Mining and timber lobbies behind opposition to heritage tag?

Praveen Bhargav
The Karnataka government’s stand opposing the proposal to include scientifically identified areas in the Western Ghats on the Unesco World Heritage List is shockingly short sighted.
Several ministers and elected representatives have presented bizarre arguments as to why they oppose the proposal. While one BJP MLA from Kodagu claimed that the Unesco proposal would hamper the availability of stone for road construction, another minister is on record that his plan to have a base at Kudremukh for the state commando force would be affected. While such explanations ring hollow and expose the lack of scientific temper and vision, it is important for the people to know the real truth and the underlying reasons leading up to this unfortunate decision. The World Heritage Convention (WHC) is an international treaty to which India is a signatory. It recognises the fundamental need to preserve the balance between people and nature. The decision to scientifically identify Natural Heritage Sites was initiated by the ministry of environment in 2002. The results of the transparent identification process were publicly discussed during 2004. The Government at the Centre during that period was headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who showed great statesmanship in initiating the process.  So why is the state government vehemently opposing their own iconic leader’s visionary decision? In December 2008 some local people led by elected representatives and supported by senior district officers, bulldozed portions of the Pushpagiri sanctuary in the Western Ghats in gross violation of the Supreme Court’s orders. The SC directed the central empowered committee to investigate the serious charges and proceedings are presently at a crucial stage. The Karnataka high court, in 2009, blocked a determined attempt to cut several thousand trees in pristine forest enclosures in the Western Ghats including one allegedly owned by a powerful minister in the present cabinet. These legal interventions have huge implications for political leaders. They greatly fear that the Unesco proposal will be another weapon in the hands of conservationists to block such activities.  A virulent misinformation campaign was launched against the Unesco proposal in which a few corrupt forest officials and local outfits which are essentially fronts for the timber lobby were involved.

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Remembering Neelakantan

A one day bird watching trip to Arippa -one of Neelakantan’s favourite spots- and a 3 day photo exhibition in the Museum Auditorium to be organised in Neelakantan’s memory| By Yentha

Trivandrum: Warblers and Waders, the City based Bird watchers and Nature lovers forum organised a one day bird watching trip to Arippa Ammayambalam Pacha (Kulathupuzha) and Kattilappara forests (Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary) in connection with Prof. K K Neelakantan’s Commemoration day.

Bird watching at Arippa

Popularly known as ‘Induchoodan’, Neelakantan was a noted ornithologist, environmentalist and literary personality. His book "Keralathile Pakshikal" (Birds of Kerala) with illustrations of 261 birds found in Kerala, is considered a unique work.


The Peacock Sanctuary at Choolannur in Palakkad district is named after him. Induchoodan was the president of Prakriti Samrakshna Samithi and led the Silent Valley Agitation during the year 1979 and pursued the study of birds until his death at 69.

Warblers and Waders, had its genesis in 1990 under the guidance of K K Neelakantan. Ever since his demise in 1992, the organisation has been observing June 14th of every year as ‘Induchoodan Commemoration Day’.

“Arippa was one among Neelakantan’s favourite bird watching spots. Some of the significant bird sightings in today’s trip were Changeable Hawk Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Green Imperial Pigeon, Racket-tailed Drongo and Malabar Grey Hornbill an endemic bird to Western Ghats,”says C Susanth, Program Coordinator.

Birdwatching group at Kattilappara shendurney WLS 

Malabar Parakeet and  Bedome’s Keel back  snake, both endemic to Western Ghats and currently on the endangered list were also observed in the Arippa forest. Significant Butterfly sightings included Southern Birdwing (Largest Butterfly in India), Malabar Rose (threatened butterfly endemic to Western Ghats), Great Orange Tip and White Bar Bush Brown.

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What's that tree? Try Smithsonian's new app to see

By Brett Zongker

Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- If you've ever wondered what type of tree was nearby but didn't have a guide book, a new smartphone app allows users with no formal training to satisfy their curiosity and contribute to science at the same time.

Scientists have developed the first mobile app to identify plants by simply photographing a leaf. The free iPhone and iPad app, called Leafsnap, instantly searches a growing library of leaf images amassed by the Smithsonian Institution. In seconds, it returns a likely species name, high-resolution photographs and information on the tree's flowers, fruit, seeds and bark.

Users make the final identification and share their findings with the app's growing database to help map the population of trees one mobile phone at a time.

Leafsnap debuted in May, covering all the trees in New York's Central Park and Washington's Rock Creek Park. It has been downloaded more than 150,000 times in the first month, and its creators expect it to continue to grow as it expands to Android phones.

By this summer, it will include all the trees of the Northeast and eventually will cover all the trees of North America.

Smithsonian research botanist John Kress, who created the app with engineers from Columbia University and the University of Maryland, said it was originally conceived in 2003 as a high-tech aid for scientists to discover new species in unknown habitats. The project evolved, though, with the emergence of smartphones to become a new way for citizens to contribute to research. 
 

"This is going to be able to populate a database of every tree in the United States," Kress said. "I mean that's millions and millions and millions of trees, so that would be really neat."

It's also the first real chance for citizens to directly access some of the science based on the nearly 5 million specimens kept by the U.S. National Herbarium at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. The collection began in 1848 and is among the world's 10 largest plant collections.


Leafsnap cost about $2.5 million to develop, funded primarily by a grant from the National Science Foundation. It will cost another $1 million to expand it within the next 18 months to cover all the trees of the United States, involving about 800 species.

Engineers used facial recognition technology that could identify a leaf by its shape and features.

The image is uploaded to a server, and within seconds it returns a ranking of the most likely tree species a user has found, along with other characteristics to help confirm the tree's identity.

Users make the final identification.

Photo of leaf and tree identifications are automatically sent to Leafsnap's database with mapping information from the phone.

The iPad version includes a feature called "Nearby Species" to show all the trees that have been labeled by others near a user's location.

The app also includes games and could be used to build lessons or scavenger hunts for schools.  

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