INDIAN JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATIONcpreec.org/indianJournal-vol.9April2009.pdf · C.P.R....

Volume 9, April 2009 1

V O L U M E 9, A P R I L 2 0 0 9

C.P.R. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTREC.P.R. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTREC.P.R. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTREC.P.R. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTREC.P.R. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTREThe C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation,The C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation,The C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation,The C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation,The C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation,

1, Eldams Road, Alwarpet, Chennai - 600018.1, Eldams Road, Alwarpet, Chennai - 600018.1, Eldams Road, Alwarpet, Chennai - 600018.1, Eldams Road, Alwarpet, Chennai - 600018.1, Eldams Road, Alwarpet, Chennai - 600018.

INDIANJOURNAL

OFENVIRONMENTAL

EDUCATION

2 Volume 9, April 2009

EDITOR

Dr. Nanditha C. Krishna

Director, C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre, Chennai.

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

Dr. P.J. Sanjeeva Raj

Consultant Ecologist, Plot No.17/1724, 21st Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai - 600 040.

Dr. D. Narasimhan

Selection Grade Lecturer, Centre for Floristic Studies, Department of Botany,Madras Christian College, Tambaram East, Chennai - 600 059.

Dr. Erach Bharucha

Director, Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education & Research, Pune.

Indian Journal of Environmental Education is published bi-annually by

C.P.R. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTREThe C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation,

1, Eldams Road, Alwarpet, Chennai - 600018.Phone: 24346526 / 24337023 Fax: 91-44-24320756

E.mail: [email protected]: www.cpreec.org / www.ecoheritage.cpreec.org


ContentsBiodiversity Restoration in Brackishwaters........................................................................5

P.J. Sanjeeva Raj

Student-Teachers’ Environmental Awareness and Attitude towards Local EnvironmentalIssues..................................……........................................................................................8

V.K. Ushadevi and R. Dhanya

Key Management Issues of Forest - Invasive Species in India.....…..................................16

Anita Srivastava and Renu Singh

Studies on Environmental Awareness in School Students from Aurangabad City.............25

G.B. Rakh, D.D. Khamkar, A.M.Late, A.S.Dhapate and M.B.Mule


Biodiversity Restoration in BrackishwatersPPPPP.J.J.J.J.J..... S S S S Sanjeanjeanjeanjeanjeeeeeevvvvva Ra Ra Ra Ra Raj*aj*aj*aj*aj*

*Consultant Ecologist, Email : [email protected]

Introduction

Coastal Ecological Heritages

Our coastal (inshore) waters are beingdegraded by industrial and sewagepollution and by beach-erosions. They arealso depleted of their biodiversity byindiscriminate bottom-trawling. Similarly,our brackishwaters in estuaries, lagoonsand backwaters are not only getting siltedup but are also getting degenerated as‘septic tanks’ due to industrial, agriculturaland sewage pollution and eutrophication.These ecological heritages and theirvaluable biodiversity are to be preservedfor our posterity. Unfortunately, we haveno legislation to protect our aquaticbiodiversity (Sanjeeva Raj, 1995).

Degrading Pulicat Lake

Pulicat Lake has been fast shrinking bothin its water spread area as well as in itsdepth, chiefly due to the massive monsoon

siltation, at a rate of one metre per century(Caratini, 1994). Such a siltation buriesall benthic (bottom) vegetation and othersuitable substrata and all its richbiodiversity. Added to this, the richbiodiversity of this lake (Chacko et al.,1953; Sanjeeva Raj, 2006) has beensubjected to mass-mortality due to thepollution from the North Chennai ThermalPower Station (Sanjeeva Raj, 1999 and2000), aquacultural (Sanjeeva Raj, 1993)and the recent jellyfish and seafoodprocessing in the lake.

Experiments to restore biodiversity

How can we restore the vanishingbiodiversity of the Pulicat Lake? This wasa WWF (India)-funded project, during 1997to 1998, (Sanjeeva Raj et al., 2002).

Habitat restoration: It is well known thathabitat restoration would automaticallylead to species or biodiversity restoration.In a shallow aquatic ecosystem, the key-

ABSTRACT

Keystone species like the Edible Oyster can be attracted to settle

experimentally on hard substrata like roof-tiles in batteries, as an artificial fish

(biodiversity) habitats. These keystone species have attracted 83 other species of

biodiversity, including 39 species of fish, thus serving in eco as well as biodiversity

restoration in the degrading Pulicat Lake.

