81

================================================

ANNOUNCEMENTS

International Training Course on Mangroves and Biodiversity

<http://ocw.unu.edu/international-network-on-water-environment-and-health/unu-in\
weh-course-1-mangroves/Course_listing>http://ocw.unu.edu/international-network-o\
n-water-environment-and-health/unu-inweh-course-1-mangroves/Course_listing
=============================================================
AQUACULTURE CORNER

GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FISH ESCAPE INTO THE WILD

"The result of these weaknesses is that the extent of research under way in
Canada and any accidental release of (genetically engineered) fish may not be
fully known." Statement in a Canadian Government Audit released
this week that reveals lax regulations have allowed untold numbers of
experimental frankenfish to escape unreported into naturalwaterways.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10823.cfm

================================================


Politics of the Plate:
Just Say Nooooo!

02.04.08
The future of organic aquaculture remains controversial.

Otto von Bismarck famously wisecracked, "Laws are like sausage. It is better not
to see them being made." After listening to aquaculture advocates and
representatives of environmental groups squabbling at afternoon-long workshops
on the subject the weekend before last, I'm convinced the same holds true, only
more so, for setting organic standards applicable to farmed seafood.

It's a question that will be much in the news in coming months. The United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which establishes and enforces such
standards, will unveil proposed rules this spring, and one thing is already
certain: They will be contentious.

First let's clear up some confusion. Currently there is no such thing as
USDA-certified organic seafood. You've probably encountered fish labeled as
"organic" at supermarkets and restaurants. That merchandise is certified by
either a foreign country or an independent agency, whose standards fall far
below what American consumers expect when they see the word organic. Wisely,
California has banned such misleading labeling, but the federal government
dodged the issue through a leap of logic that only a bureaucrat could
appreciate: It says it can't prohibit producers from calling their farmed fish
organic because it has no organic policy in place for them not to comply with.

Hence the urgent need for the USDA to produce its own standards, a chore it has
been wrestling with since 2001. There doesn't seem to be any problem
establishing criteria for fish raised on vegetarian diets in self-contained
ponds, such as catfish and tilapia. The standards would be pretty much the same
as those for chickens or hogs: no antibiotics and drugs; only organic feed.

But matters get very sticky when it comes to carnivorous predatory species like
salmon, which need fishmeal and fish oil in their diets. Those products come
from wild stocks, and as defined by the USDA, wild fish cannot be labeled
organic (because it's impossible to control their diets and ensure that they
come from clean waters). There are other, similar Catch-22 situations. For
instance, salmon net pens in the open water are sprayed with pesticides to
reduce sea lice, which don't harm mature farmed salmon, but are fatal to
juvenile wild salmon. Eliminate the pesticide, as you would under normal organic
requirements in order not to harm the environment, and you actually harm the
environment more by killing threatened wild salmon. And so on.

But there's big money to be made in salmon farming--all the more if your fish
sell for the premiums that official organic certification confers. So the people
in charge of drawing up organic aquaculture standards seem hell-bent on drafting
regulations that conform to the current state of salmon farming, rather than
insisting that salmon farmers conform to what most consumers would consider
reasonable organic requirements.

It was only at the very end of the workshop that Christopher Mann of the Pew
Environmental Trust made a simple, sensible suggestion that would put an end to
all these circular arguments: "It sounds to me like we are trying to pound a
square peg into a round hole. Maybe we have to face the fact that for some types
of aquaculture, the answer is simply no"-that is, when it comes to certain
species, organic standards just won't work.

Source:  Gourmet
<http://www.gourmet.com/foodpolitics/2008/02/politicsoftheplate_02_04_08>http://\
www.gourmet.com/foodpolitics/2008/02/politicsoftheplate_02_04_08

================================================

8 March 2008

Cod is dead . now let's get rid of fish-farm blight

Joanna Blythman on fish farming

I'D be lying if I said that I was sorry to see Johnson Seafarms in Shetland
going down the tube. More like "I told you so". My first reaction, when I heard
of the launch of its "No Catch" farmed cod three years ago, was sadness. Here we
go again, another fine wild fish was to be debased, just like that sad travesty,
the farmed salmon. This was followed by astonishment that any organic certifying
body - in this case, the Organic Food Federation - was daft or greedy enough to
lend its credentials to an operation which had all the hallmarks of being
another flash-in-the-pan goldrush, like ostrich farming and biofuels, brought to
you by speculators and venture capitalists who promise everything then don't
deliver, not unlike Daniel Day-Lewis's scary oil man in There Will Be Blood.

Of course, I'm sorry for the creditors, who are owed £40 million, and the
company's 14 workers who have been made redundant. But not more sorry for them
than than the thousands of people - gillies, hoteliers and shellfish growers and
divers - who have seen their livelihoods that depended on wild fish and angling
destroyed by fish farms. Never, never buy into the idea that fish farming of
carnivorous fish (that's fish that eat other fish) like cod or salmon is the
green answer to our over-exploitation of wild species in the open seas. The
global history of aquaculture is one long tale of environmental pollution and
social and economic suffering.

So far, according to the Environmental Justice Foundation, a staggering 38% of
the planet's precious mangroves - the swampy forests that protect tropical
coastlines from soil erosion, tsunamis and hurricanes - have been destroyed to
make way for tiger prawn farms, the sort that grow those tasteless, bouncy
specimens that end up in our curries. Mangrove destruction in turn precipitates
salt pollution of land that local people depend on to grow food. When the
inevitable disease build-up eventually stops production on these enterprises,
the global corporations that owned them and fouled them just walk away, and
start up more farms elsewhere.

The fact that No Catch cod has gone belly up should crystallise the debate about
farmed versus wild fish. It should have established the principle that farmed
fish at £20 a kilo is not the white night riding in on a charger to save
depleted fish stocks. Fish farming is riven with structural problems. Fish like
salmon and cod are notoriously poor converters of food, and almost wholly
dependent on wild fish stocks. Their wastes, which are concentrated under packed
cages thick with sluggish, bored specimens, debase water quality and spread
disease throughout an alarmingly wide marine ecosystem.

Unlike No Catch cod, which was a small outfit, the overwhelming majority of
Scottish fish farms are not part of some quaint little cottage industry, but
operated by Dutch or Norwegian-owned transnational corporations who have
perfected the art of paying as few people as possible to perform the small
number of fairly mechanical jobs they create. These companies think they owe us
nothing, and are fickle enough to switch production to a lower cost country in
the time it takes the euro to strengthen a point against the dollar.

AND yet the dominant thinking within the old Scotland Office, and now I fear, in
the Scottish government, is that fish farming is an industry that deserves
knee-jerk support. What a tragedy for Scotland that we should have been
hoodwinked by such a bankrupt proposition and allowed ourselves to sell down the
river the heritage we should have protected: inspirational wild fish and a clean
marine environment. Our 30-year love affair with fish farming has proven to be
the biggest ecological disaster to hit the west coast of Scotland in living
memory.

Perhaps the worst thing about all the over-hyped claims made for fish farming is
that it allows us to take our eye off the ball of wild fish stocks. It gives us
an excuse to write off the seas and oceans as a source of future sustenance for
the world's rising population. But if we can't manage our wild stocks for the
common good then we might as well give up now and start looking for another
planet to colonise. The penny must drop that, far from taking the pressure off
wild stocks, aquaculture depletes them.

Greenpeace, which wisely has always seen fish farming as an environmental
threat, not an opportunity, argues that depletion of wild fish stocks can be
halted, even reversed, by creating marine reserves, a bit like wildlife parks,
where no fishing is allowed and stocks can recover. There is persuasive evidence
from New Zealand that stocks can bounce back in just a few years.

But marine reserves are a grown-up, low-tech solution that necessarily entails
some short-term pain for fishermen and consumers, and offers nobody any
immediate prospect of making money. In discussions of what to do about the
looming crash in key fish stocks, we have always been in thrall to the guy with
the quick fix, high-tech panacea, which just happens, incidentally, to guarantee
a windfall for investors and miscellaneous stakeholders. More fool us.

Source:  Sunday Herald (Scotland)
<http://www.sundayherald.com/oped/opinion/display.var.2104813.0.cod_is_dead_now_\
lets_get_rid_of_fishfarm_blight.php>http://www.sundayherald.com/oped/opinion/dis\
play.var.2104813.0.cod_is_dead_now_lets_get_rid_of_fishfarm_blight.php

================================================
*NOTE: If you no longer wish to receive the MAP News, please click
<mailto:mangroveap@...>here to send us an e-mail and write UNSUBSCRIBE
in the subject line. The body of the message can be blank.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

MAP News, 196th Ed., 1 of 2MAP's Mission:
Partnering with mangrove forest communities, grassroots NGOs, researchers and
local governments to conserve and restore mangrove forests and related coastal
ecosystems, while promoting community-based, sustainable management of coastal
resources.

All news items and notices published in the MAP News can also be accessed
directly from our home page www.mangroveactionproject.org, with links to the
full story and the original source. New items are posted daily and are available
as an RSS feed!



Next Calendar Children's Art Contest For 2009 Open For New Submissions

Feb. 2008

Dear Friends of the Mangroves,

We are sponsoring our 9th international children's art competition and would
like to  Invite children in your country to enter this contest and learn more
about the important  role that mangrove forests play in the lives of the coastal
communities in particular and for marine life in general.

Specifically we would like you to contact schools and teachers in your area and
provide  them with information regarding this contest, and also to act as a
liaison between MAP  and the local schools as a resource person regarding
mangrove and ecological
information. In addition, we would ask you to collect the winners from each
school  participating within your country, and send the three best entries on to
MAP at the above  address for the final judging, and possible inclusion in the
calendar. We must receive the
art work by July 31, 2008 for the 2009 Art Calendar.

