-The Hindu ALAPPUZHA: The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) formally declared the Kuttanad below sea-level farming system as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) at the International Forum on GIAHS held at Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan from May 29 to June 1. Sources said agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan attended the conference, though an earlier decision was to send a delegation to the Forum. The government is expected to declare the...

-The Times of India BANGALORE: Ever wondered why the country is fast losing its forest cover? The simple answer is that large tracts of forest land are being handed over to public and private agencies in the name of development projects. Digest this: According to recent data acquired through RTI from the ministry of environment and forests by a group of environmentalists, the extent of forest land being diverted across the country...

-The Telegraph Illegal hunting in Arunachal Pradesh primarily for meat on the table or for money from the market may be threatening several protected or rare wildlife species, a survey in the state's Ziro Valley has indicated. Researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India, (WII) Dehradun, have documented hunting of leopards, marbled cats, black bears, orange-bellied squirrels, among other species, mainly for meat, skin, and commercial sales in six villages of Ziro...

-The Hindu   An open letter from Madhav Gadgil says Kasturirangan panel report will rob the region of its biodiversity Dear Dr. K. Kasturirangan, J.B.S. Haldane, the celebrated 19th-century scientist and humanist who quit England protesting its imperialistic invasion of Suez to become an Indian citizen, once said: "Reality is not only stranger than we suppose, but stranger than we CAN suppose!" I could never have imagined that you would be party to a...

-Tehelka The new biotechnology Bill will allow biotech firms to tamper with our food In March, US President Barack Obama signed the HR 933 continuing resolution - popularly known as the Monsanto Protection Act - that effectively divests the federal courts of their constitutional power to stop the planting or sale of genetically modified (GM) seeds and crops regardless of the health and environmental consequences. In other words, whether you like...