Keywords : Keystone species, Tile-batteries, Artificial Biodiversity Habitats,

Eco-restoration, Biodiversity restoration.


habitat is perhaps the bottom (benthic)habitat. Therefore, if benthic habitats areconserved or promoted, food-chains andbiodiversity, at all levels in an aquaticecosystem, would be automatically builtup.

Keystone species: In order to restore thedeclining biodiversity in any ecosystem,the first exercise is to identify localkeystone species. Because, once thekeystone species are restored, amazinglyrich biodiversity would also be restored,and in quick succession. Keystone speciesin any ecosystem can be identified throughan- year-round study of the biodiversityaggregation or colonisation at each localspecies of vegetation (flora) and animals(fauna), so as to choose the species thatharbours the largest number of co-inhabitant species, from the sameecosystem.

Edible oyster, the keystone species:Nearly 35 years of our ecological andbiodiversity research studies on the PulicatLake (Joel and Sanjeeva Raj, 1981.,Thangavelu and Sanjeeva Raj, 1988) haveindicated to us that the edible oyster,Crassostrea madrasensis (Preston) isperhaps the keystone species in the PulicatLake. This edible oyster, native to India (notan exotic) was first introduced into thePulicat Lake by the Fisheries Departmentof the erstwhile Madras Presidency(Hornell, 1908). It flourished in the lakeas extensive oyster-beds, which have evenbeen serving as ‘fish-aggregating devices’(FADs), from where local tribals have beengetting good catches of fish, using cast-nets.

Destruction of keystone species:However, since the recent 30 years, notonly monsoon siltation has been buryingall oyster-beds, but also the clandestinetrade in oyster-shells for baking them intolime, has resulted in the decimation of this

keystone species, along with all itsassociate biodiversity and fisheries.

Hypothesis: Therefore, it has become clearto us that if the declining benthicbiodiversity and fisheries in the PulicatLake are to be restored experimentally,restoration of oyster-beds is a pre-requisite.

Experimental methodology

Edible oyster needs hard substrata to settleon, but siltation buries all such hardsubstrata in the lake. To provide such hardsubstrata or artificial habitats, locallyavailable and cheap country-tiles fromdilapidated houses were procured.

‘Tile-batteries”: Five tiers of such tiles,two in a tier, each tier at right angles tothe adjacent tier, were tied tightly with acoir rope, to make up a ‘tile-battery’. Itserves as an artificial fish (Biodiversity)habitat (ABH).

“Protected area”: 100 such ‘tile-batteries’were placed in different designs, to makeup what we call a ‘protected area’. 16 such‘protected areas’ were identified all over thelake, to represent different habitats.

Such ‘tile-batteries’ which are about 15inches in height would overcome theproblem of siltation at the bottom. Also,they would not be easily washed away bythe monsoon floods.

Results

Within a month of deploying such artificialhabitats in the lake, the first settlers onthem were the barnacles, followed by theoyster-spat (young ones). Within eightmonths these oysters grew to a large size.

By then, about 44 species of otherorganisms were attracted to these oyster-settlements, and about 39 species of fishand totally 83 species were found to beattracted to these artificial habitats, of


which 15 species of fish were common andwhich fishermen started fishing.

Interestingly, two species of polychaeteworms, not recorded earlier from this lake,were also attracted to these oyster-beds.

From such restoration sites, both oystersas well as their associate biodiversitystarted breeding and spreading to thenearby suitable spots in the lake.

People’s participation

Local fisherfolk’s participation in suchbiodiversity restoration experiments wasfound to be absolutely necessary for thesuccess of such experiments. It is not onlyby way of their unanimous consent forexperimenting in their traditional fishinggrounds, but also, the necessity for theirenthusiastic participation in awarenesseducation, co-operation in deploying theartificial habitats and in the protection ofsuch experiments, and above all, in thefuture replication of such models, all bythemselves.

Recommendations

This appropriate technology of the ‘PulicatModel’ for biodiversity restoration inbrackishwaters, could be evolved into a‘people’s technology’ to spread it to allbrackish waters in India, particularly toour nearby Adyar estuary, Pallikaraniswamp and the Kovalam backwaters,which are all totally degraded, today.