This provides an opportunity for participating NGOs to build relationships with
teachers  and to provide school children with environmental information.
Educating children on the  importance of mangrove and coastal ecosystems is
critical to effecting long term change.  Without this information, current
generations will grow up placing little value on the  environment (as modeled by
their parents) unless they are given new eyes with which to see coastal
ecosystems and mangrove forests.

We have attached information that is ready to have your name added as the local
contact  representative and duplicated for distribution to teachers in your
country.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance in helping you implement
this  exciting educational project in your country. We will send all student
winners,  participating NGOs and schools copies of our calendar as well.  And,
the winning students will receive a signed official certificate announcing their
great achievement in the 2009 Children's Mangrove Art Contest.

Yours sincerely,

Monica Alicia Paz Gutierrez-Quarto,
Calendar Project Coordinator
Mangrove Action Project
monicagquarto@...
tel. (360) 452-5866

====

Announcement for teachers and schools- The Rules

  A fun and exciting Art  Contest for children 6  to 13 years old

  We invite all primary school children from tropical and sub-tropical nations,
and whose   schools are located near mangroves, to create art telling us "why
mangroves are important to me and my community".

  Selected winners will be published in a 2009 calendar to be distributed
internationally to raise awareness of mangrove forest ecology. This creative
contest aims to promote appreciation and awareness of mangrove forests, and to
encourage and listen to creative voices of children living in mangrove areas.

  Help us launch this program in your school by contacting science and art
teachers in your area and encourage them to work together on this fun and
innovative project.

  **********************************

  What kind of art can be submitted?

  Technique : Paint, color pencil, ink, collage, pastel, crayons, etc

  Dimensions : Canvas, or paper, 45 cms x 30 cms. (18 in. x 12 in.)
The Art Work should be in a format horizontal (long length across, the shorter
length vertical), in order to fit on the calendar page. (We had received
wonderful art work  in a vertical format, but sadly were unable to use it. )

  Artist Identification : On the back of each art work please write in English:
the full name and age of the artist, the school name, address, city or town,
country, and title of art work.

  Age Limit: from 6-13 years old
Mailing instruction : The Art work has to be mailed in a small tube, such as the
ones for mailing posters .Make sure the art is sent in certified or registered
mail to MAP, PO Box 1854, Port Angeles, WA 98362-0279, USA.

How will entries be judged?

  Each school will hold its own exhibition and select 3 winners in art  Winning
entries will be collected in each country by a participating NGO, then mailed to
MAP's office to be judged by a team of artists.

  What are the prizes?
: -1st Prize will receive a certificate + calendar and the recognition  of being
published in an International calendar with global distribution.
  -2o Prize                                          ''            ''
  -3 rd Prize                                       ''             ''

   School will receive 2 Calendars
  NGOs will receive10  Calendars

  When is the deadline ?

  Please, we must receive the art work in MAP's office by JULY 31, 2008

  Mailed to  : PO Box 1854,.Port Angeles, WA  98362-0279, USA
  Please mail in a tube or flat in a box, but not folded!.

Who do I contact?

  Please let us know if your school plans to participate by contacting:
  Monica  Gutierrez-Quarto,
  Calendar Project Coordinator
  c/o Mangrove Action Project
  PO Box 1854
  Port Angeles, WA 98362-0279, USA
  tel./ fax (360) 452-5866
  e-mail: monicagquarto@...  and
  : mangroveap@...

  All entries selected at the national level should be submitted to the same
address.

  Your local NGO contact is
................................................................................\
................................................................................\
.Name

Person
 
................................................................................\
................................................................................\
......................

  (leave a space for the local NGO to add their stamp)
  ======================

  Some suggested Field Trip and Classroom Lessons

  It is suggested that this contest could coincide with an Associated Mangrove
Ecology Educational Project with the children. This lesson will highlight the
importance of mangrove forests for the environment, for their community, for
fishermen and/or for the associated mangrove forest fauna. The intent of this
educational project is to help the participating children better comprehend the
important role mangroves play in their lives and for their communities.

  1.- Information and guidance in the classroom, aided by  text books, mangrove 
curriculum, slides and videos.

  2.- Eco-Study Field trips for firsthand observation with  the teacher and/ or a
local resource person, where they can observe the myriad forms of life that
inhabit the mangroves, such as the many colored  birds, fish, crabs, mollusks,
reptiles, mammals, and insects, while also learning about the unique
characteristics of the associated mangrove plants and trees.

  3.- During, or after, the field trips, the children can  hold interviews with
their parents or local fisherfolk about the mangroves in their region, learning
more about the history of the area's mangrove forest, as well as why they are
important and what the problems are when the mangroves are lost.

  4.- As a result of this research, the children may wish  to create art work for
the 2009 calendar art competition.


Yours sincerely,

  Monica Alicia Paz Gutierrez-Quarto,
  Calendar Project Coordinator
  Mangrove Action Project

=====

Senora Gutierrez-Quarto: the Children's Mangrove Calendar organizes my chaotic
life and is pinned securely to the back of my office door.... I eagerly await 
the 2009 Edition.

Senectitudinally,
D. Reid Wiseman who is teetering on fragile prop roots


ASIA

S.E. ASIA

Thailand

Thailand: Mangroves eyed as carbon sink project

Source:  Copyright 2008, <http://www.bangkokpost.net/>Bangkok Post
Date:  January 31, 2008
Byline:  Apinya Wipatayotin
<http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/01Feb2008_news11.php>Original URL


The Marine and Coastal Resources Department is considering applying for mangrove
forest planting as a carbon sink investment project with the United Nations,
department chief Nisakorn Kositratna said. Thailand loses mangrove forests along
the coast every year, she said. The expansion of shrimp farming and tourist
resorts had led to severe erosion along the country's 2,667km coastline.

Better measures were needed to protect and preserve the remaining areas as
Thailand has only 1.4 million rai of mangrove forest left, down from 1.5 million
rai in 2000.

The department planned to turn 4,500 rai of abandoned shrimp farms back into
mangrove forests, she said.

However, this year's planting would not be included in any carbon sink
investment proposal.

The agency would have to designate areas for the project first.

''More information is required before we go ahead. But even if there is no
carbon sink deal the country will benefit from the expansion of mangrove
forests, which will act as a natural wall to prevent soil erosion,'' said Ms
Nisakorn.

Joining a carbon sink project would entitle communities which allocate a
planting area and care for the forest to financial support, she said.

Over the last 30 years, Thailand had lost over 113,042 rai of land to soil
erosion, or about 21% of the shoreline.

Prasertsuk Chamornmarn, acting deputy director of Thailand Greenhouse Gas
Management Organisation, expressed concern over carbon sink investments in
mangrove forests.

''We need to identify the areas that would be included in a carbon sink project.
The existing mangrove forests must be excluded from any such investment approved
by the UN.

''We also need strict regulations to ensure that mangrove forests are well
kept,'' she said.

The project required cooperation from local communities willing to give up land
to plant mangrove forests for carbon sink credits rather than use it for other
activities. Otherwise, the department must find deserted areas.

Carbon sink projects are part of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) approved
under the Kyoto Protocol to ease the impact of global warming.

Sirithan Pairojboriboon, executive director of Thailand Greenhouse Gas
Management Organisation, said the agency planned to promote electricity
generation from garbage under the CDM framework.

Japan and European countries had shown interest in the project, which the agency
would promote in a road show.


Copyright 2008, <http://www.bangkokpost.net/>Bangkok Post

Via:  Forests.org
<http://forests.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=92234&keybold=rainforest%2\
0mangrove%20carbon%20sink>http://forests.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=9\
2234&keybold=rainforest%20mangrove%20carbon%20sink

======================================================

Editor's Note: This reminds me that when I was in Bangkok in January, I saw
farmed tiger prawns being sold on the streets at the open markets there for the
first time in all my years of travel in the region. I thought, "Finally, these
prawns are being consumed by the locals." I am not sure what the price was, but
assume it was low enough that the Thai consumers could afford to purchase them.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.news.php?clid=6&id=30067464

The NATION

'LOW PRICES ARE KILLING US,' STRICKEN SHRIMP INDUSTRY TELLS GOVT

Published on Mar 7, 2008

Prantalay, the country's leading producer of frozen seafood, with support from
the Agriculture Ministry, recently urged the prime minister to remedy the
critical problem of low prices, otherwise the shrimp-processing industry would
no longer exist.

"The government must urgently enact concrete measures to save the shrimp
industry, or else the industry might disappear as it will always face the same
problem of oversupply and falling prices every year," Anurat Khokasai, chief
marketing and operating officer of Prantalay, a subsidiary of Union Frozen
Products, said yesterday.

Following an annual cycle, shrimp prices have fallen again this year, causing
farmers to cut back on shrimp raising. Fears of inadequate supply have driven
producers to call for the government to allow imports of shrimp.

The industry's plan proposed to the premier includes promoting cluster
development by establishing contract farming between all shrimp farmers and
producers to guarantee farmers a minimum price, and setting aside a budget for
soft loans to buy freezers to ensure sufficient supply during the harvest
season.

Solving the perennial problem of falling shrimp prices is one of the challenging
tasks for the new government, Anurat said. Shrimp prices always face trouble
during the harvest season.

Previous governments could only help relieve the problem through a
price-pledging programme that usually took a big bite of the government budget.
Last year the loss to the state was about Bt300 million.

Shrimp prices normally soften in the middle of the year, as US importers slow
down their purchases in order to force down prices.

Anurat said contract farming would not only do an efficient job in easing the
pain from falling prices, it would also help the government save money in the
long run. The government should be a middleman to help set up the project so
that farmers feel more confident about joining.

The price for medium-sized shrimp has already plummeted from Bt145 a kilogram to
Bt120-Bt125, and will drop below Bt100 soon due to oversupply and lower demand
from overseas markets, particularly the US and the European Union.

To make contract farming work, the government must set a floor price of
Bt120-Bt125 for medium-sized shrimp, as production costs run at Bt110-Bt115.

