Environment Archives - Independent Indian Publishing House

Environment

/Environment
  • The exhaustive three volume set of the Himalayan Gazetteer covers the historical, geographical and statistical account of the Himalayan districts. The first two volumes contain all matters affecting the entire Himalayan tract in the North-Western Provinces. The third volume gives the topographical, statistical and other local information for each fiscal sub-division and important tract, town or place, in the Kumaon, Garhwal, Terai, Dehra Dun and Jaunsar-Bawar districts.
  • First published in 1964,'Call of the Tiger' by Lt. Col. M.M. Ismail comes at a time when the era of hunting has receded into history, leaving books like it to provide a glimpse of days past. Set in the 1950s, these gripping tales serve as reminder of what the forests of Central India were like when wildlife was more plentiful and widespread that it is today.
  • "Tigers have an inherent habit to move across landscapes. To facilitate such movements, corridors are essential. Lack of corridors connecting landscapes result in fatal human-tiger conflict, where, in most cases, it is the tiger which suffer. It has been proven that tiger population is determined by the carrying capacity of the tiger reserve. These is a great need for the connectivity of smaller population with larger population of tigers for their persistence in the future. The persistence of small population with habitat corridors in a metapopulation framework is the best management option for conservation of tigers in the long term. The population dynamic of tigers thus depends on the quality of good and poor habitats, known as the source and sink dynamics. This book emphasises on the need to evaluate and develop a mitigation strategy for maintaining metapopulation structures of tigers in the priority landscapes. The green infrastructure concept factors the importance of natural environment in land use planning. In the context of tiger landscapes in India, this will encompass a large number of tiger reserves, protected areas, corridors which create a system of 'hubs' and 'links'. The green development in a tiger landscape spreading across multiple jurisdictions. "
  • This book poses a strong case against large dams and how they make way for dangerous earthquake hazards.
  • This is a wholesome analysis of the various dams planned to be built on Narmada, showing the inadvertent loss of livelihood and property.
  • This book is regarded as the Bible on the ecology of forests. It is sure to arrest the attention of not only students studying forestry but lay readers as well.
  • The prime objective of forestry is not only to grow forest stands through to maturity in a healthy state but also to protect wood from biological degradation after conversion and during use. In this integrated approach, the role of a pathologist in forest management and timber utilisation can be appreciated in its proper perspective. Part 1 of this book talks about the general principles. Part 2 deals with the dieases of trees. Part 3 discusses causes, effects and control of microbial degradation of wood.
  • Howard's well known " Forect Pocket Book" provides a 'standard operating procedure' for field employees of the Forest Department towards the successful achievement of their objectives. The contents of the Pocket Book reval a wealth of field experience and painstaking devotion to the subject by the author.
  • In two volumes, this useful book deals with extraction, conversion, and marketing of timber, wood structure and properties of wood, wood improvement and physical and chemical treatment, and derived products of wood. It looks at uses of wood, minor forest products, important minor forest products industries, avoidance of waste and identification of timber.
  • This book is essential to understanding the impact of dams on development. It analyses the costs of the construction of dams like Tehri and their impact on the environment, the feasibility of such projects, their impact on irrigation and power. It highlights the effects of dams on agriculture, the revenue return from power generating and the cost of power. It provides a powerful evaluation of large dams in the context of ecological and sustainable development.
  • "Conservationists might set out with very different objectives: preservation and recovery of rare and threatened species - as with rhinos or bustards, sustaining a steady supply of useful products for human use - as with fisheries, or even eliminating threats to human life of livelihood as in the case of rodent pests or man-eating tigers. None of these objectives, however, can be effectively met without a clear understanding of how wild populations of these species function. The necessary knowledge can come only from the application of rigorous science, which involves sampling, modeling and estimating animal populations. Even with such reliable knowledge in their armory, conservationists must face social challenges in application of this science on the ground and in the policy arenas, in which not everyone may share their goals or values. This volume contains 26 articles by the author written in collaboration with other leading biologists, quantitative ecologists and conservationists. It boldly explores a complex terrain that spans ecological theories to social practices. It is a useful guide for those practicing science-based conservation. "
  • "Speech is what distinguishes man from the apes – or so many scientists believe. Keith Laidler, a young anthropologist, was sceptical. It seemed to him that this was one more way in which man conceitedly over-estimated himself. In defiance of such prejudice, Laidler set about teaching a baby orangutan to talk. For a year and a half Cody was raised in ‘human’ conditions. He wore nappies, slept in a cot with a teddy bear and played games. As Laidler had hoped, Cody’s physical and intellectual development kept pace with - sometimes outstripped - that of a human baby. But how was his teacher to make Cody understand that he wanted him to ‘talk’? Slowly, patiently, Laidler devised ways of getting the young ape to imitate his own movements and sounds. And to his delight, once Cody grasped what was expected of him, his progress was astonishing. Keith Laidler has written a fascinating, funny and moving account of his life with Cody. His ‘experiment’ provided the scientific establishment with controversial new material. But perhaps a more significant outcome was the bond of affection that developed between the man and the young ape as they worked and played together: a bond which all animal-lovers will understand, and which defies all those who doubt the sensitivity of ‘dumb animals’. "
  • This is a well informed book on the several issues surrounding the biodiversity debate across the world. Leading writers have come together in this book to share their thoughts and ideas.
  • This book poses a strong case against large dams and how they make way for dangerous earthquake hazards.
  • This book is the first comprehensive and inter-disciplinary assessment of eucalytpus based afforestation programmes in India from the perspective of ecological stabililty of soil and water systems and the eonomic needs of poor and marginal communities.
  • This book is regarded as the Bible on the ecology of forests. It is sure to arrest the attention of not only students studying forestry but lay readers as well.
  • Howard's well known " Forect Pocket Book" provides a 'standard operating procedure' for field employees of the Forest Department towards the successful achievement of their objectives. The contents of the Pocket Book reval a wealth of field experience and painstaking devotion to the subject by the author.
  • This book is nature writing at its best from the heart of India's forests. Dr. Johnsingh takes the readers across India's national parks and tiger reserves and as the reader takes in the sense and smell of the forest, the author shares his environmental concerns for the area and possible solutions for conservation. Jim Corbett has been a lifelong inspiration for the author and the first section of the book traces Corbett's paths along the forests as they were decades ago. According to John Seidensticker who has written the foreword, "Going for a walk in an Indian forest with Dr. A.J.T. Johnsingh is simply one of the finest experiences you can have in life. There is his good humour. There is the joy in his steps when he is walking in the forest. He walks to live, and lives to walk – and it shows. And you feel good because he is so at home in the forest. He is ever alert; completely aware of all that is going on around him…. Dr. Johnsingh is legendary for his ability to find and see wildlife. Nothing goes unnoticed…  And if you are impressed with his enthusiasm on a walk in the forest, just wait until you go looking for mahseer with him."