The only constraint is that since oyster-shells are sharp-edged, fisherfolk arehesitant to spread oysters, lest their netsand bare-feet get cut. However, oyster-bedscould be restricted to shallow, non-fishingregions of any brackish water body.

References

1. Caratini, C. 1994. Pulicat: A FourCentury Story. The Hindu, Sunday,October 9, p.lI.

2. Chacko, P.I., J.G. Abraham and R.Andal. 1953. Report on a Survey of theFlora, Fauna and Fisheries of the PulicatLake, Madras State, India, 1951-52.Freshwater Fisheries Biological Station,Madras, No.8 of 1953.

3. Hornell, J. 1908. Report on thesuitability of Pulicat Lake for OysterCulture. Madras Fish, Investigations, Bull.No.4, pp.1-23.

4. Joel, D. and P.J. Sanjeeva Raj, 1981.Epizoic Fauna of some Portunid Crabs ofthe Pulicat Lake. J. mar. biol. Ass. India.,23 (1 & 2) : 173-180.

5. Sanjeeva Raj, P.J. 1993. SustainableDevelopment of Pulicat Lake, India. SocialAction, 43(2) : 225-234.

6. .................. 1995. A Legislationto Protect the Biodiversity of AquaticEcosystems in India in EnvironmentalLaw : Policy and Perspectives.Ed. P. Nagabooshanam. Centre forResearch on New International EconomicOrder, Madras -600 006, pp.l09-116.

7. .................. 1999. North of Chennai,India: Developmental Impacts on CoastalEcosystems. The Indian GeographicalJournal, 74(1) : 1-11.

8. .................. 2000. The Slaughter ofPulicat’s Fish. Madras Musings, X(6):1 & 7.

9. .................... 2006. Macro Fauna ofPulicat Lake. National BiodiversityAuthority, Chennai, India, 58-67.

10. Sanjeeva Raj, P.J., J. Logamanya Tilakand G. Kalaimani, 2002. Experiments inRestoration of Benthic Biodiversity inPulicat Lake, South India. J. mar. biol. Ass.India, 44 (1 & 2): 37-45.

11. Thangavelu, R. and P.J. Sanjeeva Raj.1988. Boring and Fouling Organisms of theEdible Oyster, ‘Crassostrea madrasensis(Preston) from the Pulicat Lake, SouthIndia. J. mar. biol. Ass. India, 30 (1 & 2):47-53.


Student-Teachers’ Environmental Awarenessand Attitude towards Local Environmental Issues

VVVVV.K..K..K..K..K. U U U U Ushashashashashadddddeeeeevvvvvi* i* i* i* i* and R. R. R. R. R. Dhan Dhan Dhan Dhan Dhanyyyyyaaaaa

∗ Lecturer (Sl. Grade), N.S.S. Training College, Ottapalam, Kerala.

ABSTRACT

Teacher preparation assumes greater significance as teachers, with the right

attitude and will to equip the future generation moulded during this period. In the

present study the investigators highlight the need to understand one’s immediate

surroundings and the right attitude to preserve our local environmental resources at all

costs. The study was conducted on 814 student-teachers at secondary level belonging

to eleven teacher education colleges in the district of Palakkad, Kerala, selected by

stratified sampling technique, using Environmental Awareness Test and Scale of Attitude

towards Local Environmental issues developed and standardized for the purpose.

Pearson’s Product Moment co-efficient of correlation, One-way Analysis of variance

and Mean comparison for large independent samples were worked out. Results showed

that student-teachers with high level of Environmental Awareness have more favourable

attitude towards local environmental issues. Environmental Awareness has significant

effect on student-teachers’ attitude towards local environmental issues. Gender

differences are not significant whereas differences in subject of specialization are

significant in the case of the two variables. There is significant difference due to locale

of residence only in the case of the variable Environmental Awareness. Implications

point out to the urgency of strengthening Environmental Awareness in student-teachers

and more in depth case studies on environmental issues at local level should be carried

out towards this purpose.

Keywords : Student-teachers, Environmental awareness, Local environmentalissues, Statistical analysis.

