Number of Gir lions grows by 29% in five years

Gir forest in Gujarat is the exclusive home of Asiatic Lion. Once seen as threatened by extinction, their numbers have now increased to an estimated 674 – 29% higher than the 2015 population.

 

Year	No. of Lions
1990	284
1995	304
2001	327
2005	359
2010	411
2015	523
2020	674

 

Moreover, the distribution of the lions expanded from 22,000 sq. km in 2015 to 30,000 sq. km in 2020. As per Forest Department data, there are 161 male, 260 female, 45 sub-adult male, 49 sub-adult female, 22 unidentified and 137 cubs. Experts said the male-female ratio was healthy in the Gir region with 161 males vs 260 females.

 

The increase in population is the result of strategies and interventions like community participation, use of technology, habitat management and increase in prey base, human-lion conflict mitigation and healthcare including import of vaccines after some lions were infected with Canine Distemper Virus (CDV).

 

This year, the department carried out a “population estimation exercise” on the night of June 5-6 because the five-yearly regular census in May could not be held due to COVID-19. In October 2018, Gir witnessed an outbreak of CDV in which 36 lions died. The Prime Minister had then directed the State authorities to import vaccines.

 

2020 UN FAO State of the World’s Forests Report: Forests, Biodiversity and People

The 2020 UN FAO has released the State of the World’s Forests Report: Forests, Biodiversity and People. As the UN Decade on Biodiversity 2011–2020 comes to a close and countries prepare to adopt a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, this edition of the State of the World’s Forests (SOFO) takes the opportunity to examine the contributions of forests, and of the people who use and manage them, to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

 

The key points made in the Report are the following:

·      Forests harbour most of Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity. The conservation of the world’s biodiversity is thus utterly dependent on the way in which we interact with and use the world’s forests.

·      Forests cover 31% of the global land area but are not equally distributed around the globe.

·      Deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates, which contributes significantly to the ongoing loss of biodiversity.

·      Agricultural expansion continues to be the main driver of deforestation and forest fragmentation and the associated loss of forest biodiversity.

·      The net loss of forest area has decreased substantially since 1990, but the world is not on track to meet the target of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests to increase forest area by 3% by 2030.

·      The biodiversity of forests varies considerably according to factors such as forest type, geography, climate and soils – in addition to human use.

·      Progress on preventing the extinction of known threatened species and improving their conservation status has been slow.

·      All people depend upon forests and their biodiversity, some more than others. Feeding humanity and conserving and sustainably using ecosystems are complementary and closely interdependent goals.

·      Human health and well-being are closely associated with forests.

·      Solutions that balance conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity are critical – and possible.

·      Actions to combat deforestation and illegal logging have gathered pace over the past decade – as have international agreements and results-based payments.

·      Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 (to protect at least 17% of terrestrial area by 2020) has been exceeded for forest ecosystems as a whole. However, protected areas alone are not sufficient to conserve biodiversity.

·      Aichi Biodiversity Target 7 (by 2020, areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry are managed sustainably, ensuring conservation) has not been met for forests, but the management of the world’s forests is improving.

·      Current negative trends in biodiversity and ecosystems will undermine progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

·      Ensuring positive outcomes for both biodiversity and people requires a careful balance between conservation goals and demands for resources that support livelihoods.

·      We need to transform our food systems to halt deforestation and the loss of biodiversity.

·      Large-scale forest restoration is needed to meet the SDGs and to prevent, halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity.

·      We must build on this momentum to catalyse bold actions to prevent, halt and reverse the loss of forests and their biodiversity, for the benefit of current and future generations.

Desert locusts attack India and other countries

India and several countries are now experiencing locust attacks that could destroy crops over huge areas.

 

What are locusts and what harm can they do?

Locusts are a group of short-horned grasshoppers that multiply in numbers as they migrate long distances in destructive swarms (up to 150 km in one day). The swarms devour leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, bark and growing points, and also destroy plants by their sheer weight as they descend on them in massive numbers.

