26
Feb 2009 - Lucknow, India - No fewer than
131 gharials, the critically endangered
long-snouted crocodile native to the Northern
Indian sub-continent, were recently re-introduced
to the river Ganges at the Hastinapur Wildlife
Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh by WWF-India
officials.
Assisted by the Uttar
Pradesh State Forest Department, the operation
was carried out in two phases, on 29 January
and 12 February. Since then the gharials
have been monitored by the WWF team and
are responding well.
“An estimate indicates
that barely 1,400 individuals survive in
the wild [in India],” said Dr Parikshit
Gautam, Director, Freshwater & Wetlands
Conservation Programme, WWF-India. “For
its conservation it is essential to locate
viable alternative habitats for this species
in crisis.”
The target reintroduction
area was carefully selected. A female gharial
(3.63m) inhabited the area as recently as
1994 while another was rescued there in
2006-07 and released into the Ganges at
a spot further up-stream. Furthermore, easily
recognizable features of gharial habitat
occur in this stretch of the river.
An awareness drive among
the local communities was also conducted
to ensure community participation in the
operation and to reassure people that gharials
have never been known to attack humans and
feed only on fish.
The presence of the
gharials will help maintain the biodiversity
of the river and the objectives of the reintroduction
will be achieved through people participation
and regular monitoring of sections of the
river and studying the response of the released
gharials in terms of ability to permanently
adapt to the environment. Rescue operations
will also be carried out if the gharials
drift downstream of protected areas.
Immediately below the
Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary the Ganges
River and its environs have been declared
as a Ramsar Site and the area is currently
the focus of a WWF-India dolphin conservation
programme which will also benefit gharial
conservation, monitoring and protection.
+ More
28 Million scouts to
mobilise for Earth Hour
27 Feb 2009 - Community
organisations around the world getting behind
campaign
Sweden to ring church bells, Sydney Ferries
to sound horns
National Education Association (US) lends
support
The Scouts, the world's
largest youth movement with more than 28
million members in 160 countries, lead thousands
of community groups around the world mobilising
their supporters for Earth Hour, the global
expression of a desire for serious and sustained
action on climate change.
“It is possible for
everyone to take action against global warming,"
said Luc Panissod, Acting Secretary General
of the World Organization of the Scout Movement,
and James Leape, Director General of WWF
International, in a joint letter to Scouting's
global network earlier this month.
What was described as
"an opportunity to talk to your neighbours
about the environment and climate change"
is the latest expression of a partnership
between the Scouts and WWF that goes back
decades.
"We see that Scouts
all over the world have a great interest
in the environment and are leaders in their
community," said Luc Panissod. "Earth
Hour offers an opportunity for Scouts to
demonstrate this commitment to tackling
climate change and engage with their family
and friends."
"The young are
vitally concerned with the future and many
are well aware that climate change is the
greatest threat to the planet’s future.
We are delighted that the Scouts are again
working with us to secure the environment
for generations to come," said James
Leape.
With more than 681 cities
in 76 countries already signed up to turn
their lights out on March 28, Earth Hour
2009 is shaping up as one of the greatest
voluntary actions the world has ever seen.
Executive Director of
Earth Hour, Mr Andy Ridley, said community
groups are playing a vital role in getting
more and more people from around the world
engaged in the lights out campaign.
“Earth Hour is driven
by citizens and grassroots groups thinking
globally and acting locally. No matter how
big or small your organisation, I urge you
to get involved in Earth Hour and really
make a difference in your community and
in the world,” Mr Ridley said.
Among other community
groups working to ensure the largest possible
participation in Earth Hour is the Church
of Sweden, which will ring its bells across
the country to signal the start of Earth
Hour at 8.30pm on March 28.
Sydney Ferries, which
has been an enthusiastic supporter of Earth
Hour since 2007, will this year be sounding
the horns of all its ferries operating on
Sydney Harbour, heralding Earth Hour in
the city where the campaign first began.
In the United States
the National Education Association, representing
3.2 million teachers and education professionals,
has also pledged its support for Earth Hour,
as has the 1.4 million-strong American Federation
of Teachers.
