Biodiversity Earth’s Living Treasure


Book Description

Biodiversity is a vast arena in the sphere of life dealing with many living organisms of botanical and zoological origin and also microbes. Though majority of the research and studies of the biodiversity focus on the macroscopic organisms, but the economic importance of the microbial species present in biosphere cannot be neglected due to its huge importance in ecology as well as pathology. Moreover, air born microbes are also significant as potential pathogens of different diseases. From the beginning of the twenty‐first century, it has become evident that the loss of biodiversity are posing threat, mainly due to loss of forest plants and also extinction of many animals and birds. This also results in the biodiversity loss in a broad sense due to environmental pollution, global warming, human negligence and associated hazards.




Explorations into Sustainable Development with Forest and Biodiversity Conservation


Book Description

Forests being the lungs of planet Earth are the most important ecosystems. They act as carbon sinks and sustain a huge amount of carbon in them. They play an extremely important role for the survival of the living beings on this earth. From human beings to the flora and fauna of the earth’s ecosystem depend on the forests in some way or the other. Forests are the repositories of enormous biodiversity on this planet. They are an adobe to millions of species of animals including human beings, plants and microorganisms. They also give massive ecosystem services to mankind and to all the living beings thriving on this earth. They regulate climate, water cycles and carbon sequestering on this planet. They even provide a livelihood to human beings all over the world. They check global warming on this earth. The parameter of sustainable development is that forest and biodiversity is conserved for the coming generations also. Forests are the most important repositories of terrestrial biological diversity. The diversity of life amongst the living beings and their distinct habitats, the interactions between the various components of the biodiversity makes this planet a habitable place for various life forms. Forest conservation is extremely important for intergenerational equity and the principle of sustainable development paves the way. The forests especially in the domains of forestry and agriculture provide 40% of the world’s economy. This is due to the biological diversity in the forest ecosystems. 70% of the world’s poor populace who live in rural areas is directly dependent on biodiversity for their livelihood. A rough estimate of 60 million indigenous folks are somehow reliant on forests for their daily needs. The Supreme Court of India in Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra v. State of Uttar Pradesh elucidated the importance of ecosystem services as provided by the forests.




Earth Law


Book Description

Earth Law: Emerging Ecocentric Law—A Guide for Practitioners is a book for students and practicing lawyers who seek to preserve a habitable planet and question whether current environmental law is sufficient for the task. Earth law is the emerging body of ecocentric law for protecting, restoring, and stabilizing the functional interdependency of Earth’s life and life-support systems. Earth law may be expressed in constitutional, statutory, common law, and customary law, as well as in treaties and other agreements both public and private. It is a rapidly developing field in many nations, municipalities, Indigenous communities, and international institutions. This course of study is for students and lawyers who know that nature and human environmental rights need to have seats at the table of law—in courts, legislatures, administrative bodies, enforcement agencies, and civil society. Professors and students will benefit from: The first legal coursebook comprehensively addressing ecocentric law and jurisprudence Thorough exploration of critical, rapidly evolving topics such as rights of future generations, atmospheric trust litigation, the public trust doctrine, ecocide, the climate necessity defense, Indigenous legalities, and rights of nature laws in their many forms Expansive examination of the settings in which Earth law is developing and the principles of Earth jurisprudence on which it is based A penetrating critique of environmental law frameworks developed since the 1970s. Practical and theoretical foundations for developing systems of ecological governance and the ethical responsibilities of lawyers, individually and collectively Accumulated knowledge, experience, and perspective of more than 20 authors and editors active in the field Practical tools for the Earth law practitioner’s toolbox




Global Issues


Book Description

Now reorganized and updated throughout, the fifth edition of this well-regarded introductory global issues text continues to reflect the most important aspects of an increasingly globalized world. Reorganized into more accessible chapters better suited to semester-long courses, with new sections covering development, climate change, pollution, and governance The only survey-level text in the field to unite the perspectives of geography, political science, sociology, ecology, international relations, economics, and development studies Moves beyond the international to be truly global in focus, with coverage of topics such as wealth and poverty, population, food, energy, natural resources, and technology Incorporates new case studies and examples, including the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the effects of changing water supply on migration, natural gas fracking, and smart grid technology Offers a dynamic and accessible narrative with many student-friendly features, such as chapter boxes, a glossary of terms, guides to further reading, media and Internet resources Discover up-to-date related news articles for inspiring discussion and research at https://www.facebook.com/GlobalIssuesHiteSeitz.