Introduction

Man is only one of the millions of speciesexisting on earth. At the same time, man isexploiting nature to the extent that nobodywill escape from the harm caused out of thegreedy grabbling. Human demands arenever ending. The continuing depletion ofnatural resources, deforestation, extinctionof many plants and animals species, rise inglobal temperature, environmental pollution

and thinning of life-saving ozone layer arefew examples of environmental degradation.It is estimated that by the year of 2050 globalwarming due to climatic changes will cause150 million environmental refugees, and thedeveloping countries are more prone to thesesevere environmental hazards. It hasseriously been felt that multifacetedapproach to solve environmental problemsat the international, national, state and locallevel is the need of the hour.


The UNESCO-UNEP InternationalEnvironmental Education Programme hasemphatically pointed out that to improve theeffectiveness of Environmental EducationTeacher Preparation is be ranked as “thepriority of priorities”. UGC has reconstructedthe Teacher Education Programmes inUniversities by including EnvironmentalEducation in the curricula for TeacherEducation. The major aim of theseeducational programmes is to providescientific knowledge and insight into the realnature, scope, importance and conceptualclarification of the issues involved, toprospective teachers and teacher educators,and developing skills to impart properEnvironmental Education to school studentsin a natural but comprehensive way. Astrong Environmental Education systemwhich has its footings on environmentalpedagogy is what is required at present atall levels of education. Teachers with theright attitude and will to equip the futuregenerations to enable them imbibe thevirtues of Sustainable Development are totake the lead.

Trained and untrained student-teachers atvarious levels do not differ in theirenvironmental attitude (Shahnawaj, 1990,Praharaj, 1991) which is contradictory to thefindings of Jaus (1978). Gender differencesin Environmental Awareness and in attitudetowards Environmental Education have beenreported in many studies such as Ballanlyneand Hooby (1995), Gardos et al (1997),Tymys (2000)and gender and localedifferences in Environmental Attitude havebeen reported in school children as perAbraham & Arjunan (2005). Attitudetowards Local Environmental Issues havenot been explored much. Therefore, thepresent study has been undertaken.

Objectives

The objectives set for the study are thefollowing:-

❖ To estimate the extent of relationshipbetween Environmental Awareness andAttitude towards Local Environmental Issuesamong student-teachers at secondary level.

❖ To test for the effect of EnvironmentalAwareness on Attitude towards LocalEnvironmental Issues.

❖ To test for differences if any, inEnvironmental Awareness among student-teachers at secondary level based on Gender,Locale of residence and Subject ofspecialization.

❖ To test for differences if any, in Attitudetowards Local Environmental Issues amongstudent-teachers at secondary level basedon Gender, Locale of residence and Subjectof specialization.

Hypotheses

The hypotheses formulated for the study are;

❖ The relationship between EnvironmentalAwareness and Attitude towards LocalEnvironmental Issues of student-teacherswill be positive and significant.

❖ The effect of Environmental Awareness onAttitude towards Local Environmental Issuesof student-teachers will be significant.

❖ Significant difference exists inEnvironmental Awareness among student-teachers at secondary level based on Gender,Locale of residence and Subject ofspecialization.

❖ Significant difference exists in Attitudetowards Local Environmental Issues amongstudent-teachers at secondary level basedon Gender, Locale of residence and Subjectof specialization.


Methodology

The method used for the study was surveyand the type of sampling followed wasstratified sampling. Data were collected from814 student-teachers at secondary level fromeleven teacher education colleges ofPalakkad district giving due representationto Gender, Locale of residence and Subjectof specialization. The tools used wereEnvironmental Awareness Test (Ushadevi&Dhanya, 2008) and Scale of Attitudetowards Local Environmental Issues(Ushadevi & Dhanya, 2008).

The relationship between EnvironmentalAwareness and Attitude towards LocalEnvironmental Issues was estimated usingPearson’s Product Moment Coefficient ofCorrelation and its significance was testedby means of Fisher’s ‘t’ test. One-wayAnalysis of Variance was carried out to findout the effect of Environmental Awarenesson Attitude towards Local EnvironmentalIssues. Two tailed test of significance ofmean difference was carried out to find outwhether significant difference in Gender,Locale of residence and Subject ofspecialization exists in the case of the twovariables.

The details of the coefficient of correlationbetween the variables EnvironmentalAwareness and Attitude towards LocalEnvironmental issues for the total sampleare summarized in Table 1.

