Indian Wildlife Club Forum

Dams in 11 States being pulled out in 2005 ( Source: Environment News Service 1 Sep 2005)

 56 Dams in 11 States in the U.S are being removed in 2005 according to the latest survey conducted by the Conservation Group "American Rivers".

This trend is the result of renewed appreciation for free flowing, healthy streams and ageing of much of the nation's dams infrastructure. 185 dams have been removed since 1999. Only about 3% of the dams in the U.S have hydroelectric turbines. Most were built for purposes such as running mills, controlling floods and creating water supplies or recreational parks.

"While dams can provide valuable services, the ecological price is high", American Rivers said. "Dams drown valuable habitat under reservoirs, block the annual migration of fish and can create downstream conditions inhospitable for fish and wildlife. Dams also create several safety hazards, some of which increase with age".

The East Rapti River basin includes the Royal Chitwan National Park of Nepal.

Two researchers from the International Water Management Institute ( Srilanka) have suggested that linking social preferences -read rural livelihood-to eco-hydrological science -read planning for water allocation- is the challenge of the future. Their research has come to the conclusion that arriving at acceptable limits for water resources exploitation must consider the relationship between river flow and eco-system, in order to be viable.

The research report is available online at the website

http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org

A survey was conducted in the year 2003 by the Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC) for their 24 hour Higher Education Channel.

Out of 481 sample students whose responses have been tabulated, more than 75% students preferred programmes with a focused approach to widen their horizons; India’s place in World Heritage, Nature related issues and People of India are subjects close to their heart. 90% of the students surveyed wanted programmes on contemporary issues with a window to the world.

Young India views itself as a global citizen! A very positive development indeed.

A community approach to looking at conservation problems fosters an ability to consider sustainability issues from the view of different stakeholders.

"Awareness" happens through sharing of information.

 A common claim about group settings is that they foster an effective combination of learning with understanding and are therefore likely to support conceptual change. Environment concerns pervade all activities in the adult world. We need to broaden our concept of Environmental awareness to include the general public- the adult population who are in charge of the planet right now. The process by which experiences are shared through collective action and reflection both builds a community and defines it.

Unwillingness to share, especially difficult and controversial aspects of one’s work, tendency to follow the leader, tendency to arrive at a consensus by covering up intriguing layers of disagreement-these are some of the issues which plague healthy debates in conferences and even in face to face discussions.

WE HAVE TO SEE differences of opinion as a resource rather than a liability. Criticisms and disagreements as a source of learning and enrichment.

The delta of the Colorado river basin has shrunk to 5% of its historic size thanks to intensive river diversions that have spelt a death knell to the people, flora and fauna of the region.

Since 1960, the river has reached the sea only during rare flood years, more usually ending just south of the US border in a few stagnant pools of pesticide and salt- laced agricultural runoff. Due to intensive irrigation in desert lands, waters have become extremely saline.

A $256 million desalination plant was set up at Yuma, Arizona to desalinate the water in 1992. It was shut down in 1993 after floods destroyed drains and brought in saline water. The Bureau of Reclamation’s ‘salinity control program’ had cost tax-payers $660 million by 1993.

An $8 billion plan has been passed in California to revive some of its rivers. ( source: The Environmental Magazine)

It is well known that some parts of Jharkhand State in India face the threat of elephant attacks, especially in the night.

The people of these regions spend their nights on machans on trees to get some sleep. Recently, a documentary film maker, who was in this area was asked by the people of this area whether he can help them find a

"laser light"

to ward off the elephants at night. Does anyone know where these lights can be procured?

The Tiger Task Force has submitted its report. The report brings out some glaring facts.

"In the last 30 years, only 80-odd villages have been relocated from all 28 reserves. There are another 1,500 existing inside, of which 250 are within core areas of tiger reserves, which must be relocated. Relocating them will cost Rs 660 crore at the minimum, in terms of the meager relocation package government works with today, and without accounting for land costs. If this is taken into account, then the estimated cost is Rs 11,000 crore.

What is suggested is a time-bound programme to identify those villages that must be relocated because of they are located inside crucial tiger habitats. It is also suggested that, unlike the past, this relocation must be done speedily and sensitively, with careful consideration of the needs of people."

The chair person also says that if we do not make peace with the communities who share the tigers’ home, we will lose the war of conservation tiger by tiger. Identifying the cause for a crisis situation is certainly the first step towards a solution.

Let us think solutions now! How can we have the communities become stakeholders in tourism for example? Any suggestions?

Ankur had sent an email to us seeking help to implement his ideas. We thought throwing open the subject in our open blog forum will bring in some valuable comments.

You can also contact Ankur at his email id damdim.estate@sify.com.