The Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) has rejected a proposal by the Indian Coast Guard to erect a RADAR installation on Narcondam Island in the Andamans.
The rejection followed a concerted conservation campaign that included scientists, NGOs and members of the public writing to the Minister of Environment & Forests pointing out the fragile nature of the island and the extreme rarity of the endemic Narcondam Hornbill. A few conservationists also took up the issue directly with the ministry.
Conservation India had launched a campaign in June 2012 which helped disseminate the issue prominently in the public domain. Many newspapers, magazines and TV channels publicized the issue.
Conservation India hails the decision of the Ministry of Environment & Forests. We actively encourage readers to send a mail (physical or electronic) to the Minister of Environment & Forests, Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, appreciating the stand she has taken on this extremely important issue, at the address provided below:
Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan
Minister of State for Environment & Forests (Independent Charge)
Chairperson, Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL)
Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India
Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110 003
Fax: +91 11 24362222
Email: mosefgoi@nic.in
The ministry’s office memorandum is attached for download.
CI is a non-profit, non-commercial portal that aims to facilitate wildlife and nature conservation by providing reliable information and the tools needed to campaign effectively.
Older Comments 2
First of all hats off to the commendable efforts of Conservation India team & its campaign to save the Narcondam Hornbills. But for the efforts of you guys, these endangered species would not have got this reprieve. So many congratulations to one and all involved in this campaign.
Now, looking forward to many more such campaigns to save our fragile landscape and the beautiful species living on it.
NARCONDAM OFF RADAR” !!
This will go down as a good case-study of as to how sustained efforts and mass-media camping can help well-footed conservation campaigns.
The entire fight was fought with concrete and logical scientific explanations leaving no loopholes. This made the case watertight and with the constant pressure from media and the netizens we have won this small but significant fight.”
Kudos!!