Although farmers might be reluctant to participate in contract farming at first,
as their margins will be lower than during the peak season, they will find that
it would mean they never lose their investment, despite lower demand for shrimp
each year, Anurat said.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, more than 200,000 families are in the
shrimp industry. The Kingdom is the world's largest shrimp producer and supplier
among the 30 producing countries worldwide. Thai shrimp exports reached US$2.15
billion (Bt67.8 billion) last year.

If the proposed shrimp plan is successful, the government will ensure
sustainable development for the industry, Anurat added.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation

===
1 USD = 31.83 baht

Indonesia
Asia: Return of coral proving key to disaster prevention
02/28/2008BY EKI YANO THE ASAHI SHIMBUM
WEH ISLAND, Indonesia--It has been just over three years since the 2004 Boxing
Day earthquake off Sumatra Island and subsequent tsunami killed 220,000 people
across Asia. On the Indonesian island, which suffered extensive damage,
reforestation projects of coral and mangrove are finally taking root.
The island had been surrounded by reefs and covered with tropical plants, but
land development and the 2004 tsunami have since badly damaged the coral and
trees.
Due to the fact that reefs and mangroves are expected to act as breakwaters in
the case of a tsunami as well as offering breeding grounds for sea creatures,
governments, islanders and researchers are now focusing on rejuvenating them to
capitalize on their anti-disaster functions.
Weh Island, which is surrounded by tranquil shoaling beaches, is located about
an hour's ride by high-speed boat from Banda Aceh at the northern tip of Sumatra
Island.
Diving shop owner Dodeng, 55, has developed his own coral planting method and is
now helping to regenerate the reefs.
He affixes coral branches to concrete blocks and takes care of them, getting rid
of moss and shellfish.
In 2004, the earthquake and tsunami damaged many houses on the island. Coral
along the coastline was also heavily damaged.
But the island's 24,000 people largely escaped from harm. Fewer than 20 were
killed in the disaster.
"One of the reasons that so few people died was the fact that the reefs absorbed
the impact of the tsunami," Dodeng said.
This function of coral has since gathered attention among the scientific
community.
In 2005, a team of researchers, including academics from Arizona State
University and other institutions, surveyed the coastlines in Sri Lanka hit by
the tsunami.
The coastlines were devastated in some areas where locals illegally used
explosives to collect coral and catch fish.
But some nearby areas that had similar coastline features escaped severe damage.
The team found that coral had been protected by tourism companies in those
areas.
Dodeng started planting coral in 2006, spending about 2 million yen. Besides
preventing disasters, he hopes it will help rehabilitate the ecological system.
Currently, about 70 percent of local fishermen remain out of work due to the
scarcity of fish caused by damage to the coral, which acts as a bed for the fish
to lay their eggs.
"Since coral plays a big role in the islanders' lives, it is essential for their
recovery (from the earthquake)," Dodeng said. "I don't know how long it will
take, but I want to bring the ecological system back on track."
The mangrove's disaster-prevention functions have also attracted attention.
From 2005 to 2007, a team of researchers from Tohoku Gakuin University and
Tohoku University, both located in Sendai, northern Japan, surveyed the
relationships between mangrove vegetation and data taken from Banda Aceh and
other places on the 2004 earthquake. Factors such as the height of the tsunami
and death tolls were examined and compared.
They concluded that if there were enough mangrove swamps, they could protect
communities from tsunami waves of up to 6 meters in height.
On Sumatra Island, natural mangrove forests have been wiped out since the 1960s
for the development of shrimp cultivation farms and other projects.
The research team estimated that the area of mangrove swampland at a survey spot
in Banda Aceh in 2003 was only 12 percent of the amount that should exist
naturally.
The team found that natural mangrove forests, with about 2,500 trees of around
20-centimeter-in-diameter stems per hectare, would lower the height of tsunami
by up to 73 percent.
It also pointed out that natural mangrove forests would have saved about half
the casualties caused by the 2004 quake.
"We proved that mangrove forests can help prevent disasters," said Toyohiko
Miyagi, a professor of environmental geomorphology at Tohoku Gakuin University
and a member of the research team.
"In addition to planting mangrove trees continuously, it is necessary to
establish a framework in which local communities maintain the forests," he
added.
Reforestation projects have spread in the tsunami-hit areas.
In Nanggroe Aceh province, the capital of which is Banda Aceh, mangrove forests
decreased from 350,000 hectares to 220,000 hectares due to the tsunami. After
the disaster, however, the government started reforestation projects. As a
result, more than 7,000 hectares have been recovered.
In December last year, the Japanese Red Cross Society (JRC) started a two-year
project to plant about 1.2 million mangrove trees on 600 hectares of lands in 12
villages within the province.
Yutaka Oiwa, 60, who heads the JRC's office in Indonesia, said: "It will be
difficult to plant (mangrove) trees in the areas where shrimp cultivation farms
are located because they are supporting the lives of local residents.
"Our problem is whether we can find large areas for tree planting."(IHT/Asahi:
February 28,2008)

=====================================================

Editor's Note: With the rehabilitation of the shrimp farms along the still quite
vulnerable coast of Aceh Province, what will serve as this area's defense
against future natural disasters, such as tsunamis, cyclones and storm surges?
Would not a rehabilitation of this coastal area towards a multiple-use area, not
a single-use area, be more beneficial and wise in the long run? Shrimp farming
may ensure immediate profits for some for a while, but in the long-term, this is
still a volatile industry that does not have a good track record for alleviating
poverty and protecting coastal regions from natural disasters.

Shrimp video is a blockbuster hit in Aceh

Date 21/2/2008 | Topic: Shrimp

A newly released video on better management practices for shrimp farming in Aceh
is drawing large crowds in coastal shrimp farm villages in Bireuen District. The
video attracted an audience of more than 700, 60% of them women, on its premier
screening. The second night was full house with 1,000 viewers. Admission was
free.

The BMP video was produced by IFC and FAO, drawing on the widely distributed BMP
manual, and experiences in better management of shrimp farming from Indonesia
and around the region. There are plans are for another 98 shows on the road - in
villages, town squares and meeting centres - to be completed by August. The
video seeks to stimulate awareness among Acehnese farmers on improved management
practices. It is expected that the knowledge will make them farm better, obtain
higher yields and earn higher incomes, thus helping the people go up further the
road to recovery.

Aquaculture is an important livelihood for 100,000 people in the coastal areas
of Aceh, and income from progressive and responsible shrimp farming, can hasten
recovery and fuel the development of the local economy. Aceh produces some of
the largest and best quality tiger shrimp in Asia, but the industry's progress
has been severely crippled by years of civil strife, and the 2004 tsunami.
Following the peace accord in 2005, and the ongoing reconstruction work,
aquaculture in the province is gradually moving forward.

Aquaculture rehabilitation, infused with a good dose of responsible practices,
is being support by a number of donors and agencies, including ADB, FAO, IFC,
NACA, UNDP, WWF, ACIAR and others. The
<http://www.enaca.org/modules/wfdownloads/singlefile.php?cid=141&lid=836>BMP
manual, the basis for the popular video shows, is available for download1.

Source:  ENACA
 
<http://www.enaca.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1718>http://www.enaca.org\
/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1718

======================================================

Source: http://old.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20080308.H05

Fishermen seek pass on licenses
National News - March 08, 2008
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Traditional fishing communities have called on the government to drop the law on
coastal management that requires them to secure fishing licenses.
They say the 2007 law on the management of coastal areas and small islands will
only benefit bigger businesses, not small-scale fishermen.
"The law will be detrimental to small fishermen," Arbani Nikahe, head of South
Kalimantan's fisherman association, told The Jakarta Post after a rally
Thursday.
Dozens of fishermen representing 13 provinces staged a rally at the ministry of
fisheries and maritime affairs, calling on the government to side with
low-income fishermen.
The law allows fishermen and the private sector to manage coastal areas and
small islands by showing ownership certifications effective for 20 years.
"It will only profit big entrepreneurs as they have the capital to manage
ownership certificates. We can't afford (that)," Arbani said.
The protest came in response to the government's preparations to implement the
law, slated to take effect in June.
The fishermen also criticized the government for a lack effort in protecting
seawater resources.
In a 10-point list of complaints submitted to the ministry, the association
urged the government to cease reclamation projects and toxic waste dumping
activities in seawater.
Iing Rohimin, a fisherman from Indramayu, West Java, said the government had no
clear agenda to improve the fishermen's welfare.
"The fact is, fishermen are neglected and poor in the country," he said.
"The government is more interested in big businessmen and foreign investors than
the local fishermen."
The association also pushed the government to combat poaching across the
country.
The ministry reported non-tax revenue in the forms of fees from seawater catches
dropped by 44.6 percent last year to Rp 112.5 billion (US$12.5 million), from Rp
203.4 billion in 2006. Catches reached 4.94 million tons last year.
The ministry said there were currently 590,610 fishing vessels operating in
Indonesian waters, with 99 percent of the ships owned by traditional fishermen
and only 1 percent of the ships more than 30 gross tons.
The fishermen said they would reach out to other communities similarly affected
by the law.
"We will set up a national fishermen's association to voice our concerns to
Jakarta," said Arbani.
Their meeting in Jakarta was facilitated by the Indonesian Forum for the
Environment (Walhi), Women's Solidarity (SP) and the Indonesia Green Association
(SHI).
Riza Damanik of Walhi said the zoning system as set in the 2007 law would limit
the movement of the fishermen communities.
"The zoning system does not support traditional fishermen, who can only operate
along the border of coastal areas," he said.
Riza said the policy would also create the opportunity for the private sector,
including foreign investors, to increase operations in the country's marine
areas.
"We are worried that it will cause further environmental destruction to the
sea," he said.
The secretary for the directorate general of coastal areas and small islands at
the ministry, Irwandi Idris, said the law was aimed at improving the management
of coastal areas and small islands.
"So far, the coastal areas are open for anybody and can be used as they like,"
he said as quoted by Antara.
He said the law would benefit the interests of traditional fishermen.
"Traditional fishermen who hold ownership (rights) ... will never be expelled
from their area."

