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Peter Smetacek

Peter Smetacek

Author

The author founded the Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal and specializes in butterflies and moths, which he uses as bio-indicators to assess the health of forests and groundwater.

By Peter Smetacek

Nainital is a mess. How many disasters can Uttarakhand bear?

No contingency plans are in place for such an event.

...Full Story

Who is setting India's forests on fire every year?

A few years more of forest fires can ensure that whatever small patches of forest are left will vanish.

...Full Story

Why India is terrible at getting the names of flora and fauna right

There is no governing body for monitoring common names.

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How poor reference collections hinder India's conservation efforts

They haven't been taxonomically updated since Independence.

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Why India is 70 years behind in understanding its butterflies

What, one would like to know, were the criteria used to decide which species needed protection?

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Did a ban on hunting help India's wildlife and forests thrive, or ruin them?

It is high time provisions of Wildlife Protection Act are reviewed to extend genuine preservation to wildlife other than tigers.

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How faulty government policies ruined farmers and made our cities unbreathable

Environmental refugees have swelled the urban populations to levels well beyond anything existing infrastructure can handle.

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Nainital lake is in danger

The water level dropped alarmingly this year despite normal rainfall.

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Why fires are continuing to ravage Uttarakhand forests

Unless the state pursues a model of zero tolerance towards the crisis, it may end in water wars.

...Full Story

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