TABLE 1Data and Results of the Correlation Analysis for the Total Sample

Variables Sample Sample Coefficient Confidence Percentage Category size No of S.Er interval CI overlap

correlation (95%) r Lower Upper

limit limit

Env.A.A. L.E.I Total 814 0.283** 0.032 0.223 0.346 8.009 sample

** indicates ‘r’ significant 0.01 level.

The coefficient of correlation for the totalsample is 0.283 (N=814). When tested forsignificance by Fisher’s ‘t’ test, the ‘r’ value isfound to be significant beyond 0.01 level ofsignificance. The relationship is positivesuggesting that an increase or decrease inEnvironmental Awareness will be followed bya corresponding increase or decrease inAttitude towards Local Environmental Issues.

The shared variance shows the percentage ofoverlap of variance of EnvironmentalAwareness and Attitude towards LocalEnvironmental Issues and it is 8.009. Thatis, 8.009 percent of the variation in Attitudetowards Local Environmental Issues is due tothe variation in Environmental Awareness.

The 95 percent confidence interval (0.95 CI)is [0.223 to 0.346] suggesting the limits withinwhich the ‘r’ value of the population lies, theprobability being 0.95. Thus, results on theestimation of relationship between the twovariables reveal that there exists significant,positive relationship between the variables.

814 student-teachers were classified into threegroups viz, High Environmental Awareness;Average Environmental Awareness; and LowEnvironmental Awareness groups using thescore cutoffs from the mean. The means andstandard deviations of the variable Attitudetowards Local Environmental Issues for thethree Environmental Awareness groups wereworked out and compared using one-wayAnalyst of Variance. Data and results of thecomparison are given in Table 2.


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The F value obtained is 29.884 (for 2,811d.f) indicating significant effect of the variableEnvironmental Awareness on Attitudetowards Local Environmental Issues. Thedetails of the follow-up test by means of two-tailed test of significance of differencebetween means for large independentsamples are presented in Table 3.

The pair-wise comparison of the three grouppairs shows that there is significantdifference in Attitude towards LocalEnvironmental Issues among all the threegroups based on Environmental Awareness.

Two tailed test of significance of meandifference was used to compare theEnvironmental Awareness of male andfemale student teachers, rural and urbansubjects and subjects belonging to languageand arts group and science group. Thedetails are presented in Table 4.

The results indicate that there is nosignificant gender difference inEnvironmental Awareness whereas thedifference between rural and urban subjectsis found to be significant and the differencebetween language and arts group andscience group is found to be highlysignificant.

The details of the mean comparison in thecase of the variable Attitude towards LocalEnvironmental Issues has been presentedin Table 5.

The results of the two-tailed test ofsignificance of difference between meansshow that there is no significant gender andlocale difference in Attitude towards LocalEnvironmental Issues of the studentteachers but the difference is significant inthe case of student teachers belonging todifferent subjects of specialization.

TABLE 3Data and Results of the Mean Comparison

of scores of Attitude towards Local Environmental Issuesbetween High-, Average-, and, Low Environmental Awareness groups

Sl. No. Test groups Sample Mean Standard Critical Size (N) Deviation Ratio

1. High Environmental Awareness 160 151.350 17.952 group Vs 7.844** Low Environmental Awareness 168 166.000 15.743 group

2. High Environmental Awareness 160 151.350 17.952 group Vs 5.160** Average Environmental 486 158.530 17.367 Awareness group

3. Average Environmental 486 158.530 17.367 Awareness group Vs 4.424** Low Environmental Awareness 168 166.000 15.743 group

** indicates difference in the mean scores significance at 0.01 level.


Findings

The major findings of the study are:

❖ Significant positive relationship existsbetween Environmental Awareness andAttitude towards Local Environmental Issuesof student-teachers.

[r=0.283, t=8.409, p<0.01]

❖ Environmental Awareness is a variablethat affects Attitude towards LocalEnvironmental Issues of student-teachers.

[CR, F = 29.884 for (2,811) d.f., p <0.001]

❖ The student-teachers with High; Average;and Low Environmental Awareness differ

significantly in their Attitude towards LocalEnvironmental Issues.

High vs. Low [CR, t=7.844, p<0.01];

High vs. Average [CR, t=5.160, p<0.01];

Average vs. Low [CR, t = 4.424, p<0.01]Group.

❖ No significant gender difference existsamong student-teachers in the case ofEnvironmental Awareness and in the caseof Attitude towards Local EnvironmentalIssues.

