- Eco conservation norms set for tourism industry
The department of tourism has formulated a set of self-regulatory guidelines for the tourism industry to preserve the country's environmental resources. The document, titled Eco Tourism guidelines,
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Ranganatittu Sanctuary expansion on cards
Here is a good news for Bird watchers and tourists. Forest department sources hint that the Ranganatittu bird sanctuary will be expanded under the Eco Tourism Development Project to extend more
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SARCE for eco-tourism in South Asian region
Educating visitors before they arrive at destinations and providing them with good interpretations during their visit are important for promoting eco-tourism products of a particular area, key
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Concerted efforts to expand eco-tourism stressed
Speakers at a seminar stressed the need for coordinated efforts of the concerned departments for expansion of Eco-tourism in Bangladesh. The tour operators in the private and public sectors, tourism
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Jagmohan sets the ball rolling on eco-tourism
The Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, Jagmohan, today set the ball rolling to put Uttaranchal on the international eco-tourism map by announcing several innovative
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The first World Eco-Tourism Summit
The first World Eco-Tourism Summit has just opened in Quebec with national, international and industry representatives on hand to seek a balance between conservation and economic development at
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Eco tourism award for Chennai historian
Chennai-based historian and writer S Muthiah was presented the Eco Tourism Award here on Thursday, by the SKAL Committee of India, an organisation of tourism
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Eco-tourism and wildlife corridors put Nepal on world map
The agencies involved in the promotion of environmental conservation can celebrate. Reason : Nepal's efforts surrounding conservation of the wildlives and promoting eco-tourism have been appreciated
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HP to promote eco-tourism
With the most of tourist resorts turning into concrete jungles, the Himachal government has decided to shift focus to eco-tourism for which the state has a vast
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Nagaland plans to promote eco-tourism
The Nagaland Government is planning to develop new tourist destinations with community participation for promotion of eco-tourism.The State Tourism Department is also set to use eco-friendly
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UDFC turns to eco-tourism
Eco-tourism has emerged as the new buzzword for the Uttaranchal Forest Development Corporation facing stiff competition in the sale of wood. UDFC is cashing in on the rising mercury across the
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Eco-tourism camp in Sunderbans
An eco-tourism conservation camp along with an eco-museum, the first of its kind in the Sunderbans reserve Forest area, will be inaugurated on 15 July by state forest minister Mr Yogesh Barman. A
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Protest against eco-tourism projects
The Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi has warned of a series of agitations if the government failed to revoke the decision to start eco-tourism projects in the Muthanga range of Wayanad Wildlife
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Eco tourism faces hurdles enroute
The eco-tourism projects in Chilkur, Vanasthalipuram and Kothaguda, have run in to rough wether following objections raised by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The State through its
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Seminar on devp of eco-tourism
The Department of Business Administration, in association with the Department of Energy of Tezpur University, is organizing a two-day national seminar on 'Sustainable Development of Eco-tourism in
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MOZAMBIQUE
In a bid to revive the Gorongosa natio nal park, one of southern Africa's most valuable parks, British researchers have started work on a us $3 million-project in the war-ravaged country.
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Govt to review khair wood policy
Forest minister J.P. Nadda today said the government would soon review the policy for exporting Khair wood and kuth to help protect the economic interests of the farmers. Presiding over a meeting of senior officers to review the functioning of the Forest Department here he said the government would consider relaxing the restriction on export of Kuth and take effective steps for proper management and exploitation of herbal plants. It would also take a decision regarding the rights of ownership on the trees grown on uncultured land, after considering all related aspects into consideration and in consultation with the Revenue Department. He said steps would be taken to exploit the state's immense potential for eco-tourism to help generate self-employment avenues for unemployed youth. Referring to the plans to deal with the monkey menace, Nadda said the government had decided to set up two primate protection parks and a number of centres for mass sterilisation of the animals, which were not only creating nuisance in towns but also causing extensive damage to crops in villages. He said a sterilisation centre was already operational at Tutukandi in Shimla and two more would be set up at Gopalpur in Kangra district and Tal in Hamirpur district at a cost of Rs 2.6 crore. He said these centres would be made operational within six months and a target had been set up for sterilising 5,000 monkeys in two years at each centre. The forest minister said the primate protection parks would be set up on the lines of Asola wildlife sanctuary in Delhi. One such park would be started next month at Tara Devi near Shimla, whereas, the other would be set up at Jheen in Hamirpur district. He said Rs 1.51 crore would be spent on the construction of each park. Youth were being imparted training for catching monkeys so that they could earn from the government scheme. He said encouraging cultivation of herbal plants on commercial scale could strengthen economy and the effort would be that each family in the local panchayat was associated in the venture. He said the Forest Department would develop plant nurseries in every district depending upon the climatic condition and mater would be discussed with the Ayurveda Department. He said peoples' participation was an important aspect of forest management and asserted that policy decisions should be taken keeping in view the public grievances. He said regular discussions would be held with field the officers for effective implementation of projects. Additional chief secretary, forests, Avay Shukla, gave a detailed account of the activities of the department. He said the policies were framed keeping in view the public interest.