From M.Riza Damanik, (WALHI)
email: riza@...; mriza_damanik@...

=====================================================

Cambodia

The Earth Times

More than 150 Cambodian turtles rescued from becoming dinner

Posted : Wed, 30 Jan 2008 04:41:02 GMT
Author : DPA
Category :
<http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/cat/Nature,Environment.html>Nature
(Environment)
News Alerts by Email <http://www.earthtimes.org/member/>click here )
<http://feeds.earthtimes.org/earthtimes/environment/nature> 
<http://www.earthtimes.org/myrssfeeds.php>Create your own RSS
Nature Environment News | <http://www.earthtimes.org/>Home
Phnom Penh - Scores of Cambodian turtles described as "endangered" have been
rescued from the near-certain fate of a dinner plate and released back into the
wild, local media reported Wednesday. The English-language Cambodia Daily
reported 169 turtles in the central province of Pursat, 200 kilometres
north-west of the capital, were released into the Tonle Sap lake after being
confiscated from local fishermen.

The paper did not specify what species was released, but described them as
"threatened." Local fisheries officials were not available for further comment
Wednesday.

"People love to eat turtles," the paper quoted a government official as saying.

Despite a concerted government education programme and an increasing number of
Cambodian turtle species being declared endangered, roasted turtle and turtle
eggs remain local delicacies, especially in the lead-up to Chinese New Year.

Copyright, respective author or news agency

=====================================================

The Philippines

Laguna de Bay, Philippines' largest lake, under threat

Pollution, slums and an invasion of foreign fish species are threatening the
Philippines' largest lake, one of the nation's major fish farming regions,
according to a study published on Tuesday.

Laguna de Bay on the outskirts of eastern Manila covers more than 90,000
hectares (222,300 acres) but since 1965, fish pens and cages have been built out
across some 15 percent of the lake.

The study, by the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, said the lake's
ecosystem was also being threatened by pollution caused by residential,
commercial and industrial development and the encroachment of squatters along
its shores.

"The worsening water quality in Laguna de Bay, which is caused mainly by water
pollution, leads to water algae that kill fish through oxygen depletion as well
as taint the flesh of the surviving fish," the report said.

Foreign fish species, such as the janitor fish, destroyed nets and competed for
natural food and living space with the cultured species, it added.

Fishermen are being hemmed into ever smaller fishing areas, while illegal
construction of fish pens along navigational lanes is causing friction between
them and farming industry operators, the report said.

The study said the silting-up and pollution of the Pasig river connecting Laguna
de Bay with the sea on Manila Bay also obstructed the natural backflow of
saltwater to nourish aquatic life.

Source:
<http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20080304-122694/Laguna-de-\
Bay-under-threat--fisheries-center>Agence France-Presse

From: icsf@...

======================================================

S. ASIA

India

A Brief Report of the Mangrove Consultation organized by the Coastal Poor
Development Action Network:

A Consultation on Mangrove on  eco-system in the Bay of Bengal Region for
enhancing Biodiversity and Disaster Risk Reduction  was held at Inter Church
Service Association, Chennai 600 008 on January 28, 29, 30, 2008 brought
environmentalists, scientists, academicians, civil society leaders, heads of
voluntary organisations, local coastal people to look critically of conservation
activities of mangrove ecosystem in the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean regions
and evaluate the degradation in Tsunami affected countries and the long term
threat and pressures and to nurture the environmental values, enhance a sense of
oneness and promote cooperation among all stakeholders including government
agencies, scientists, environmentalists, civil societies, voluntary agencies and
above all grass root organisations and movements of the coastal population.

     A high proportion of human population live in coastal zones heavily
dependent on the resources for their livelihood and economic activities, but are
vulnerable to the effects of environment especially during disasters such as
storms, cyclones, floods and even Tsunami.  Therefore the Chennai Consultation
aimed at restoring their biodiversity and provide specific ecological service.

The Consultation deliberated on participatory approaches to planning,
implementing and monitoring any initiatives. Strengthening local capacity by
dialogue and consultation meetings and joint action between different sectors
and groups was seen as the key to long term sustainability of coastal ecosystem.

        It was proposed to prioritize threatened ecosystem in cyclone prone
coastal areas in the region.  As a follow up, regular national, sub-regional and
regional meetings and workshops have to be planned and projected to facilitate
the information provided by various resource persons for need assessments and
for promoting. Institutional mechanisms and investment plans.  Above all,
finding suitable donars to support such plans and activities are the most
important requisites.

More such initiatives are needed in such areas where climate change and global
warming cause fear and panic for the future survival of humankind.

From: Felix N. Sugirtharaj, Hony. Secretary - COPDANET
Chennai 82.       11/03/2008
arpmds@...

=====================================================

10 February 2008

Indian herb prevents cancer progress

Posted By Susanna Ng

An Indian medicinal plant Acanthus ilicifolius shows encouraging results in
preventing liver cancer cells from progressing, dubbed chemoprevention,
according to a study.

What is chemoprevention? The aim of cancer chemoprevention is to circumvent the
development and progression of malignant cells through the use of non-cytotoxic
nutrients, herbal preparations/natural plant products, and/or pharmacological
agents. Encouraging dietary intake with herbal supplements may therefore be an
effective strategy to limit DNA lesions and organic injuries leading to cancers
and other chronic degenerative diseases.

(Another CM NEWS article talks about a
<http://chinesemedicinenews.com/2007/12/28/plant-substance-triggers-cancer-cell-\
death-keeps-healthy-ones-intact/>herb that triggers cancer cell death.)

Acanthus ilicifolius, popularly known as "Holly Mangrove", is distributed widely
throughout the mangroves of India, including Sunderbans in West Bengal, west
coasts, and the Andamans, and in other Asian countries like Singhal, Burma,
China, Thailand etc.

How has Acanthus ilicifolius been used to traditional medicines? The leaves of
Acanthus ilicifolius are used to treat rheumatism, neuralgia and poison arrow
wounds (Malaysia). It is widely believed among mangrove dwellers that chewing
the leaves will protect against snake bite.

The pounded seeds of Acanthus ebracteatus are used to treat boils, the juice of
leaves to prevent hair loss and the leaves themselves to ward off evil (Malay).
Both species are also used to treat kidney stones.

The whole plant is boiled in fresh water, and the patient drinks the solution
instead of water, half a glass at a time, until the signs and symptoms disappear
(Thailand). Water extracted from the bark is used to treat colds and skin
allergies. Ground fresh bark is used as an antiseptic.

Tea brewed from the leaves relieves pain and purifies the blood (widespread in
both the Old and New World).

Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world with a poor prognosis.
About three quarters of the cases of liver cancer are found in Southeast Asia,
including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, India, and Japan. The frequency of
liver cancer in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa is greater than 20 cases
per 100,000 population. Moreover, recent data show the frequency of liver cancer
in the U.S. overall is rising.

The study was done at the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur
University, India. The research team, led by Dr Malay Chatterjee, investigated
the primary chemopreventive mechanisms of Acanthus ilicifolius  in an in vivo
tumour-transplanted murine model.

The results showed the aqueous leaf extract (ALE) of the plant was substantially
effective in preventing hepatic DNA alterations and sister-chromatid exchanges
(a type of chromosomal damage) in tumour-bearing mice.

Cancerous mice treated with the ALE significantly reduced viable tumour cell
count by 68.34% when compared to the control, and restored body and organ
weights almost to the normal values.

The study further demonstrated that ALE treatment was able to limit liver
metallothionein expression, a potential marker for cell proliferation, and
lengthen the mean survival of animals to a significant extent. The findings
suggest that Acanthus ilicifolius may be used as a potential chemoprotector
against hepatic neoplasia.

The results obtained from this in vivo study seem interesting and encouraging.
Lack of toxicity favours further preclinical evaluation of Acanthus ilicifolius
in a defined chemical carcinogenesis model.

"Our data indicate that, ALE is beneficial in restoring haematological and
hepatic histological profiles and in lengthening the survival of the animals
against the proliferation of ascites tumour in vivo," the researchers write.

Elucidation of its anticarcinogenic mechanisms of action at the intricate
molecular circuits, and isolation and characterization of its active principles,
will provide a better understanding of the anti-cancer/chemoprevention strategy
of Acanthus ilicifolius.

"If these studies are found to be really functional, we will have the beginning
of a new chemoprevention program with herbal supplements that could have the
broadest implications for the well-being of society," the researchers say.

Source:  Chinese Medicine News
<http://chinesemedicinenews.com/2008/02/10/indian-herb-may-combat-liver-cancer/>\
http://chinesemedicinenews.com/2008/02/10/indian-herb-may-combat-liver-cancer/

======================================================

14 March 2008

Authorities blamed for illegal prawn farming

By Manoj Kar

Kendrapara (Orissa): Influential bureaucrats and politicians are the
patrons-in-chief to the money-spinning prawn farming activity in and around
Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary that has been posing immense threat to the
fragile mangrove cover, according to green activists.

Noted conservationist Biswajit Mohanty said here on Friday that Bhitarkanika has
turned into a safe haven for unauthorised prawn farming because of bureaucratic
and political patronage.

"Unscrupulous officers are conniving with local prawn mafias in handing over the
prime mangrove forest land to prawn farmers. Since top bureaucrats and
politicians have heavily invested in this money-spinning trade, they ensure that
files move at snail's pace, thereby paving the way for encroachers to make hay,"
Mohanty charged.

Declining to name the bureaucrats and politicians who have dabbled in unlawful
prawn trade, Mohanty said that elaborate details on this nefarious and
environment-damaging activity would be submitted to the
Orissa High Court.

The influential sections have played a dominant role that has led to the fast
disappearance of country's second largest mangrove forest in Bhitarkanika.