Environmental Awareness [CR, t=1.318,p>0.01],

Attitude towards Local EnvironmentalIssues [CR, t=0.102, p>0.01]

TABLE 4Data and Results of the Test of Significance of Difference

in the Mean Scores of Environmental Awareness basedon Gender, Locale of Residence and Subject of specialization

Sl. Classificatory Sample Total Mean Standard Standard CriticalNo. Variables Number Deviation Error of Ratio

(N) Mean

1. Gender Male 45 21.600 5.990 0.890

Female 769 20.390 5.860 0.210 1.318NS

2. Locale of Rural 679 20.68 6.07 0.22Residence Subjects

Urban 135 19.34 17.84 0.52 2.359*

Subjects

3. Subject of Arts & 500 19.830 5.730 0.260Specialization Language

group 3.859**

Science 314 21.460 5.950 0.340group

** indicates difference in mean scores significant at 0.01 level.* indicates difference in the mean scores Significant at 0.05 level.NS indicates Non-Significance of mean difference


❖ Rural and urban subjects differsignificantly in Environmental Awarenessbut there is no significant differencebetween rural and urban subjects inAttitude towards Local EnvironmentalIssues.

Environmental Awareness [CR, t=2.359,p<0.01]

Attitude towards Local EnvironmentalIssues [CR, t=1.893, p>0.01]

❖ Student-teachers belonging to language

and arts group differ significantly in

Environmental Awareness and in Attitude

towards Local Environmental Issues.

Environmental Awareness [CR, t=3.859,

p<0.01]

Attitude towards Local Environmental

Issues [CR, t=2.186, p<0.05]

Sl. Classificatory Category Total Mean Standard Standard CriticalNo. Variables Number Deviation Error of Ratio

(N) Mean

1. Gender Male 45 158.42 16.57 2.47 0.102NS

Female 769 158.68 17.84 0.64

2. Locale of Rural 679 159.25 17.20 0.66 1.893NS

Residence Subjects

Urban 135 155.73 20.20 1.74

Subjects

3. Subject of Arts & 500 157.53 16.09 0.72 2.186*

Specialization Language

group

Science 314 160.46 20.04 1.13

group

TABLE 5Data and Results of the Test of Significance of Difference

in the Mean Scores of Attitude towards Local Environmental Issuesbased on Gender, Locale of Residence and Subject of specialization

* indicates difference in mean scores significant at 0.05 level.NS indicates Non-Significance of mean difference


Conclusion

From the above core findings, it can beconcluded as follows:

Student-teachers at secondary levelpossess significantly high level ofEnvironmental Awareness and they havemore favourable Attitude towards LocalEnvironmental Issues irrespective ofgender. The highly significant relationshipbetween the variables and the significanteffect of Environmental Awareness onAttitude towards Local EnvironmentalIssues point out to the urgency instrengthening Environmental Awarenessamong student-teachers. Field studiesincorporating local issues and community-oriented projects should therefore becompulsory in the teacher educationcurriculum.

As there is significant difference inEnvironmental Awareness and in Attitudetowards Local Environmental Issuesbetween language and arts group andscience group, the latter having highermean scores, more opportunities toparticipate in environment relatedactivities be provided to the former group.

To sum up, the magnitude of the localenvironmental issues which theinvestigators came across is more than thatis being presented through statistical datafrom various sources. Therefore,prospective teachers must be orientedevery year to carry out case studies onenvironmental issues of local significanceand laws and regulations forenvironmental protection need to bestrengthened with immediate effect.

References

1. Best, J, W., & Kahn, J.V. (2006).

Research in education (10th Ed.). Pearson

Education Inc. Allyn & Bacon, Boston.

2. Abraham, M., & Arjunan, N.K. (2005).

Environmental attitude and pro-

environmental behavior among secondary

school children. Edutracks, 4 (6), 32-34.

3. Centre for Environment Education

(2001). Environmental education in pre-

service teacher education in Kerala,

modules for teacher educators and B.Ed.

students. Southern Regional Cell,

Bangalore

4. Tymys, Salla. M. (2000). Effects of

educational background on students’

attitudes, activity levels and knowledge

concerning the environment. Journal of

Environmental Education.

5. Ballantyne, R.R (1995). Environmental

teacher education : constraints,

approaches and course design.

International Journal of Environmental

Education and Information, 14 (2), 115-128.

6. Ferguson, G.A. (1976). Statistical

analysis in psychology and education,

Tokyo: McGraw Hill.