 

Four species of locusts are found in India: Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), Migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), Bombay Locust (Nomadacris succincta) and Tree locust (Anacridium sp.). Of these, the desert locust is regarded as the most destructive pest in India as well as internationally, with a small swarm covering one sq km being able to consume the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people.

 

Current locust attack in India

The Locust Warning Organization (LWO) in Jodhpur monitors and tackles periodic outbreaks of locusts. There were 13 locust upsurges from 1964 to 1997, and after 2010 there was “no large scale breeding” reported. Once a significant outbreak starts, it lasts for about two years, and then there is a quietus for about eight years. LWO officials say that the current swarm building up is potentially the “worst in decades”.

 

A desert locust swarm in Rajasthan, Gujarat and even parts of Madhya Pradesh threatens to amplify into an agrarian disaster. Punjab is fearing a locust attack in southern parts of the state as locust hoppers have been sighted in a couple of villages in three districts bordering Rajasthan.

 

In January 2020, swarms of locusts from Rajasthan and Pakistan invaded the farms in North Gujarat and caused massive loss to standing crops like cumin, mustard, wheat and castor. Over 25,000 ha of fields got affected by the locust menace. The state government announced a relief package of Rs 31.45 crore which will cover over 11,000 farmers in Banaskantha and Patan districts.

 

Locust hotspots

 

The UN FAO has currently identified three hotspots of threatening locust activity, where the situation has been called “extremely alarming” — the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea area, and southwest Asia. Pakistan and Somalia have declared locust emergencies. During the past few weeks, major locust attacks have been observed in several countries in western and southern Asia and in eastern Africa.

 

The Horn of Africa has been called the worst-affected area, where the FAO has said there is “an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods”. Locust swarms from Ethiopia and Somalia have travelled south to Kenya and 14 other countries in the continent. Ethiopia’s Rift Valley has also been hit by the pest. The outbreak is the worst to strike Ethiopia and Somalia in 25 years, and the worst infestation in Kenya in the past 70 years. Without international help, the FAO has said that locust numbers across the region could grow 500 times by June 2020.

 

In the Red Sea area, locusts have struck in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Yemen. The swarms are presumed to have arrived here from the Indo-Pakistan border area. In southwest Asia, locusts swarms have caused damage in Iran, India, and Pakistan.

 

Impact of climate change and corona virus

Some meteorologists suggest that the breeding locusts which threaten farming are an indirect fallout of the warming Indian Ocean. Last year, there were fears that the monsoon may fall short because of an El Niño, or warming of the Equatorial Pacific. However there was an extreme flip. By July it was evident that a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, or relatively higher temperature in the western Indian Ocean, was in the works. This led to record-breaking rainfall in India — then a cause for cheer — as well as in eastern Africa. But moist African deserts precipitated locust breeding and favourable rain-bearing winds aided their transport towards India.

 

On the other hand, coronavirus quarantines meant that routine coordination activities involving India, Pakistan and Afghanistan regarding spraying pesticides were halted. While it is some comfort that there is now limited standing crop in India, forecasts are for good rains in Rajasthan, and, paradoxically, conducive conditions for locust breeding during the sowing season.

 

A less highlighted aspect of global warming is that it may link disparate disasters — floods, pandemics and pestilence — amplifying the potency of each. Improved science and technology is only making it clearer that man’s follies transcend borders.

Sources: Reports in The Hindu and Indian Express

2020 World Migration Report

In November 2019, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) released the World Migration Report 2020, the tenth in the series. The Report has been produced to contribute to increased understanding of migration throughout the world. 

The highlights of the Report are:

·      The number of international migrants globally in 2019: 272 million (3.5% of the world’s population)

o   52% of international migrants were male; 48% were female.

o   74% of all international migrants were of working age (20–64 years).

·      India continued to be the largest country of origin of international migrants

o   India had the largest number of migrants living abroad (17.5 million), followed by Mexico and China (11.8 million and 10.7 million respectively).

o   The top destination country remained the United States (50.7 million international migrants).

