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Fringe benefits taxed
No full textPost-independence policies have taken away all securities of the small farmer Historically, compared to other developing economies, India has had relatively smaller agricultural land-holdings. Mixed farming and animal tending was the backbone of small and marginal rain-fed agriculture. Diverse food crops along with animal produce ensured relatively balanced nutrition. But policies in independent India reduced diversity while increasing the market dependence of small farms. Small farmers became victims of policies favouring imports, some of which were aimed at either improving international relations or promoting industry. Nevertheless more than 40 per cent of the country’s food products still come from farms that are smaller than two hectares. The government’s research and development initiatives in agriculture, however, have little for the small farmers
China, India, and the Environment
No full textChina and India, the emerging economic giants of the world, will play a signifi cant, perhaps a dominant, role
in shaping the environmental outcomes for our planet in the 21st century. Both countries are expected to maintain an 8 to 9% rate of economic growth over the next several years ( 1). Even when much of the world is experiencing
a recession, China and India in 2009 are projected to achieve high Gross Domestic Product growth (China, 8.4%; India, 6.2%; world, –2.2%) ( 1). Development in China and India is fueled not only by the natural capital within
the countries, but also increasingly by imports of raw materials, particularly from southeast Asia. Both nations import ~9 million tons of crude palm oil annually—almost one-quarter of global production—mostly from Malaysia
and Indonesia ( 2). The degree to which China and India consume natural resources within their boundaries, and beyond, will largely determine future environmental, social, and economic outcomes. The two countries have
been engaged in a border dispute that included a bitter, but brief, war in 1962. We propose that much more earnest cooperation between the world’s two most populous countries will be vital for mitigating biodiversity loss, global warming, and deforestation
Ecology Driving Genetic Variation: A Comparative Phylogeography of Jungle Cat (Felis chaus) and Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) in India
Get PDFBackground: Comparative phylogeography links historical population processes to current/ecological processes through congruent/incongruent patterns of genetic variation among species/lineages. Despite high biodiversity, India lacks a phylogeographic paradigm due to limited comparative studies. We compared the phylogenetic patterns of Indian populations of jungle cat (Felis chaus) and leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). Given similarities in their distribution within India, evolutionary histories, body size and habits, congruent patterns of genetic variation were expected. Methodology/Principal Findings: We collected scats from various biogeographic zones in India and analyzed mtDNA from 55 jungle cats (460 bp NADH5, 141 bp cytochrome b) and 40 leopard cats (362 bp NADH5, 202 bp cytochrome b). Jungle cats revealed high genetic variation, relatively low population structure and demographic expansion around the mid-Pleistocene. In contrast, leopard cats revealed lower genetic variation and high population structure with a FST of 0.86 between North and South Indian populations. Niche-model analyses using two approaches (BIOCLIM and MaxEnt) support absence of leopard cats from Central India, indicating a climate associated barrier. We hypothesize that high summer temperatures limit leopard cat distribution and that a rise in temperature in the peninsular region of India during the LGM caused the split in leopard cat population in India. Conclusions/Significance: Our results indicate that ecological variables describing a species range can predict genetic patterns. Our study has also resolved the confusion over the distribution of the leopard cat in India. The reciprocally monophyletic island population in the South mandates conservation attention
Reforestation and Regrowth in the Human Dominated Landscapes of South Asia
No full textThe densely populated, forested landscapes of South Asia pose a particular challenge to an understanding of the dynamics of forest change. Of the six countries in this region, four – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal – have experienced increases in forest area and/or in forest density, which cannot be directly attributed to commonly identified drivers of forest change, such as changes in population density, affluence, or development. A meta-analysis of 24 case studies finds that the dominant pathway to reforestation in South Asia appears to be that of protection and planting of trees in degraded forests. A second, commonly encountered pathway is farm agroforestry, leading to increased tree cover on privately owned lands. Reforestation on abandoned unproductive lands does not appear to be significant in South Asia. An in-depth study of four landscapes located in India and Nepal provides greater insight into the human drivers of reforestation and regrowth. Taken together, these analyses indicate that the commitment of national governments towards protection and the devolution of forest management to local communities have been critical in facilitating reforestation in this region
Reforestation: Challenges and Themes in Reforestation Research
No full textTropical forest habitat continues to decline globally, with serious negative consequences for environmental sustainability (Rudel2005). Perhaps as a consequence, studies of land cover change have long been dominated by discussions of deforestation. Most studies on land cover change have been focused on deforestation occurring in
