Monthly Archives: March 2010

Climate pangs

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It pains me to hear that one more island in the Bay of Bengal has been gobbled up by the seas. Scientists at the Jadavpur University in Kolkata have arrived at this conclusion by comparing satellite data for over 50 years. The team is yet to publish a peer-reviewed paper on this though.

Close on the heels of the revelation (which follows their 2006 report on the submergence of two other islands in the Sunderban delta), India’s environment Minister Jairam Ramesh mooted a joint action plan with Bangladesh on preserving the the delta’s ecosystem. The Sunderban island conglomerate is spread over 10,000 sq km in both countries.

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Sugata Hazra studies the submergence patterns of the Sunderban islands at Jadavpur University.

During my umpteen visits to the area with researchers of the University when they first chronicled the submergence of two other islands — Lohachara ancd Suparibhanga — I had profusely agonised over the fate of the ‘envirogees’ or environment refugees. This very team of scientists had predicted then that more islands will vanish from the map of the delta over the next two decades.

Having heard of the submergence of New Moore Island now, I can only sigh: the more things change, the more they remain the same!

To me this is more than a climate change, rising sea level issue. There’s a human face to these extreme events — the displaced environment refugees. As science writers we very often tend to report the science behind climate change phenomena — this many centimeters of sea level rise, that many degree celsius tempertaure rise, these many hectares gone to the seas. What we miss out on are the underlying tales — of the farmers who lost their livelihood, the children who lost their playgrounds and schools, the elderly who lost their lives’ makings.

Yes, I have expresed my agitation over this in a blog before. And I will continue to be agitated till I see the state or the Central government or local NGOs do something concrete beyond bipartite action plans and creation of refugee camps on the very islands facing the threat of submergence.

Hope in CITES for big cats

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I engaged myself in the discussions emerging out of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) at Doha this week to sniff something that I have been meaning to write about for a while — the growing impact of internet and new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on the conservation of wild fauna and flora. Participating countries recongnised the exploitation of these media by criminals and the need to find ways to tackle this.

How the law enforcement community can use the same media to turn the tables on criminals was the question most sought answers to. The Internet also connects legitimate traders of wildlife to tech-savvy consumers and so the biggest challenge is to find ways to help these consumers determine if the goods are legal and sustainably traded. Why, an elephant conservation and advocacy group keenly following the talks reported that the pachyderms had done fairly for themselves at Doha. They claim to have over 4000 fans of Facebook — an illustration of using new media to spread the word around!

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What made for good news for Asian countries was an amended CITES resolution on the region’s big cats that called for comprehensive legislation and enforcement controls to regulate trade in tiger and other Asian Big Cats’ parts and derivatives. The resolution called for increased regional cooperation among tiger range states, improved reporting, establishment of a tiger trade database and introduction of innovative enforcement methods to curb such trade.

Indeed a step forward in times when scientists report that prioritisation based on demographic, genetic, and ecological considerations can ensure species recovery and retention of evolutionary flexibility in the face of ongoing global changes.

Attendee representatives from more than 100 governments, including most of the tiger range countries, sought funds to stop illegal trade in specimens of Asian big cat species. Governments and intergovernmental organisations, international aid agencies, and nongovernmental organisations should come forward to heed to this call.

Or who knows if there will be even ‘1411 left’, as a popular corporate tiger conservation campaign in India claims.

Neighbours’ woes

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A policy paper published today in Science predicts that neighbours China and India will play a dominant role in “shaping the environmental outcomes for our planet in the 21st century.” According to the authors — two from India — natural resource consumption in the two countries will be a major factor in deciding which way the environmental, social, and economic outcomes will swing in future. They 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.

The World Bank estimates that the countries will grow at a pace of 8 to 9% over the next few years. In fact, despite the recession year (2009 ), the Asian giants achieved high Gross Domestic Product growth (China, 8.4%; India, 6.2%; world, –2.2%). Their growth boosters were natural capital as also imports of raw materials, particularly from southeast Asia.

The Indian authors Kamaljeet Bawa and P. S. Ramakrishnan along with six co-authors highlight issues such as groundwater shortages, changes in hydrology in the Himalayan region, accelerated energy consumption, loss of biodiversity, increased pollution, and climate change. In short, a scary scenario for the future of this planet hinging on how these two growing economies manage there resources.

They also coax India and China to learn from one another — “For instance, India’s energy efficiency is higher than China’s. However, China has much to offer to India in poverty reduction, health care, and large conservation programs, including the Natural Forest Conservation Program and the Grain-to-Green Program.”

This indeed is fodder for policy makers of both countries.

Market-worthy ideas, anyone?

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A new business plan competition for researchers from India and the UK hopes to identify the most promising scientific advances with equally brilliant commercial spin-offs. This is the kind of boost that young researchers in this country are looking for. It would be interesting to see what innovative ideas come in for the competition from India and, of course, which ones finally win.

The competition is led by The University of Nottingham, the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. It will provide support to help the brightest and the best of scientists with “promising scientific advances underpinning a business idea to progress their concept towards commercial reality.”

The contest provides a new chance for winning entrants to gain funding to build healthcare or pharmaceutical businesses from their ideas.The idea is to create real businesses in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector. The competition will hopefully see the launch of new companies and technologies in both countries by helping scientists with groundbreaking ideas work with the business and intellectual property experts required to translate ideas into products.

During the first round, teams are required to complete a short business plan executive summary. The deadline for submissions is May 14, 2010.

The best entry from India will get a package of benefits worth over Rs 15 lakhs to assist in starting up a new company, including Rs 5 lakhs cash award for early start-up costs, two years’ incubation facilities at SIDBI-Innovation & Innovation Centre (SIIC) at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, providing room space, accommodation and support with IPR protection costs, lab testing and prototyping costs.

Pradip Bhatnagar, Senior Vice-President of Drug Discovery Research at Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd in India says the competition will help unlock the vast potential of India’s pharmaceutical and healthcare research.

More information is here.