·      The number of migrant workers declined slightly in high income countries while increasing elsewhere

o   Between 2013 and 2017, high-income countries experienced a slight drop in migrant workers (from 112.3 million to 111.2 million). Upper middle-income countries observed the biggest increase (from 17.5 million to 30.5 million).

o   Globally, male migrant workers outnumbered female migrant workers by 28 million in 2017.

o   There were 96 million male migrant workers (58%) and 68 million female migrant workers (42%).

·      International remittances increased to USD 689 billion in 2018

o   The top 3 remittance recipients were India (USD 78.6 billion), China (USD 67.4 billion) and Mexico (USD 35.7 billion).

o   The United States remained the top remittance-sending country (USD 68.0 billion) followed by the United Arab Emirates (USD 44.4 billion) and Saudi Arabia (USD 36.1 billion).

·      The global refugee population was 25.9 million in 2018

o   20.4 million refugees were under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and 5.5 million were refugees under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Near East.

o   52% of the global refugee population was under 18 years of age.

·      The number of internally displaced persons due to violence and conflict reached 41.3 million

o   This was the highest number on record since the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre began monitoring in 1998.

o   The Syrian Arab Republic had the highest number of people displaced (6.1 million) followed by Colombia (5.8 million) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.1 million).

·      The number of stateless persons globally in 2018 was 3.9 million

o   Bangladesh had the largest number of stateless persons (around 906,000). It was followed by Côte d’Ivoire (692,000) and Myanmar (620,000).

The Report includes a chapter on ‘Human Mobility and Adaptation to

Environmental Change.' The chapter provides an overview of three prominent framings of environmental migration and human mobility in the context of climate change: securitization, protection, and adaptation and climate risk

management.

The chapter also highlights existing evidence of patterns of human movements – ranging from migration, displacement and planned relocation – in different settings, principally mountainous areas, drylands, coastal zones and urban areas. This evidence illustrates some of the trade-offs people make as they weigh the realities and potential risks of staying or moving away in the face of environmental and climate stress. It also highlights the relevance of context, as it relates to environmental settings but also how different communities are able to demonstrate resilience as well as adaptive capacities.

The chapter also reviews two key mechanisms in international policy where discussions about environmental migration and human mobility in the context of climate change are taking place. There has been growing recognition in recent years of the need to better integrate migration into global climate and environmental mechanisms, and for climate change mechanisms to incorporate human mobility aspects. Significant steps have been taken to ensure that the issue of human mobility in the context of environment and climate change receives greater consideration at the international level. And yet, its inherent sensitivities means that there is still more work to be done in the development of cohesive policy approaches. Nevertheless, the ultimate success of these frameworks and guidelines relies on the degree to which recommendations are implemented by States and other actors through migration, development, risk and environmental policies in addition to mainstreaming into other programming.

In conclusion, climate science suggests that the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events are rising, exposing more people and their assets to adverse impacts. The places people currently live and work in are under increasing pressure from environmental and climate change. Migration, displacement and planned relocation are capturing increased attention from research, policy and practice as people attempt to move away from stress and risk, and towards safety or opportunity. In this context, measures are needed with the following characteristics:

·      people are enabled to choose whether, when, and with whom to move (existing networks and dignified options appropriate to cultural contexts and preferences);

·      people who move can access livelihood opportunities and remit resources that enhance adaptation; and

·      people who move can do so in a dignified, safe and regular manner.

There is a need for research, policy and practice on which adaptive options can help people move towards well-being even in the face of growing environmental and climate risks.

The importance of environmental, climate change and disaster drivers will continue to be a key area for future research and policy developments in the international migration governance debate. The reality of how slow

and sudden-onset hazards impact people’s livelihoods and influence their migration strategies, as much as the significance of the political questions around migration and climate change issues will continue to position

environmental migration at the forefront of these debates.

Destroying Habitats Creates the Perfect Conditions for Coronavirus to Emerge

(The following account is based on an article on www.ensia.com. Ensia is a solutions-focused nonprofit media outlet reporting on our changing planet.)