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Sikkim, growing hub of illegal wildlife trade
The World Wildlife Fund today warned that Sikkim might become the next hub of international illegal wildlife through Nathu La border trade. Nathu La trade route is the shortest route to Tibet region of China, which has wooed the wildlife traders, WWF programme officer Dwaipayan Banerjee said highlighting on measures to check such trade through Indo-Nepal and Indo-China border. "If we don't act soon, Sikkim may be listed as the next hotspot of trans-border trade after Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal,' Banerjee said while addressing a gathering of forest officials, tour operators, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and eco-tourism societies here. "We need to realize that wildlife crime is slowly creeping in and take immediate steps to curb it,' State forest department Chief Wildlife Warden N T Bhutia said, adding that there was a need to tighten security near Nathu La border. Sikkim with a geographical area of only 0.2 per cent has 27 per cent of the nation's biodiversity and is listed in the ten most critical centres for bio-diversity and endemism as it shares border with Nepal, Bhutan and Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China.Nathu La border, where trade between Sikkim and TAR had started since 2006, is only 64 km away from here. Dongqingang, the nearest mart in TAR was mere half-an-hour distance from the international border. Conservator of Forests C Lanchungpa informed that medicinal plants of the state were being smuggled across the border in small volumes. "A big consignment of red sandalwood, meant for TAR, had been seized by Sikkim police on November 30 last year,' he said, adding that the State possesses almost 50 per cent of the butterfly species of the whole subcontinent with some being rare and endangered. He further said three French students were caught red-handed on July last year by state wildlife officers while they were catching butterflies and moths from a reserve forest in West Sikkim. "Various enforcement agencies and tour operators along with the locals need to come together to check the menace,' he added.
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Training on bamboo as alternative to wood
Often termed as poor man's timber, bamboo, with its various new applications can well be an alternative housing solution for the earthquake prone areas due to its high tensile strength structurally. Exploring the use of bamboo as an alternative to the rapidly depleting wood resources in housing and other industrial activities, a three-day residential training programme on modern bamboo structures and housing will be organised at Kohra, Kaziranga National Park from March 6 to 8, 2008. The programme is jointly organised by Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre and Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. The programme aims to provide technical know-how on the use of the bamboo technology as a whole, particularly in the housing sector and in varied structural applications. "For the first time a workshop of such magnitude on bamboo technology is being organised in Kaziranga dealing with the new applications of bamboo other than the traditional use,' said the sources in the CBTC. The programme, targeting the civil engineers, architects, consultants, builders, developers contractors, entrepreneurs and NGOs among others, would have partici-pants mainly from North East as well as neighbouring Nepal. The training programme would elaborately deal with the topics including bamboo of NE India, availability and suitability for building construction, the structure of bamboo and its mechanical and engineering properties, durability and preservation of bamboo, code an standards bamboo in building construction, bamboo structures for eco-tourism and earthquake prone areas, introduction to bamboo applications for industrial and housing materials, engineered bamboo products and its usefulness in housing industry, bamboo construction for rural housing and bamboo policies and impact on national and regional developmental issues. In order to tap the abundant bamboo resources of the North East; the North Eastern Council (NEC) launched the North East Regional Bamboo Mission aimed at sustainable development of the bamboo sector. The CBTC, established in 2000 is a registered body under the auspices of the NEC, which is carrying out the mandate of the North East Bamboo Mission since October 2004. The CBTC has now undertaken a wide range of bamboo constructions in and around the NE region both in public and private sectors. On the other hand, the BMTPC is actively involved in developing bamboo-based technologies and promoting those technologies in the bamboo growing areas including the North East.
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Centre allocates Rs 600 cr for tigers in new plan
The Centre-sponsored Project Tiger Scheme has sent out a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to states as part of a new Five Year Plan that has allocated Rs 600 crore for the cause of the tiger. In keeping with the new-found urgency to preserve the dwindling numbers of tigers, the MoU has asked for all progress to be monitored through photo catalogues and videographing. There are 28 tiger reserves in 17 states. "So far, the states have not had any scope for reciprocal commitment in terms of tiger conservation. We have found that conservation of the tiger is a shared responsibility which the states have to commit to through the MoU. After the MoU has been signed, the Centre will release fund for Project Tiger in the new fiscal year in March,' said Rajesh Gopal, member secretary of National Tiger Conservation Authority. In a meeting last week, the Prime Minister had reviewed the new tiger census, and had asked chief ministers to take "personal responsibility' for the tigers in their states. The tiger count is at an all time low with only 1,411 in the wild. "The scheme will be strictly monitored. All activities will have to be catalogued through photos. For some activities, we will ask for videographing for our permanent records. For activities like relocation of tribals from critical tiger habitats, we will have photo cataloguing at every stage,' Gopal stressed. More than 70 per cent of the budgetary allocations have been done for facilitating rehabilitation of tribals and people living in the critical or core tiger habitats. Out of Rs 600 crore, Rs 345 crore has been allocated for deciding inviolate spaces for wildlife and relocation of villagers from reserves within a timeframe, which includes a revised pay package of Rs 10 lakh per family for relocation. While states have to delineate buffer zones, extending up to 10 km from tiger reserves, families living in buffer zones will be involved in eco-tourism. This means that the tiger's critical habitat within the reserves will not be disturbed by the Forest Rights Act. The security net