The forest blocks still enriched with mangrove are yet to be conferred reserved
forest status. Bureaucrats are dragging their feet over the issue because it
would come in the way of illegal prawn farming, he alleged.

Since long, 26 forest blocks comprising of mangrove forests in Mahanadi delta
and Bhitarkanika have been proposed for declaration as reserved forests u/s 4
and u/s 21 of the Orissa Forest Act, 1972. The
total area is 12,638 hectares. Without declaration of the exiting forests as
forests under the OFA, these forests can be diverted easily for prawn
cultivation and other non-forest use.

These forests are located in Rajnagar, Mahakalpada and Kanika Range of Rajnagar
Mangrove Forests (Wildlife) Division.

Even though the proposals are pending since 2002, the district administration
for strange reasons has done little to complete the process of settlement of
claims before final declaration as forests. Some of the forest blocks like
Kalibhhanjadia, North Mahisamada, Kantiakhai, Ragadapatia do not have any human
settlements and can be easily declared as "forests" without delay.

Apart from these 26 forest blocks, 15 forest blocks that are declared as
proposed reserve forests and protected forest have been heavily encroached by
prawn farm cultivators.

The forest department officials carried out the eviction exercise during the
period 2004-2006 within five-forest blocks.

The official claim was that 1,140 hectares of forestland was made encroachment
free. 610 hectares had been taken up for mangrove regeneration activity. But the
present scenario is indicative of the fact that the acquired land has been taken
over by the prawn farmers.

Of the 6,231 hectares green area in 15 proposed reserve forest and protected
forest blocks, 3,765 hectares is still encroached by prawn farmers. The
encroachers have filed various civil suits in local courts. The cases are mostly
frivolous in nature.

The Orissa High Court in response to a public interest petition filed by
Wildlife Society of Orissa had directed that no prawn farm can thrive within
Coastal Regulation Zone territory and had directed the District Collectors to
demolish existing prawn farms and also prevent their reconstruction. But the
authorities concerned watch silently as wanton destruction of mangrove is the
order of the day.

Source:  Kalinga Times
<http://www.kalingatimes.com/orissa_news/news2/20080314-prawn-farming.htm>http:/\
/www.kalingatimes.com/orissa_news/news2/20080314-prawn-farming.htm

=====================================================

3 March 2008

  World's largest mangrove centre in city

By Ashwin Aghor

To be built over an area of 452 ha., it will help create awareness about the
importance of mangroves

With the state forest minister Babanrao Pachpute announcing the world's largest
mangrove wetland centre in the city on Saturday, environmentalists have reason
to celebrate.

The Conservation Action Trust will develop the centre in association with the
state forest department.

The centre, first in India, is the brainchild of the trust and a result of the
efforts of Vivek Kulkarni of Conservation Action Trust. It will be developed
over 452 hectares at Bhandup along Eastern Express Highway.

"Mumbai cannot survive without mangroves. Despite their importance, mangrove
forests are being neglected by a majority of the population. The centre aims to
reach out to every resident of the city and increase awareness on the importance
of mangroves," said Debi Goenka of Conservation Action Trust. The centre would
not just be an educational hub. It will have recreational value as well, Goenka
added. The centre would be ready in next three years, he said.

The project also aims at providing employment to local people. "The success of a
project depends on the support and involvement of local people. We have decided
to involve local fisher folk in activities related to the centre, such as being
a guide to the visitors," said Kulkarni.

The key features of the centre include state-of-the-art visitor centre,
orientation centre, information hubs, nature trails, bird ponds, boat rides,
flamingo watch and curriculum based education modules and exhibits for children.

"The idea was conceived in 2001 with the objectives of mangrove protection by
involving locals and to provide recreational space to Mumbaikars," Kulkarni
said. In all, 22 ponds would be developed to attract different kinds of birds,
he said.

"Every year, around 1.5 million migratory birds visit the area. Over 200 species
have been recorded from here," Kulkarni said. Birds like flamingos, Ibis,
Openbill Stork, Brahmani Duck, Teal, Steppe Eagle and Imperial Eagle visit the
area.

"The centre is being developed on the lines of the Hong Kong Wetland Centre,"
Kulkarni said. There are two mangrove wetland centres in the world - one at Hong
Kong and the other at Singapore. The area of these centres is 80 acres and 60
hectares respectively.

Romulus Whitaker, the man who developed Crocodile Park in Chennai, will provide
guidance on the species of reptiles found in the area, Kulkarni said. "We aim to
include Thane creek under the Ramsal Convention for Wetlands, which was signed
by 140 countries, including India, in 1971 to save wetlands all over the world,"
he said.

Source:  Daily News & Analysis (India)

<http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1154022>http://www.dnaindia.com/repor\
t.asp?newsid=1154022

======================================================

8 February 2008

National institute for mangrove research planned in W. Bengal

Aim is to provide a scientific approach to preserving the country's mangroves

BANGALORE: The Director, Ministry of Environment and Forests, J. R. Bhatt, on
Thursday said the Union Government had decided to set up a national institute
for mangrove research and biodiversity management for providing a scientific
approach to preserving the country's mangroves as well as biodiversity.

Addressing a national workshop on "Mangroves in India: Biodiversity, protection
and environmental services" organised by the Institute of Wood Sciences and
Technology (IWST) here, Dr. Bhatt said the institute would come up in the
Sundarbans of West Bengal.

He said the Coastal Regulation Zone notification, issued by the Union
Government, had given priority to conservation and development of mangroves by
categorising them as ecologically sensitive areas.

A national committee on mangroves and coral reefs had identified 38 areas in the
country, including four in Karnataka, as suitable for preserving and also
developing mangroves. This included Kundapura, Honnavar, Karwar and Mangalore,
Dr. Bhatt said.

The Centre would encourage States to preserve important ecosystems like
mangroves by providing financial assistance, he said. The Centre had recently
sought proposals from the States on the steps to be taken for preserving
mangroves.

Director of the Institute of Wood Science and Technology Suresh Gairola noted
that mangroves in India accounted for about 5 per cent of those in the world and
were spread over 4,461 sq km along the coast of 12 States. West Bengal had the
largest mangrove area in the country, followed by Gujarat and Andaman and
Nicobar islands. West Bengal itself accounted for 46 per cent of the country's
mangroves.

India, which had lost nearly 50 per cent of its mangroves in the last 50 years,
had the dubious distinction of being one of the leading countries in destruction
of mangroves.

Over-harvesting, coastal aquaculture, agriculture, reclamation of land for
development, pollution and oil spills were mainly responsible for large-scale
destruction of mangroves, he said.

Managing Director of Karnataka State Forest Industries Corporation P.J. Dilip
Kumar expressed concern that hunger for land with respect to industries,
infrastructure, special economic zones and other development projects was
shrinking the size of mangroves, which formed an important an unique ecosystem.

Stressing the need for preserving such ecosystem, he, however, expressed
reservation over handing over the task of preserving and developing mangroves to
industries. "I am sceptical about such an approach," he said while "remarking
that ecological security cannot be achieved if there are economic interests."

Instead, all the stakeholders should be involved in the process of preserving
such ecosystems, he suggested.

Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Development) M.H.A. Shaik too
stressed the need for taking care of the interests of the stakeholders for
better management of mangroves.

Source:  The Hindu
<http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/08/stories/2008020856350400.htm>http://www.hindu.c\
om/2008/02/08/stories/2008020856350400.htm

=====================================================

Tourist plan for world's largest mangrove forest

4 March 2008

India's eastern West Bengal state is preparing a detailed plan to develop the
coastal Sundarbans area, the world's largest mangrove forest, as a global
tourist destination, news reports said today.

The Sundarbans lies on the delta of Hooghly, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers,
partly in India's West Bengal and part in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage site, the mangrove forests are home to
the royal Bengal tiger, the estuarine crocodile, a variety of snakes including
the Indian python and over 260 species of birds.

The forests, with the breathing roots of mangrove trees along innumerable
distributaries of the rivers, is ecologically fragile and environmentalists have
expressed reservations over developing it as a major tourism site.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation conducted a study in 2007 on
development of coastal tourism and a masterplan for the Sundarbans delta, West
Bengal's Tourism Department's top official Bijoy Chatterjee was quoted as saying
by PTI news agency.

A particular site has been identified and a detailed masterplan was being drawn
up for developing the area without disturbing the wildlife, Chatterjee said.

India's federal Planning Commission and Tourism Ministry had cleared a proposal
to conduct a further detailed study with the support of UNDP.

The Sundarbans project was likely to draw global investment once it secured
environmental clearance, Chatterjee said.

"We have to showcase the potential before the tourists to draw global attention
to this UNESCO world heritage site," he said.

The West Bengal government would facilitate the project by providing
infrastructure including roads, water and power, he said.

Source:  The Age
 
<http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/03/04/1204402409937.html>http://www.thea\
ge.com.au/articles/2008/03/04/1204402409937.html

======================================================

Bangladesh

18 March 2008

EU mulls check on every frozen shrimp container

Bangladesh export likely to face setback; EU may discuss the issue April 2

by Sajjadur Rahman

The European Union is considering checking every frozen shrimp container shipped
from Bangladesh in an effort to detect harmful germs, a move which will
seriously hamper the country's second largest export earner.

"If the EU tests all containers of Bangladesh, it will take about two months to
reach buyers from EU ports. So, the move will ultimately encourage buyers to
switch to other countries," a frozen food exporter said.

The EU plans to discuss the issue of testing every shrimp container from
Bangladesh at its meeting on April 2 in its headquarters, sources said.

Currently, the EU checks shrimp containers from Bangladesh on a random basis.

Both the government and exporters said they hope the EU will not impose such a
decision since Bangladesh is trying to comply with the EU standards for shrimp
export.

"We've bought a testing machine worth Tk 3.5 crore as per the EU suggestions.
The machine has been installed and operated by local technicians trained in
India," said a leading shrimp exporter preferring anonymity.