As habitat and biodiversity loss increase globally, the novel coronavirus outbreak may be just the beginning of mass pandemics. Only a decade or two ago it was widely thought that tropical forests and intact natural environments teeming with exotic wildlife threatened humans by harboring the viruses and pathogens that lead to new diseases in humans like Ebola, HIV and dengue. But a number of researchers today think that it is actually humanity’s destruction of biodiversity that creates the conditions for new viruses and diseases like COVID-19, the viral disease that emerged in China in December 2019, to arise — with profound health and economic impacts in rich and poor countries alike. In fact, a new discipline, planetary health, is emerging that focuses on the increasingly visible connections among the well-being of humans, other living things and entire ecosystems.

Is it possible, then, that it was human activity, such as road building, mining, hunting and logging, that triggered the virus epidemics of the 1990s and that is unleashing new terrors today? We invade tropical forests and other wild landscapes, which harbor so many species of animals and plants — and within those creatures, so many unknown viruses. We cut the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.

Increasing Threat

Outbreaks of animal-borne and other infectious diseases like Ebola, SARS, bird flu and now COVID-19, caused by a novel coronavirus, are on the rise. Pathogens are crossing from animals to humans, and many are now able to spread quickly to new places. Some diseases, like rabies and plague, crossed from animals centuries ago. A few, like COVID-19, which emerged last year in Wuhan, China, and MERS, which is linked to camels in the Middle East, are new to humans and spreading globally.

Other diseases that have crossed into humans include Lassa fever, which was first identified in 1969 in Nigeria; Nipah from Malaysia; and SARS from China, which killed more than 700 people and traveled to 30 countries in 2002–03. Some, like Zika and West Nile virus, which emerged in Africa, have mutated and become established on other continents.

Increasingly, these zoonotic diseases are linked to environmental change and human behaviour. The disruption of pristine forests driven by logging, mining, road building through remote places, rapid urbanization and population growth is bringing people into closer contact with animal species they may never have been near before.

The resulting transmission of disease from wildlife to humans is now a hidden cost of human economic development. There are just so many more of us, in every environment. We are going into largely undisturbed places and being exposed more and more. We are creating habitats where viruses are transmitted more easily, and then we are surprised that we have new ones.

There are countless pathogens out there continuing to evolve which at some point could pose a threat to humans. The risk of pathogens jumping from animals to humans has always been there. The difference between now and a few decades ago is that diseases are likely to spring up in both urban and natural environments. We have created densely packed populations where alongside us are bats and rodents and birds, pets and other living things. That creates intense interaction and opportunities for things to move from species to species.

Tip of the Iceberg

Pathogens do not respect species boundaries. Shrinking natural habitats and changing behavior add to the risks of diseases spilling over from animals to humans. The majority of pathogens are still to be discovered. We are at the very tip of the iceberg.

Humans are creating the conditions for the spread of diseases by reducing the natural barriers between virus host animals — in which the virus is naturally circulating — and themselves. Wildlife everywhere is being put under more stress. Major landscape changes are causing animals to lose habitats, which means species become crowded together and also come into greater contact with humans. Species that survive change are now moving and mixing with different animals and with humans.

There’s misapprehension among scientists and the public that natural ecosystems are the source of threats to ourselves. It’s a mistake. Nature poses threats, it is true, but it’s human activities that do the real damage. The health risks in a natural environment can be made much worse when we interfere with it. When we erode biodiversity, we see a proliferation of the species most likely to transmit new diseases to us, but there’s also good evidence that those same species are the best hosts for existing diseases.

The Market Connection

Viruses and other pathogens are also likely to move from animals to humans in the many informal markets that have sprung up to provide fresh meat to fast-growing urban populations around the world. Here animals are slaughtered, cut up and sold on the spot. The “wet market” (one that sells fresh produce and meat) in Wuhan, thought by the Chinese government to be the starting point of the current COVID-19 pandemic, was known to sell numerous wild animals, including live wolf pups, salamanders, crocodiles, scorpions, rats, squirrels, foxes, civets and turtles.

Equally, urban markets in west and central Africa see monkeys, bats, rats and dozens of species of bird, mammal, insect and rodent slaughtered and sold close to open refuse dumps and with no drainage. Wet markets make a perfect storm for cross-species transmission of pathogens. Whenever you have novel interactions with a range of species in one place, whether that is in a natural environment like a forest or a wet market, you can have a spillover event.