different countries, monitored by national level databases such as FAO, regional studies of deforestation in hotspots of deforestation such as the Amazon and Southeast Asia, national level studies and even smaller case studies of specific landscapes (Cropper et al. 2001 ; Seidl et al. 2001; Messina et al. 2006; Kao and Iida 2006).Yet in recent times there has been a growing awareness in the land usefland cover change research comnlunity, and amongst landscape ecologists, of the need to move away from the dominant focus on deforestation to examine the patterns and processes associated with reforesting landscapes (Rudel2005)
Patterns of tropical forest dynamics and human impacts: Views from above and below the canopy
No full textTropical forests are influenced by regional and global bio-climatic processes as well as local anthropogenic
disturbances. Most studies have ignored the synergistic influence of bio-physical processes operating
at large spatial scales and local human use on forest vegetation and fauna. Assessments of forest
condition change using time-series of remotely sensed data need to be supported by measurements
under the canopy. The Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in India is a protected area that has a long
history of human resource extraction and settlements. Like much of South Asia, it has undergone major
shifts in rainfall in the last hundred years. We examine trends in forest greenness over two and half decades
and assess spatial patterns in rates of change. We also analyze ground based measurements of
human impacts on flora and fauna. Trends in forest canopy greenness show two distinct phases: a period
of decline from 1980s to mid-90s, followed by a recovery. These trends are a function of initial greenness
and are best explained by prevailing climatic regimes, feed-backs from human use, and park management
practices and protection. Negative impacts to flora and fauna on the ground were, however,
wide-spread during the recovery period and are influenced by proximity to nearest settlement as well
as combined distance from all settlements. Remotely sensed data cannot effectively detect these processes
under the canopy. There is an urgent need to incorporate monitoring of long-term bio-climatic
processes and their interaction with short and long-term effects of human-use and disturbance arising
from processes at local, regional and larger spatial scales around protected areas to effectively manage
these reserves
Patterns of seed rain and seedling regeneration in abandoned agricultural clearings in a seasonally dry tropical forest in India
No full textForest recovery in abandoned pastures and agricultural fields is often impeded, therefore it is important to
understand the factors limiting regeneration. Patterns of seed arrival and regeneration in five abandoned agricultural
clearings nested within a seasonally dry tropical forest in India were examined along five transects radiating from the
forest edge into the clearings. Wind-dispersed seeds dominated the seed arrival in clearings compared with vertebrate dispersed
seeds: 5563 wind-dispersed seeds and 1094 vertebrate-dispersed seeds of 14 and 13 tree species, respectively,
were recorded. Numbers of the former declined steeply with increasing distance from the forest, whereas the latter
showed no evident pattern with distance. Seeds of the invasive herb, Chromolaena odorata, were abundant in clearings.
Although wind-dispersed seeds greatly outnumbered vertebrate-dispersed seeds, seedlings and saplings of vertebrate dispersed species were three times more abundant than those of wind-dispersed species, indicating distinct differences in patterns of actual and effective seed dispersal. This points to recruitment limitation, and suggests that seed arrival may not be the principal barrier to regeneration in these clearings. Nonetheless, the clearings are likely to revert to forest over time
Plant invasion and environmental pollution: causes of concern
No full textHumans, like other organisms, modify their environment, but the degree to which humans have become capable of modifying their environment is unmatched by any other living organism on earth. One would be hard pressed to find today any environment in which human agency has not
had a direct, indirect, or inadvertent impact, whether through land use and land cover change, via the introduction of alien species, or due to industrialization and the alteration of biogeochemical
cycles. The introduction of alien species is one aspect of human agency that is dealt with in the collection of articles that follows. The other aspect of human agency dealt with in this collection of articles is a byproduct of industrialization, namely environmental pollutio
The tourist does leave a footprint
No full textThe holiday season is just over. Many of us would have
encountered advertisements with words like “eco hotel” and “eco tours” to lure us to experience “nature’s lap” or “wilderness”. You might think such businesses are nature
friendly. But they could turn out to be quite the contrary
Sandal (Santalum album L.) conservation in southern India: A review of policies and their impacts
No full textLegal barriers for growing sandal, have so far prevented private initiatives for domestication/conservation of this prized tree of Indian forests, accelerated its illegal harvesting from natural forests, and admittedly failed to conserve this resource. We attempted to critically examine the sandal conservation efforts in India especially from a policy perspective, through a detailed review of the various Acts framed for conserving this resource and regulating its extraction and trade. Legal constraints that hamper private initiatives in ex situ sandal conservation/domestication and inconsistency in legal provisions related to sandal extraction and trade among the major producer states of southern India viz. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala are the principal focus of this paper. The need for liberalization of the existing policy regime and evolution of a comprehensive management strategy for sandal, focusing on tree domestication and strengthening of in situ conservation measures backed by imaginative participatory management strategies, are highlighted