"But the EU is unwilling to accept the test reports conducted by local
technicians. Now we've decided to get the technicians trained in the United
Kingdom," he added.

The exporter lamented: "We admit that we lack quality technicians for the work,
but I think we need some time as we are trying our best to comply with EU
standards."

Bangladesh earned Tk 3,702 crore from frozen fish and shrimp export in 2006-07
fiscal.

Bangladesh's largest export earner apparels fetched Tk 51,891 crore in 2006-07
fiscal year.

According to Bangladesh Bank data, during the first six months of the current
fiscal year, the country earned Tk 1,974 crore from export of frozen fish and
shrimp.

A member of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association said the government and
exporters are trying to persuade the EU not to include the issue on the agenda
of the meeting.

The exporter however blamed the government for its negligence to recruit quality
technicians to do the testing.

"We've bought a machine and installed it in the Department of Fisheries Office.
But the government fails to recruit efficient technicians," he said.

When asked on the weakness of the test reports, a scientific officer at the
Department of Fisheries, said: "We're conducting the tests as per formats set by
the EU."

Source:  The Daily Star
<http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=28208>http://www.thedailystar.net/sto\
ry.php?nid=28208

=====================================================

Unplanned construction destroying Kuakata's scenery: Master plan needed to
preserve natural beauty, say locals

Nazrul Islam . back from Kuakata January 5. 2008 New Age.

Unplanned construction of unattractive buildings by a section of private
landowners in Kuakata is spoiling the scenic beauty of the highly potential
tourist spot in the south-west region of Bangladesh. 'Basically we have no plan
for the development of Kuakata,' admitted the chairman of Bangladesh Parjatan
Corporation, Md Hafizur Rahman Bhuiyan, while talking to New Age on Wednesday.
'We even have no mechanism to monitor the ongoing development activities,' he
said, adding that there should have been an official plan for improvement of the
site where thousands of visitors from home and abroad go every year to see the
rising and setting of the crimson sun in the Bay of Bengal, far from the madding
crowds.

Local people are also annoyed with the unplanned proliferation of buildings on
the shore of the bay. 'Haphazard construction on small pieces of land seems to
have made the small place crowded,' said one local landowner, venting his
frustration over the probability that the beautiful place might turn into a
concrete jungle if the authorities keep their eyes shut. It was seen, during a
recent visit, that people were erecting concrete structures wherever they had a
piece of land beside the sea-dyke, mainly to make money as many people go to
this place for holidaying, especially in the winter.

  On the other hand, a large number of small shanties, being used as makeshift
shops or residences on the shore of the bay, have been posing a serious threat
by causing marine pollution. Locals say that the land prices in Kuakata, some
320 kilometers south-west of Dhaka, have already gone up, and are continuing to
soar as people from other parts are on a land-buying spree in a resort that has
one of the world's most beautiful sea beaches. A local leader of the community,
U Cha Chine, said that on an average a katha of land is now being sold for Tk
1,00,000. People from other parts of the country have already outnumbered the
local Rakhyne tribe who came from Arakan and settled in the area some 300 years
ago, Chine told New Age.

He said that 20 hotels have already been erected in the area, and construction
for 20 more is underway. Many small business establishments have also been set
up to take advantage of the tourist trade. 'But there should be disciplined and
planned construction, and the government should control land use, to prevent the
place from losing its picturesque beauty,' opined Chine. The sandy beach, the
blue sky, the huge expanse of water of the Bay of Bengal and the evergreen
forest in the area allure tourists from thousands of miles away. There is an
eight-kilometer-long beach, stretching from east to west, where visitors enjoy
the scenery from dawn to midnight in the peak holiday season. But official
efforts to protect the beach's beauty and increase visitors' facilities are
hardly seen in the area, located in Kalapara upazila in Patuakhali district.
Some 200 motorbike riders, defying a ban on motorbikes, zoom up and down the
beach, churning up the sand and destroying its beauty under the very nose of the
administration. A 'sea beach management committee' was formed to check such
irregularities, but neither its members nor the law enforcers are found on the
spot.  A motorbike rider, who earns money from passengers who enjoy being
carried up and down the beach, said they need to pay bribes to the nearest
police outpost on a regular basis.

One of the effects of such activities is the erosion of beach. Locals said a
shoal emerged in the Bay of Bengal only a kilometer away, changing the course of
water, resulting in constant erosion. Cyclone Sidr washed away six kilometers of
the sea-dyke [flood protection embankment] constructed in the '60s, and many
places have become weaker in the course of time. Mahbubul Islam, a tourist who
was on his second visit to Kuakata, expressed his annoyance over the absence of
planning to prevent the tourist spot from losing its natural beauty. 'The area
is no longer secluded because of the greed of a section of the people and the
authorities' indifference.' Many feel that the area should be brought under a
tourism master plan to maintain its scenic beauty and make it a pleasure resort
for the visitors in an environment-friendly manner. The plan must include
preservation of the unique cultural heritage of the Rakhyne people, they said.

From: Rubaiyat AUMI, Asia and Middle East Division
Email: aumi@...

======================================================

EAST ASIA

China

News Summary  February 26,  2008

China Fights Back Against Bad Image Of Its Seafood Exports

The Japanese company, Nissui is looking at a 40% drop in forecast earnings for
this fiscal year, ending March  31st.  Problems seem to have arisen on all
frontsS

SIn Asia, the company has been impacted by shrimp farm management problems, and
lower production.     In Japan, the Chinese food scare has caused frozen food
sales to slump.  And in Chile, the company  says that its salmon operations are
impacted by ISA, and that it is still seeking government approval for  certain
treatment mechanisms.  The net is that profit will fall to about 10 billion yen,
40% below last  year, and about 50% below the original projection for the year.

Tilapia prices have already risen in the U.S. due to the cold snap in China that
killed up to 60% of fish in  some ponds.  The overall impact on the tilapia
market is still unclear, as it is sourced from many  countries.  But some major
sellers raised prices 10 cents on the news ? and they expect prices to go 
higher in the future.

Adding to the problem of Chinese manufactured seafood in Japan, a Chinese
company has suspended  all its mackerel shipments to Japan, after it was accused
by one of its Japanese buyers of shipping a  product last year that contained an
agricultural chemical.  There  is a tough situation developing, with  the
Chinese taking a position that they may cut off all shipments if food scares are
not handled more  responsibly.  Meanwhile, Japanese consumers continue to shun
food manufactured in China, which is a  huge part of Japanese seafood
production.

From: "Seafood.com News" seafoodnews@...

======================================================


--
Alfredo Quarto, Executive Director
Mangrove Action Project
PO Box 1854
Port Angeles, WA 98362-0279
USA
phone/ fax (360) 452-5866
<mangroveap@...>
mailto:mangroveap@...
web site: http://www.mangroveactionproject.org

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

is this really true? Sometimes I feel that government should allow travel
for the sake of travel. all travel is educative. and our representatives,
political as well as bureaucrats, should also get education through their
travels. and they need not have to be hypocritical about these things :) the
one question that also begs to be answered is on what basis the slums of
andaman were chosen over another city similar to delhi?

On 04/04/2008, praveen dutta <praveendutta@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> Dear All,
>
> First of all let me introduce myself. I am Praveen Dutta. working as
> Producer for INDIA TV, Delhi. Pls. accept my sincere appreciation for the
> kind of good work your group is doing. Foe me your e-mailers are the best
> source to analyse the topical debates relevant for Andaman and Nicobar
> Islands.
>
> There is one piece of News where your group could help me. Very recently
> the Mayor of New Delhi Municipal Corporation alongwith many manynother
> prominent personalities has vivted Andaman & Nicobar Islands on the declared
> agenda of "VISITING SLUMS OF ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS" which seems fishy to
> me.
>
> Pls. ask all your group members to mail me newspaper cuttings, still
> photographs, videos or anything you can lay hands on related to this visit
> so that I can bring the truth out infront of all.
>
> Your help will give me the much required evidence against wastage of
> public money. So please mail me all your inputs at
praveendutta@...<praveendutta%40india.com>
> .
>
> Awaiting your response
>
> Warm Wishes
>
> =
>
> --
> _______________________________________________
> Search for products and services at:
> http://search.mail.com
>
>



--
Subhash Misra
Kabul, Afghanistan
(+93)797744988


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

http://deathdealersnukes.blogspot.com/2008/04/fish-catch-and-radioactivity.html
Dear Friends:
After reading the null report on fish catch in the A & N group of islands and
subsequent prohibition of fishing there in andamanicobar@yahoogroups.com I made
a study on my own on the worldwide catch and its relation to internal
radioactive contamination and the tragedy unfolded in front of me!
Here is my URL:
http://deathdealersnukes.blogspot.com/2008/04/fish-catch-and-radioactivity.html
The work seems to conform to the basic principles outlined in the ECRR 2003
Recommendations.
The issues raised by nuclear energy are so serious that the decision on  the
immature nuclear energy cannot be taken without several rounds of intense
referendums with an informed public from every mega-city to every Grama sabha.
Several Consumer Unions in India are proactive in their efforts to convert India
into a just democracy in action. In Europe a similar action by the people is
being initiated:Excerpt from Press Release of La Leva de Archimede(Mar 4,
2008):www.eu-referendum.org
Six non-governmental organizations (NGOs), collectively representing consumers
from all 27 European Union (EU) countries, today announced the official launch
of a campaign for citizens to have the right to vote in referendums whenever
significant changes to laws affecting them are made at either national or
European level. In particular, they are demanding that all EU citizens should
immediately be given the opportunity to vote in referendums on the Lisbon
Treaty.
Arguing that the EU is increasingly favouring the interests of big business over
those of its own citizens, the six organizations say that unless this situation
is reversed and European citizens are given the right to be directly involved in
political decision-making, the European political system will rapidly degenerate
into a dictatorship where democracy, freedom of choice and the privacy rights of
individuals are routinely violated. Press Release Extract ends.
Anushakti Santanamukti! And this is resulting in a huge population explosion
through instinct:Read
http://nuclearnecromany.blogspot.com/
Also
  http://stopnukes.rediffblogs.com/
The best alternative is reforestation with people's cooperatives.
1. Busby,C et al.Eds.2003. Recommendations of the European Committee on
Radiation Risk: Health
Effects of Ionising Radiation Exposure at Low Doses for Radiation Protection
Purposes. Regulators’
Edition: Brussels. p 183