Air quality is picking up in quarantined countries

Here is another example of how the environment rebounds when human activities are curtailed:

According to Agence France-Presse, a striking reduction in concentration of NO2 has been reported in China, Italy and Spain thanks to lockdown. Air quality is improving in countries under COVID-19 quarantines, experts say, but it is far too early to speak of long-term change. Images by the U.S. space agency NASA are clear, in February the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) fell

dramatically in Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, passing from an indicator that was red/orange to blue.

NO2 is mainly produced by vehicles, industrial sites and thermal power stations. As China moves past the peak of its crisis, however, recent images by the European Space Agency (ESA) show a resurgence in NO2 emissions.

A striking reduction has also been observed by the ESA in northern Italy, which has been locked down to fight a spread of the novel coronavirus. The European Environment Agency (EEA) reports a similar change in Barcelona

and Madrid, where Spanish authorities issued confinement orders in mid-March.

“NO2 is a short-lived pollutant, with a lifetime in the atmosphere of about one day,” said Vincent-Henri Peuch, from the EU earth surveillance

Programme Copernicus. “As a result, this pollutant stays near the emission

sources and can be used as a proxy of the intensity of activity in different sectors,” he told AFP. Fei Liu, an air quality researcher at NASA’s Goddard

Space Flight Center, noted the change in China, saying: “This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for

a specific event.” In northern Italy, “average NO2 concentration levels have been almost halved on average,” Mr. Peuch remarked.

The pollutant can provoke a serious inflammation of the respiratory system.

Confinement measures thus protect in two ways, by reducing the risk of COVID-19 infection and by easing pollution from road traffic, according to a group of French doctors. It is nonetheless hard to know how much benefit the world’s population will actually experience because, according to the health experts, what will have more impact is the long term exposure.

Undisturbed mass nesting of Olive Ridleys at Rushikulya, Odisha

While the Corona virus is taking a heavy toll on humanity, we should remember that our disregard for the natural environment creates the conditions for such viruses to emerge. See for example:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/destroyed-habitat-creates-the-perfect-conditions-for-coronavirus-to-emerge/

The lockdown in India is harsh on the poor and others, but it also shows how the environment improves when human actions are curtailed. The following account is from a report in The Hindu dated March 26, 2020.

Restrictions in place for the COVID-19 threat are saving lakhs of Olive Ridley turtles from possible disturbance by humans, especially tourists, while they are continuing mass nesting at Odisha’s Rushikulya rookery. According to the Odisha Forest Department’s enumeration, over 2,78,500 turtles nested at this coast till 25th morning. Since 24th evening, over 72,000 Olive

Ridleys have arrived at the beach to dig nests and lay eggs.

Olive Ridleys began mass nesting at the Rushikulya rookery from around 2 a.m. on March 21. Later in the day, the unusual phenomenon of day-time mass nesting took place at the coast. As a large number of turtles are still in the sea near this coast, mass nesting is expected to continue for some more nights.

This event normally attracts hundreds of people to the spot, with Forest

Department personnel spending considerable time and effort in controlling the crowd. But this year, the COVID-19 lockdown has ensured no such

disturbance occurs for the turtles.

Proper maintenance of cleanliness and provision of protection to the turtles at sea since November 2019, when the turtles mate, are major reasons for the large scale mass nesting at Rushikulya this year, said Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer Amlan Nayak. Two trawlers, two speed boats and a country boat are being used by the Forest Department to patrol the sea, in order to prevent fishing trawlers from plying along the coast. Trawlers did not cause any deaths of turtles as a result.

In 2019, mass nesting of Olive Ridleys did not occur in Rushikulya, in contrast to 2018, when “double mass nesting” occurred in February and April, with nesting figures rising above 4,73,000.

Cyclone Titli in October 2018, and the floods that followed, left huge piles of

waste over about 8 km of the Rushikulya coast, which had to be cleaned with excavators. It has been estimated that minute particles of waste remained, keeping Olive Ridleys away in 2019. This year, the beach received a thorough cleaning long before the mass nesting commenced. The Forest Department also set up 11 off-shore camps early this year to monitor the beach.