Green Options

Chaired by President M. Nasheed, the Government of Maldives recently concluded the world’s first ever underwater cabinet meeting. The small island nation of Maldives will perhaps be the first country to go under water, if predictions based on climate change models come true.

The underwater meeting was called to raise this concern and put pressure on the West to act NOW, and for a fair deal at COP in Copenhagen this December. A day after the event, extensively covered by the media (View on: CNN | BBC), the Government of India has announced the setting up of a National institute for long-term research on climate change.

Today’s elephants are under increasing pressure from habitat loss (due to explosive human population growth), poaching for ivory, and illegal trafficking.

Asian elephants are classified as endangered, and their population is declining. African elephants are considered near threatened, but a resurgence in elephant poaching is taking its toll.

To help raise awareness for these magnificent mammals, here are 12 things you didn’t know about elephants - and a compilation of beautiful photos (with baby elephants who will steal your heart)! Enjoy!

Disturbing details have emerged about the recent death of a rhino in India’s Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary.

Now that a postmortem exam has confirmed that last week’s death of a greater one-horned rhino inside Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary was due to a poacher’s bullet, inexperienced forest guards are suspected of trying to cover up the incident.

As wild tiger populations dwindle, poachers are turning to lions to feed the insatiable Chinese appetite for ‘potions’ made from big cat bones.

Conservationists are sounding the alarm about a disturbing development in the fight to save wildlife from poaching: Lions are being killed as a substitute for tigers so their bones can be sold as Chinese “remedies.”

Despite ongoing efforts to protect Kaziranga’s precious wildlife, poachers have managed to kill a rhino and a leopard inside the park.

Kaziranga park officials were dismayed to discover the carcass of a female rhino with her horn chopped out. She was found in the park’s Bagori range, near the western part of the Dimoli forest camp.

Less than 24 hours earlier, a female leopard’s carcass was found in the Kohora range, near the Mikirjam forest camp.

Ganga, the holiest of holy rivers in the Indian sub-continent is also one of the most polluted rivers in the region. Last year, after much lobbying, Ganga was declared the National River of India owing to its religious as well as environmental significance. However, just that could never have been enough for cleaning a river on which millions of Rupees have already been spent.

Now, the Union Environment Minister of India Mr. Jairam Ramesh, who had previously unveiled the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), has put the NBRBA on a “mission mode” to clean the river by 2020. And his indicator for success is not clear blue waters but the return of the Gangetic dolphins that were once sighted in the river in plenty!

Al Gore and Dr. R.K. Pachauri (IPCC) under the Mahatma’s words!

Today is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi - regarded as ‘Father of the Nation’ by the Republic of India and a ‘Global Peacemaker’ by the United Nations; so much so that this day is also celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence. The Mahatma has also been the inspiration for US President Obama who believes that America has its roots in Gandhi’s India because the teachings he shared with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. helped change U.S. society through the civil rights movement.

Now, with the world facing a climate crisis and already on the crossroads of equity and/in development, it is time to resurrect and revive the Gandhian principles of simple living-high thinking, participatory governance, etc. at the global level.

US has once again made unreasonable demands that developing countries adopt similar emission reduction targets as the rich countries. Such demands are against the Bali (Climate Conference) Action Plan and threaten to derail the climate negotiations.

Scientists and wildlife enthusiasts are excited about seeing bearded vultures in Himachal Pradesh, near the Chinese border.

Now that vultures have tragically become a rare sight in India, seeing nearly 200 of them is a thrilling event - even though bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) are not presently an endangered species.

Still in the mood for International Tiger Day? Enjoy a photo gallery of gorgeous tigers - and 10 fascinating tiger facts.

One day hardly seems like enough for endangered tigers. To celebrate International Tiger Day a bit longer, here is a gallery of gorgeous tiger photos - and ten fascinating tiger facts. Enjoy!

After playing leader in global climate change negotiations, United States is now under pressure to respond to India and China’s announcements of mitigation measures.