---------------------------------
You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total
Access, No Cost.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> Dear all
Slums in Andaman???? .. I heard no such news of any visit of such
committee in Andaman. Somebody  might have wrongly reported it seems.

thanks

>
>
> Dear All,
>
> First of all let me introduce myself. I am Praveen Dutta. working as
> Producer for INDIA TV, Delhi. Pls. accept my sincere appreciation for the
> kind of good work your group is doing. Foe me your e-mailers are the best
> source to analyse the topical debates relevant for Andaman and Nicobar
> Islands.
>
> There is one piece of News where your group could help me. Very recently
> the Mayor of New Delhi Municipal Corporation alongwith many manynother
> prominent personalities has vivted Andaman & Nicobar Islands on the
> declared agenda of "VISITING SLUMS OF ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS" which
> seems fishy to me.
>
> Pls. ask all your group members to mail me newspaper cuttings, still
> photographs, videos or anything you can lay hands on related to this visit
> so that I can bring the truth out infront of all.
>
> Your help will give me the much required evidence against wastage of
> public money. So please mail me all your inputs at praveendutta@....
>
> Awaiting your response
>
> Warm Wishes
>
>
>
>
> --
> _______________________________________________
> Search for products and services at:
> http://search.mail.com
>

Dear Praveen Dutta,
   Welcome in the group & wishing you great success in your efforts. Praveen I
doesn’t understand the visits of delegates in Andaman; they are coming and
making their plan on Govt. expenses for fun only. Even during my stay in Andaman
for 2 years for Tsunami Rehabilitation I observed so many delegates tours they
comes in Andaman by taking issue which have no importance. For example delegates
came from main land for celebrating “Hindi Divas", but people in Andaman have no
need to aware about Hindi Diwas, because they already speaking, loving and using
Hindi in their day to day business, such types there are many issues. The
delegates came to visit Slums, when there is a very negligible slum. These
delegates made fun in Govt Guest houses, Govt Vehicle and machinery to enjoy in
free of cost, Govt. should stop this practice to stop misuse of public money.
   With best wishes.

   Sharad Pant
   Program Manager
   Develop Alternatives
   TARAgram Orchha.



praveen dutta <praveendutta@...> wrote:



Dear All,

First of all let me introduce myself. I am Praveen Dutta. working as Producer
for INDIA TV, Delhi. Pls. accept my sincere appreciation for the kind of good
work your group is doing. Foe me your e-mailers are the best source to analyse
the topical debates relevant for Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

There is one piece of News where your group could help me. Very recently the
Mayor of New Delhi Municipal Corporation alongwith many manynother prominent
personalities has vivted Andaman & Nicobar Islands on the declared agenda of
"VISITING SLUMS OF ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS" which seems fishy to me.

Pls. ask all your group members to mail me newspaper cuttings, still
photographs, videos or anything you can lay hands on related to this visit so
that I can bring the truth out infront of all.

Your help will give me the much required evidence against wastage of public
money. So please mail me all your inputs at praveendutta@....

Awaiting your response

Warm Wishes

=

--
_______________________________________________
Search for products and services at:
http://search.mail.com





---------------------------------
  Bollywood, fun, friendship, sports and more. You name it,  we have it.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

FYI,
Gururaja Budhya.
  ------------------------------



The Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) takes pleasure in announcing the
theme of the 9th Annual Symposium on Poverty Research in Sri Lanka. This
year's symposium will explore the core topic of resettlement due to
development processes or other ensuing factors such as natural disasters or
conflict.  The event is scheduled to be held in Colombo in November 2008.



Please find attached the Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for papers.
Submission of an EOI is open to both Sri Lankan and International
organisations and individuals and we look forward to receiving your
submissions. The EOI is also available on line at www.cepa.lk/events. This
site will be updated with further information on the symposium and we
encourage you to visit the site.



Please feel free to circulate this flyer to your colleagues and contacts.



For further details please contact:



Coordinator, Symposium on Poverty Research

Centre for Poverty Analysis

29, Gregory's Road

Colombo 7

Sri Lanka



Tel: + 94 011 2676955 – 8

Fax: + 94 011 2676959

Email: symposium9@...





--
Urban Research Centre (URC),
E-1, Maithree Apartments,
6th Main, 15th Cross,
Malleswaram,
Bangalore - 560 003.
Karnataka State, India.
Ph: 0091-80-23364509.
(M): 0-94488-49353.
Fax: 0091-80-23567664.
email: urcblr@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

FYI.
Gururaja Budhya.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Molly Clinehens <molly@...>
Date: Apr 3, 2008 5:37 AM
Subject: Video Advocacy Workshop--CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
To: undisclosed-recipients

   [image: Invite_Banner]

*Video Advocacy Workshop*

* *

*Learn video strategies and techniques for development justice!*

*September 15-26th 2008, Chiang Mai, Thailand*

* *

*Apply Now! <http://www.accountabilityproject.org/ourwork/video.html>*



The International Accountability Project, WITNESS, EarthRights International
and the Unit for Social and Environmental Research at Chiang Mai University,
Thailand are pleased to announce the call for applications for the *Video
Advocacy Workshop (VAW)*.* *This workshop will train people in WITNESS'
highly effective methodology for integrating video into human rights
advocacy campaigns.  WITNESS uses video and online technologies to open the
eyes of the world to human rights violations.  It empowers people to
transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools for justice,
promoting public engagement and policy change.

* *

*This workshop is **for Asian community activists, civil society advocates
and filmmakers who want to use video in an advocacy campaign challenging
unjust forced eviction in the name of development.*

[image: Text Box:]
- Learn how to use video to enhance your campaign, tell powerful
audio-visual stories and distribute your video to key audiences;

- Learn basic camera skills and video editing for advocacy;

- Develop a plan to integrate a completed video into a specific campaign on
development-induced forced eviction;

- Co-create a collaborative environment for learning, and a regional network
to support video advocacy for development justice in Asia*!*

*Application Deadline: * June 15, 2008

*How to apply:* *Click
Here<http://www.accountabilityproject.org/ourwork/video.html>
* for detailed information and the application form.






*This workshop will be held in English. Future VAW's may be held in
different languages.  Previous video production skills not required.  If you
have further questions about the VAW not answered in these materials, please
write to us at: vaw@....



Coordinating Organizations: International Accountability
Project<http://www.accountabilityproject.org/>,
WITNESS <http://www.witness.org/>, EarthRights
International<http://www.earthrights.org/>,
Unit for Social and Environmental Research <http://www.sea-user.org/>,
Chiang Mai University.

*PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY*

> _,_._,___
>



--
Urban Research Centre (URC),
E-1, Maithree Apartments,
6th Main, 15th Cross,
Malleswaram,
Bangalore - 560 003.
Karnataka State, India.
Ph: 0091-80-23364509.
(M): 0-94488-49353.
Fax: 0091-80-23567664.
email: urcblr@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear All,

First of all let me introduce myself. I am Praveen Dutta. working as Producer
for INDIA TV, Delhi. Pls. accept my sincere appreciation for the kind of good
work your group is doing. Foe me your e-mailers are the best source to analyse
the topical debates relevant for Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

There is one piece of News where your group could help me. Very recently the
Mayor of New Delhi Municipal Corporation alongwith many manynother prominent
personalities has vivted Andaman & Nicobar Islands on the declared agenda of
"VISITING SLUMS OF ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS" which seems fishy to me.

Pls. ask all your group members to mail me newspaper cuttings, still
photographs, videos or anything you can lay hands on related to this visit so
that I can bring the truth out infront of all.

Your help will give me the much required evidence against wastage of public
money. So please mail me all your inputs at praveendutta@....

Awaiting your response

Warm Wishes


=


--
_______________________________________________
Search for products and services at:
http://search.mail.com

In this context I post here a profile of a remarkable Brazilian who has
developed guidelines for dealing with isolated peoples. It is in fact common for
adventurers and media persons to initiate harmful contact, completely oblivious
to the impact on the tribe. I read an article in New Yorker magazine in which a
reporter went on a commerically organized trip to a newly contacted tribe in New
Guinea, found that the people were suffering from colds, and concluded that the
lives of these jungle people was miserable because they were sick all the time
and had no access to modern medicine. He had no clue that these illnesses--even
colds--are introduced by outsiders such as himself.

40 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAY 2007

Prime Directive for the Last Americans

Saving Amazonia's indigenous peoples means not meeting them, insists Sydney
Possuelo-a policy of noninterference he hopes to extend, even if others hate it

BY CLAUDIO ANGELO

The gray-bearded, balding man sips coffee in the kitch-en of his apartment in
Brasília, Brazil. With a blank stare, he ponders the future of the three things
to which he has dedicated his life: "Everything dies at its own time. The forest
dies, with it die the Indians, with them die the sertanistas." But at 67, Sydney
Ferreira Pos-suelo acknowledges that the sertanistas, men who make a living out
of protecting the isolated indigenous peoples in the Brazilian jungles, may be
the .rst to go.

Counting Possuelo, only five members remain. They travel to the remotest corners
of the Amazon rain forest to track down isolated tribes and contact them before
miners, cattle ranchers, loggers and others do, usually at gunpoint. Their job
is to divert development around those tribes, so as to keep them from sharing
the usual bleak fate of indigenous Brazilians. But it has been 20 years since
the last sertanista was hired. And most of the old school-that is, people who
have ac-tual contact experience-have either died or retired.

