In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
The High Court yesterday directed the government to take all kinds of effective steps to protect the Sakhipur reserve forest area in Tangail. Delivering verdict on a writ petition filed on the basis of a report The Daily Star published in June 2011, the court ordered the authorities concerned to …
Pakistan is likely to employ DNA barcodes — a way to identify species to curb illegal wildlife trade as smugglers come up with new techniques to transport endangered species by mislabelling them. The Directorate of Biodiversity at the Ministry of Climate Change said that illegal wildlife trade was on the …
Illegal mining is being carried out in Donkhera village of the district by a firm, which has taken a limited area of the Donkhera hill on lease. Villagers have approached the district authorities to take stern action against the leaseholder. They have also threatened to launch an agitation against the …
Zimbabwe has exported 20 elephants to private game parks in China as part of conservation efforts and amid rising poaching in southern Africa. “The elephants arrived safely in China yesterday” after being flown out of Harare International Airport on Saturday, Environment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said in an interview on Monday. …
PANAJI: If the Goa state pollution control board (GSPCB), while granting 'consent to operate' accepts the recommendation of the technical advisory committee (TAC), then mining companies which have not obtained forest clearances may not be allowed to carry out mining activities in forest areas. TAC has identified around 13 mining …
Illegal stone quarrying continues unabated in Sundargarh district posing environmental hazards and causing loss to the State exchequer. Administrative sources said there are 118 stone quarries in the district. A few of them have lease licence while the rest have been granted permission through auction for one year by the …
Mustang, July 6: The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), Lomanthang has launched a campaign to control poaching of wildlife in the area. Cases of wildlife poaching have reportedly gone up in the area, with six villages in the upper Mustang linked with the road network. Under the first phase of …
ISLAMABAD: Climate Change Minister Mushahidullah Khan on Thursday visited the injured forest officials who were thrashed by timber smugglers in Kallar Syedan forests a few days ago. The minister called for “a nationwide fight against foes of the forests, who are illegally gulping forests for their economic gain without caring …
ORGANISED criminals including dynamite fishermen and poachers have their days numbered as government teams up with European Union and World Bank to contain spiraling environmental crime. Home Affairs Minister, Mathias Chikawe, Fisheries and Livestock Minister, Dr Titus Kamani, World Bank Country Director for Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, Phillipe Dongier and …
U.S. intelligence agencies are considering whether to provide information, analysis and possibly tactical lessons to African governments about how to attack wildlife poaching networks, according to a top official. “We are looking for opportunities” where “we can contribute,” Terrance Ford, the national intelligence manager for Africa in the office of …
Kasane — Chobe District council chairman, Mr Mwanota Kachana, says cross border poaching remains a major concern in the district. Addressing the ongoing full council, Mr Kachana ,said the cross border poaching was not abating though law enforcement agencies in Botswana made concerted efforts. The continuous problem of poaching, he …
With sand mining being a contentious issue in many states, the Centre has said that it will soon unveil a national policy on “sustainable” sand mining. The Centre said that the policy will aim to ensure that the ecology of rivers is maintained, besides curbing instances of flooding. Union minister …
With the mining mafia digging out sand and stone near the pillars of two bridges on the Sutlej, these are in danger of collapsing. A slab of the bridge near Chandpur Bela village built by Sant Labh Singh of Kila Anandgarh has started sinking, and sand around pillars of another …
The onslaught on the World’s rhinoceroses continues despite numerous initiatives aimed at curbing it. When losses due to poaching exceed birth rates, declining rhino populations result. We used previously published estimates and growth rates for black rhinos (2008) and white rhinos (2010) together with known poaching trends at the time …
The Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee (CEC) under the Ministry of Mines has pulled up the governments of Goa, Odisha and Jharkhand for delaying ATRs (action taken reports) on what steps they have taken with regard to the Shah Commission’s findings on rampant illegal mining. CEC sources said the non-compliance by Goa is …
South Africa: SA Troops Amongst Worst Sexual Offenders - UN Report Scientists have extracted elephant DNA from illegal ivory shipments to identify poaching hotspots in Central and East Africa, according to a study published last week. In a paper published in Science on 18 June, a team of researchers led …
U.S. and Chinese officials on Wednesday agreed during high-level talks in Washington to work together to end the "massacre" of wildlife and reduce the flow of illegal wildlife trafficking, a senior U.S. official said. The talks are significant because the United States and China are among the largest markets for …
A biotech firm has managed to 3D print fake rhino horns as part of a bid to curb poaching. Pembient, a startup based in San Francisco, plans to flood the Chinese market with the synthetic horns which carry the same genetic fingerprint as the real thing. The firm uses keratin …
A large quantity of sand is being illegally mined from the fringes of Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) and the forest department officials are having a tough time stopping the illicit activity. Since last month, the BNP officials have been busy seizing lorries on Bannerghatta Road and holding them at the …
More than 400 illegally set saw mills in Sylhet region have been running their trade due to absence of proper monitoring by the lawmen as well as by the Forest Department. Almost all these are fully dependent on the logs, felled by miscreants from the government-owned forests and smuggled timbers, …