Soaring Through the Universe


Book Description

Teach the basics of astronomical and space science using lively retellings of traditional folktales and quality children's literature. Reproducible activities and project ideas that meet NSTA standards combine stories and facts with language arts, math, science, art, and music, using the multiple intelligences approach. An extensive bibliography and other resources, such as addresses for Web sites and organizations in the area of astronomy and space science, are included. Grades 3-6 (adaptable to other levels).




Global Issues


Book Description

Extensively revised and updated, the new Fourth Edition of Global Issues: An Introduction offers a unique approach to the most important environmental, economic, social, and political concerns of modern life. Revised and updated to reflect the latest global developments Examines the most important environmental, economic, social, and political concerns of modern life The only book of its kind to use the concept of development to illustrate how different global issues are interrelated Includes a new section on nuclear energy Chapter boxes examine ways that individuals can have a positive impact on the issues examined within the text Key features include a glossary of terms; guides to further reading, media, and Internet resources; and suggestions for discussing and studying the material




Protected Area Management


Book Description

Until recently, values and benefits from protected areas have often been underestimated as well as taken for granted. Protected Area Management - Recent Advances demonstrates that there are deep necessities in how the wider scientific, environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural values that these natural ecosystems provide should increasingly be recognized. The book highlights various approaches for managing and conserving protected areas to respond to some pressing global challenges such as climate change, demand for food and energy, overexploitation, and habitat change. It addresses these issues in five main sections that cover biodiversity and genetic resources; protected marine areas; community, ecotourism, and protected areas; and protected area conservation and monitoring.







Environmental Crime and its Victims


Book Description

Environmental crime is one of the most profitable and fastest growing areas of international criminal activity. These types of crime, however, do not always produce an immediate consequence, and the harm may be diffused. As such, the complexity of victimization - in terms of time, space, impact, and who or what is victimized - is one of the reasons why governments and the enforcement community have trouble in finding suitable and effective responses. This book provides a diverse and provocative array of arguments, critiques and recommendations from leading researchers and scholars in the field of green criminology. The chapters are divided into three main sections: the first part deals with specific characteristics of some of the major types of environmental crime and its perpetrators; the second focuses explicitly on the problem of victimization in cases of environmental crime; and the third addresses the question of how to tackle this problem. Discussing these topics from the point of view of green criminological theory, sociology, law enforcement, community wellbeing, environmental activism and victimology, this book will be of great interest to all those concerned about crime and the environment.




Sacred Groves of Rajasthan


Book Description

Article 10 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) acknowledge the protection and encouragement of customary biological resource use in accordance with traditional cultural practices aompatible with conservation. The approach of this book is to focus on sacred groves- the trackionally protected forest fragments and the past and present researches on this important community resource. The chapters presented in this book widely covers biological, social and economic status of the groves, threats arising out of various anthropogenic activities like overexploitation, developmental and mining activities, and encroachments of various types, and the strategies for their effective management. There are 7 chapters in the book, which initiate with background context and methods of field observation recording, followed by an overview of the sacred places, trees andgroves. The remaining chapters describe status of 123 sacred groves distributed troughout Rajasthan, biological diversity and invasions; soil characteristics and carbon status; livelihood and threats; and people perception and management strategies by accommodating the desire of grove dependent communities and level of participation of the local villagers in protecting and conserving these sacred groves. The ultimate objective of this publication is to equip the readers with wide ranging knowledge about the sacred groves and to promote enhanchent of grove tree cover, resilience and livelihoods of the local population and to improve the evironmental conditions of this degrading ecosystem for local, regional and global benefits. It could be useful to the policy makers, forest managers, non-government, organizations, extension agents, environmentalists as well as researchers and academician, who are involved in developing, conserving and managing community resources in benefits of local people. This book however, will be useful to both poliqy makers and researchers equally and will help in effective plannihg and transferring the knowledge in protecting and conserving the groves and promoting groves, socio-economic and ecological values.