Huarango nearing extinction...

Today I am going to tell you the importance of a Keystone species. What is a Keystone species? Just like the keystone in an arch, without this species in an ecosystem there will be a dramatic change or shift. Its size whether it is too small or too big doesn’t matter.

The desert ecosystem in Peru was once rich with Huarango (Prosopis pallida) a leguminous hardwood that has played a fundamental role in local livelihoods for at least 5,000 years. Environmental scientists around the world consider this tree as a ‘wonder in desert’. These trees help to retain the atmospheric moisture and enhance the soil fertility of that area through nitrogen fixation.

Now this keystone species is facing vigorous deforestation. The wood of this tree is used as a very good source of charcoal production. One Kilogram of charcoal made from this tree cost around one dollar. It is very easy for the people to cut down the huge trunks of trees, but once this species is lost, this will be a huge loss for the whole world.
Click here for a BBC news.
Prepared by: Dr. Akhila S. Nair

Back from the frozen days

EcoMagazine and Viewspaper is Back from long hybernation. Now all dear readers of this blog can expect live action on this blog. Wait for an active blogging here, from tonight onwards.

Save Vaduthala Campaign Petition

Save Vaduthala Campaign Petition

Knowledge Management idea awaits Kalam

Former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who has shown an exemplary model of returning to his passionate academic profession on the very day of retiring from the nation's highest post, will soon receive a note on a thoroughly innovative scientific concept. Dr. Kalam's glorious image also owes to his persistent desire to use the science and technology for the benefit of the deprived lots of villages, chiefly the peasants.
The outcome of a dialogue held at the Environmental Sciences Department (ESD) of University of Kerala on Knowledge Management, a groundbreaking idea towards natural resources management, will be forwarded to Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The meeting held on 23rd July on the adoptability of the new idea, 'Knowledge Management' (KM) for natural resources management was well attended by eminent academicians, researchers and students of the ESD. The idea envisages finding, selecting, sorting and using of information for solving problems pertaining to natural resources management of different localities.
KM is supposed to usher in a new era of using IT, the so called elite's privilege, for the benefit of the natural resources management through the rural stretches. To Dr. Kalam, who has etched a glorious episode of being the people's President, the idea of KM has every reason to be a matter of delight.
Once launched, KM will be of great use in enhancing the effectiveness of ongoing popular projects including Rural Watershed Management, Integrated Rural Development, and Eco-friendly agricultural system.
Chief architects of this groundbreaking model are Head, ESD, Dr. V. Sobha, Professor of the Indian Institute of Information Technology Kerala (IIITK), Dr. C.S.P. Iyer and Assistant Professor of IIITK, Dr. R. Jaysankar. During the classroom meeting, Director of IIITK, Dr. K.R. Srivatsan gave an overview on the new Knowledge Management.

Apathetic men and gracious trees...

After reading our post Mango now a green tale, a reader was kind enough to comment the following. Between the poles, the apathy towards trees has got a strong grip, the comment hints.

I can't believe that anyone who had a place to plant a mango would choose to do without it! In the north-central regions of North America, we import mangos from all over the world - they are not part of our traditional culture, but we have been fortunate to have immigrants bring us these fruits - the first time I saw a mango tree I had traveled for a day to Costa Rica - they lie on the ground like apples and plums do, here in Minnesota.

Here, we have a problem with people cutting down and burning orchards of apples and plums, peaches and pears -- for huge poorly build but expensive houses, for golf courses, for parking lots, for no reason other than they do not know how to care for the tree or how to hire someone who knows. Instead, we plant ornamental trees that are not well-suited to this climate.It seems that false sophistication and plain ignorance are not the sole property of any one culture or locale.

Tell your children to plant a mango tree - because some child in North America would give an apple to be able to have all the mangos she wanted.... - Elizabth