Possuelo has done neither, although he was .red from his position with Brazil's
National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI) last year after pub-licly
criticizing the remarks of its president, who stat-ed that there might be too
much land already in the hands of native Brazilians. Today he coordinates
ef-forts through the Instituto Indigenista Interamerica-no, a nongovernmental
organization that is part of a multinational alliance dedicated to the
protection of isolated tribes.

Possuelo had helped initiate a sea change in fed-eral policy toward indigenous
tribes by persuading the government that the natives should be left alone, to
live exactly as they have since prehistoric times. The decision to make contact
should be left to them. The prevailing wisdom throughout much of the 20th
cen-tury and before had been "integration" into society. "The idea was that we
should go fetch those peoples and share with them the bene.ts of civilization,
since civilization is a good of all humankind that belongs to non-Indians and
Indians alike," Possuelo says.

But such a bright positivist view con.icted with reality. After contact, many
natives lost their lives to in.uenza and other diseases to which they had no
natural defense. Not a few were expelled from their traditional territories to
make room for highways, dams and cattle ranches. Many were murdered, in some
cases with approval of government of.cials. But perhaps worst of all was the
cultural dislocation.

NICOLAS REYNARD National Geographic Image Collection

SYDNEY POSSUELO: NATIVE PROTECTION

¦ Works to protect the way of life of isolated indigenous groups in the Amazon
rain forest. (Possuelo is pictured above with a Korubo woman.)

¦ Perhaps four million indigenous people in 1,000 ethnic groups once lived in
Brazil; today they number fewer than 734,000 in 220 tribes.

¦ On being fired from his state job: "I have never been one of those nice
workers who agree with everything that the government does."

COPYRIGHT 2007 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

www.sciam.com SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 41

When meeting a new group, Pos-suelo recounts, "you must keep an eye on the folks
who are there. The guys .ght you with bows and arrows, they kill you, they speak
up to you, they as-sault you." Contact, however, changes all that: "One year
later they are slack, emaciated, bowing their heads and begging for food and
money by the roadside." A case in point: the Arara people, who had been called
the scourge of the Trans-amazônica Highway for their attacks on work crews but
today live as poor peasants fully dependent on federal aid. "You break down
their health, their mythical universe, their work and their education system.
They become outcasts, and many of them have been outcasts for 500 years,"
Possuelo says.

The veteran sertanista's career began in 1959, as a disciple of Orlando and
Cláudio Villas Bôas, two of the three brothers credited with saving 15 tribes by
creating the Xingu Indige-nous Park, Brazil's .rst megareservation. With them,
he jour-neyed into the Amazon for the .rst time in the early 1960s. In the 1970s
he joined FUNAI and made his .rst solo contact with an isolated group, the
Awá-Guajá of Maranhão.

By 1987 Possuelo decided to take the Villas Bôas strategy further, because even
peaceful contact with such groups often destroyed their native culture and
self-suf.ciency. His idea: to avoid contact altogether. He convinced the
government that it was more practical to demarcate indigenous lands and to guard
the borders with armed agents than to provide for them inde.nitely. "We do it
for threatened animal species, why can't we do it for a unique ethnic group that
has been there for thou-sands of years?" he asks. "That's good for the Indians,
who will see their land and their tribal traditions respected, and good for the
state, who will no longer be charged with geno-cide." As an added bonus, a study
found that legally recog-nized indigenous lands in the Amazon had lower average
de-forestation rates (1.14 percent) than federal conservation units (1.47
percent).

Executing Possuelo's plan, however, means identifying the indigenous groups
before miners, loggers and others .nd them-encounters that could lead to
long-lasting, deadly skir-mishes, as in the case of the Korubo people of the
Javari Valley, which lies near the Peruvian border. First contacted in 1972,
they violently resisted intruders and over the decades had clubbed to death many
who ventured into their territories. In 1996 Possuelo managed to establish
peaceful encounters with one Korubo clan, in part by singing aloud (enemies come
in silence) and by offering gifts. Despite having known the clan for many years
now, Possuelo still considers them unpredict-able; he has kept anthropologists
away, he has said, for their own safety. He himself will not bother to contact a
larger Ko-rubo group deeper in the jungle, feel-ing that they are remote enough
that they will not meet outsiders.

The noninterference strategy has gained worldwide approval. The Unit-ed Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted in 2006, incorporates
the right to nonas-similation. Despite that, the policy faces critics in Brazil,
who see such protection as an additional burden to taxpayers that only postpones
inevitable integration. "Of course, you're buy-ing time," says Márcio Santilli,
head of Brasília's Socio-Envi-ronmental Institute and a former president of
FUNAI. "But buying time is central to mitigating the impacts of contact."

And time is running out for those Indians. Brazil has demar-cated less than a
dozen lands with isolated peoples. Possuelo and his colleagues have identi.ed 22
isolated groups in the Am-azon, although FUNAI believes that the true number
might be closer to 68, based on aerial surveys and witness accounts. Some live
in previously protected indigenous lands, some in areas that are right in the
range of agricultural expansion.

In the other six South American countries with isolated peoples-Ecuador, Peru,
Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia and Venezuela-the prospect is even bleaker. "The
issue is all but unknown to them," Possuelo states. "And it is no use to
un-dertake protection policies here if indigenous peoples are not protected
across the border and get killed on the other side."

In 2005, before leaving FUNAI, Possuelo organized a meeting in the Amazon city
of Belém that gave birth to an alliance for the protection of isolated peoples
in the seven countries. The alliance, consisting of state attorneys,
environ-mental defense groups, anthropologists and indigenous orga-nizations,
called on their governments to identify and protect their indigenous charges.
"The idea here is to raise public consciousness in the .rst place," he says.
"Then we'll be able to talk about public policy." The alliance has been facing
an unexpected challenge, though-from indigenous peoples themselves. "In Ecuador
last year, contacted Indians killed 20 isolated Indians," says Marcelo dos
Santos, who took over Possuelo's old FUNAI post.

Possuelo agrees that the isolated groups may not last much longer. But pointing
at several .gurines of Don Quixote that he keeps in his living room, he says he
has not given up. "The fate of those peoples will depend ultimately on our
choices," he argues. "Those peoples are the last Americans. We are in-debted to
them."

Claudio Angelo is science editor of the Brazilian daily newspaper Folha de S.
Paulo. A Q&A version of his interview with Possuelo is at www.sciam.com/ontheweb

LAST OF A KIND: Possuelo meets in peace with the Korubo, who have been known to
kill intruders.

COPYRIGHT 2007 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Manak,
Thank you for this extremely valuable contribution. This is slave labor and
needs to be brought to the attention of human rights, labor rights and human
trafficking organizations. Madhusree

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: e-news from Survival International
Resent-From: survival@...
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:41:21 +0000
From: publications@...
To: pankajs@...

BOTSWANA: Protests in Europe as President Mogae steps down
The outgoing President of Botswana and senior
government officials were met by peaceful
protests in the UK and France this month. The
demonstrations came as President Mogae prepares
to hand over to his successor, current
vice-President Ian Khama, next week.
http://www.survival-international.org/news/3141
http://www.survival-international.org/news/3153


BRAZIL: Ranchers threaten Enawene Nawe Indians
A group of armed men have walked into an Enawene
Nawe fishing camp in the Brazilian state of Mato
Grosso, and threatened the Indians with reprisals
unless they leave.
http://www.survival-international.org/news/3142


GLOBAL: Survival names winner of the 'most racist article of the year' award
An article comparing Paraguayan Indians to cancer
and describing them as 'Neolithic', 'out-of-date'
and 'filthy' has been named by Survival as the
'most racist article' in the mainstream media
published in the last year.
http://www.survival-international.org/news/3152


SURVIVAL: Catalogue sale now online.
Huge savings to be had on a wide range of our
unique gifts, including jewellery, t-shirts and
much more. Limited availability. Free cotton
'Earth' bag (worth £6.95) for all orders over £45
(while stocks last).
http://www2.survival-international.org/shopping



March 2008 e-news from Survival International
Founded 1969. Registered charity (UK) no. 267444

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C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa,
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Pune 411004
India
Tel: 020 25654239
Mob: 09423009933
Email: psekhsaria@...

From:  TRINet <info.trinet@...>

Dear Friend,

Three years after the Indian Ocean tsunami, the focus has changed from
rehabilitation to long term development of the coastal zone. For the
last year, TRINet has been increasingly focusing on coastal issues
including providing information and support to those working on long
term development issues from the perspective of the coastal communities
whose livelihoods depend extensively on access to coastal resources.
*TRINet*, as "*The Resource and Information Network: for the coast*"
will henceforth serve as a platform to highlight such issues. The weekly
news digest will continue to be sent out and the website www.trinet.in
<http://www.trinet.in> will be maintained as usual.

This month's Newsletter takes a look at the Salt industry in India.
Those pursuing this livelihood work at the edge of the sea under
extremely harsh conditions. Their livelihoods are impacted not only by
socio-economic problems but also by even small changes in weather and
climate changes. The newsletter carries a letter by Manak Matiyani from
the Andaman and Nicobar Islands providing us with an idea of some of the
issues regarding the construction of permanent shelter for the tsunami
affected populace there.

As always, the newsletter also contains snippets on tsunami
rehabilitation as well as coastal issues as well as briefs on some
recent publications of interest.

We look forward to your comments and feedback.

The Newsletter can also be accessed at
http://www.trinet.in/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?cid=35&lid=460
<http://www.trinet.in/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?cid=35&lid=460>

Sincerely yours,

Ahana


Dr Ahana Lakshmi,
TRINet.





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http://pankaj-atcrossroads.blogspot.com

C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa,
908 Deccan Gym
Pune 411004
India
Tel: 020 25654239
Mob: 09423009933
Email: psekhsaria@...

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* *

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*  *

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**


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