Leonardo DiCaprio praises Chester Zoo that helped the golden skiffa fish from going extinct

48-year old Leonardo DiCaprio heaped praises on Chester Zoo for preventing the golden skiffa from going extinct. Its native habitat is in Mexico and the Teuchitlan River in central-western Mexico was its only known home. These fish have not been sighted there since the 1990s. The concerted efforts of experts from Chester Zoo and Michoacan University of Mexico helped bring the species back from the dead. The zoo and the University undertook a conservation-breeding program and released 1,200 golden skiffas back into their native river. They chose the date of release to coincide with Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico. Leonardo DiCaprio went to Instagram, a social media outlet, to praise Chester Zoo for its wonderful work. They helped to reintroduce a near-extinct species of fish to its native habitat in Mexico. DiCaprio, the Hollywood actor, describes himself as an environmentalist. He has been vocal on key climate summits, including the signing of the Paris climate agreement in 2016. Leonardo DiCaprio praises Chester Zoo for helping bring golden skiffa fish 'back from the dead'. The team at Chester was delighted with the endorsement and replied: "Thank you for sharing this incredible story!"

There are many reasons for the species of fish to face near extinction. Most of these are manmade – like construction of dam, extraction of water, pollution and an invasive species in their river. Paul Bamford is the regional programme manager for Latin America at Chester Zoo. He said - "This project is a great example of how zoos can contribute to conservation in the field through conservation breeding and research. By supporting freshwater conservation in Mexico and the ecosystems where the fish live, we're not only protecting biodiversity and the wellbeing of freshwater environments, but also the people and communities that live alongside them." Omar Dominguez-Dominguez is a professor and researcher from the Michoacan University of Mexico. He is leading the golden skiffia reintroduction. In his words - "Releasing the golden skiffia at this time is a metaphor for how the species has come back from the dead to return to its home, not for one night, but forever.” He adds that “universities, zoos and aquarists can come together to fix some of what has been destroyed and return to nature some of what has been lost is an amazing thing."

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Unchecked prawn farming a threat to the Chilika lagoon in Odisha

Chilika lagoon in Odisha is the largest brackish water lake of Asia and it is faced with heavy silting and unchecked prawn farming which are posing a serious threat to this lagoon. It is believed that the prawn culture is a major factor that has given rise to the silt load of the lake and is, in turn, adversely impacting its bio-diversity.
There are fears that the silting could lead to the shrinkage of the lake area - this fluctuates between 1,165sqkm and 906sqkm. The net result could be that the lake would become shallow.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 26 February 2017.

In the opinion of environmentalists the combined effect of prawn culture and the growing silt load would have an adverse impact on the salinity level and affect its flora and fauna - part of this is food for local and migratory birds. The catchment area of Chilika covers parts of Khurda, Puri and Ganjam districts and has a rock, sand and mud substratum. It also has a wide range of sedimentary particles like clay, silt, sand and gravel and silt is more.
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Restore the 75-Km long Adi Ganga that runs from the Hooghly to the Bay of Bengal

The National Green Tribunal wants that the 75-Km long Adi Ganga that runs from the Hooghly to the Bay of Bengal be restored. It has sought reports from three central departments on the condition of the strip of water known as Adi Ganga and how it can by restored.
The three departments are the National Ganga River Basin Authority, Ganga rejuvenation ministry and the environment, forest and climate change ministry and the NGT wants that they submit their reports by January 27.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 20 December 2016.

This unique body of water used to be a key transport link in the city and large parts of South 24-Parganas. But, over a period of time, it has disappeared in places like Garia, Rajpur, Sonarpur because houses, fuel pumps and other structures have come up on what was once the course of the waterway.
In 1998, the state government had indicated in a report to the high court that 40,000 people had been living in shanties set up by encroaching on the banks of the channel. There were as many as 7,851 illegal structures identified along a 15.5-km stretch of the waterway (from Hastings to Garia) - it included 90 temples, 69 godowns and 12 cattle sheds.
In addition, environmentalists feel that the construction of 300-odd pillars along the middle of Adi Ganga to support the Metro Railway viaduct from Tollygunge to Garia has further ruined the channel. NGT is of the opinion that, the ancient waterway can be restored if all the concerned agencies of the central and the state government took an "active interest" in the matter.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Needless to say that climate change is wreaking havoc all over the world and Antarctica is no exception.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 30 June 2016.

Adelie Penguin is one of the two natives of Antarctic penguins and the other is the emperor penguin but Adelie penguins inhibit the full extent of the continent. In the opinion of environmentalists, climate change will hamper the two crucial and primary pathways of these penguins namely, the quality and availability of food and nesting habits.
As a result of climate change and global warming, the warm sea temperature will destroy most of the fish populations and krills which is a vital diet of Adelie penguins. The hardest hit colonies may be in the West Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding islands, which have already witnessed declining penguin populations.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Global warming could lead to extinction of one in six species on Planet Earth

#environmentalists #globalwarming #climatechange Environmentalists have cautioned that unless efforts are taken to stop global warming, our planet Earth could lose one in six species. This has been indicated by Dr Mark Urban, of the University of Connecticut in the US. In his opinion, risks of extinction from climate change would not only be on the rise but could also accelerate for every degree rise in global temperatures.
He has warned that the signal of climate change-induced extinctions will become prominent unless we humans do not take immediate action to limit future climate change.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 1 May 2015.

He has remarked that if current levels of global warming continue, raising Earth's temperature by 4C, nearly 16% of species could be at risk because loss of species has close links with climate change. The effects would be felt in countries like South America, Australia, New Zealand, and even North America and Europe.
The tentative %-age wise breakup is 23% in South America, 14% in Australia and New Zealand and 6% in Europe and 5% in North America.
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This has been revealed in dailymail.co.uk dated 6 April 2015.
In one of the latest studies scientists have calculated that the total vegetation on the planet has increased substantially between 2003 and 2012. It is a fact that tropical jungles are still disappearing being felled for timber and to make way for cattle pasture, the tree growth in other places has compensated and outstripped the loss.

The area of ground covered by plants has increased in Russia, China, Australia and Africa, leading to a net gain in vegetation cover. Some of this is a result of deliberate conservation like huge tree-planting campaign by the Chinese.
In other places, it was attributable to high rainfalls that resulted in faster growth of shrubs and grasses on the plains of Africa, northern Australia and South America.
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The study was carried out by an Australian team and they have found that the ‘greening effect’ has been so substantial that the world’s trees and plants are storing 4billion more tonnes of carbon than they were a decade before.
The results have been compiled by scientists after analyzing 20 years of satellite data and the findings have come after decades of warnings about environmental catastrophe being caused by deforestation.
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