7. Edwards , A, l. (1969 ). Techniques of

Attitude Scale Construction. Bombay:

Vakils, Febber and Simons.


Key Management Issues of Forest - InvasiveSpecies in India

AAAAAnita Snita Snita Snita Snita Srrrrriiiiivvvvvastaastaastaastaastavvvvva* a* a* a* a* and R R R R Reeeeennnnnu Su Su Su Su Singingingingingh **h **h **h **h **

* Scientist – D, BCC Division, ICFRE, Dehra Dun ** Head, BCC Division, ICFRE, Dehra Dun

ABSTRACT

Management of Forest Invasive Species (FIS) is a priority issue under theConvention on Biological Diversity (1992) as they can proliferate and spread in theenvironment in ways, which can harm or are likely to harm ecosystems, economies,and human health. FIS are now the major focus of international conservationconcerns and subject of cooperative international efforts, such as Global InvasiveSpecies Programme (GBISP).

Intentional introduction of exotic plants including trees and shrubs areincreasingly subjected to preliminary risk assessment for potential invasiveness.In this respect, a list of introduced, naturalized and invasive trees finds applicationsin forestry, ornamentals, urban forests, agro forestry and trees outside forests.Such a listing is prerequisite for any national or international biosecurity and plantprotection strategy.

Currently, knowledge of invasive species and medicinal plants is particularlylacking for forest ecosystems although National Biodiversity Strategy and Actionplan–India (NBSAP) has laid emphasis on the documentation of these species.

In this paper, an updated information on floral (weeds and plants) invasivespecies, impacts on different ecosystems as recorded at national level and theirmanagement is attempted The category of critically threatened species and theirhabitat due to FIS may be scheduled for priority action, and need coordination ofregional measures to address transboundry issues through the development andimplementation of regional framework. This support would be useful for policymakers, planners, developmental agencies, and all those having a stake in forestryto generate new ideas concerning the importance of assessment of FIS, requirementsof research needs related to FIS and provide an insight to the current status of FISin India.

Key words : Forest Invasive species (FIS), Conservation on Biological Diversity(CBD), Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP), National BiodiversityStrategy and Action plan – India (NBSAP), Quarantine, Exotic Plants.


Introduction

Invasive species are the species that are non-native to a particular ecosystem and whoseintroduction causes, or is likely to cause,economic or environmental harm. Invasivespecies are characterized by rapid growthrates, extensive dispersal capabilities, largeand rapid reproductive output and broadenvironmental tolerance.

Forest Invasive Species is damaging anumber of natural or agriculturalecosystems, including native forests andtheir biological diversity. They are posing adanger to human health as well as to otherhuman enterprises. Rapidly acceleratingtrade in forest-associated products, tourism,transport, and extensive travel over the pastcentury have dramatically enhanced thespread of invasive species, allowing them tosurmount natural geographic barriers. Forexample, Parthenium has invadedagricultural areas & forest areas (Goyal &Brahma, 2001), Lantana in forest areas(Chattorjee and Pakrashi, 1994) andEupatorium in mountain ecosystems etc.

Forest Invasive Species are very crucial inthe national context as the bioclimate ofIndia is highly congenial for the alien speciesto invade into various landscapes andecosystems. The invasive species are thebiggest threat to biodiversity, after habitatdestruction. There is a threat of crosshybridization of indigenous elements withalien elements, which might take on vigorousand gregarious dimensions. There is a gapin the knowledge on the biology, geographicaldistribution, genetic diversity and inter-crossing (hybridizing) potentials of theinvasive alien species.

As per the, Commonwealth AgriculturalBureau International (CABI) global review,2002 on the phenomenon of naturalizationand invasiveness of forest tree and shrubspecies, out of 1121 tree species reportedto be introduced, naturalized or invasive inparticular situations, 442 were reported asinvasive forest trees (Haysom and Murphy,2003).

As per the India Country Report on ‘Stocktaking of National Activities on FIS’submitted to the Asia Pacific Forest InvasiveSpecies Network (APFISN) during October2005, 61 species of plants (including 12species of fungi) and 14 species of insectshave been identified as invasive havingnational distribution and 36 species withregional distribution. About 28 plantspecies are reported to be native to Indiabut have taken invasive proportions in otherbio-geographical regions of the country.However, for better understanding of theentire dimension involved, there is need tohave a detailed scientific inventory of the FISin India. (Forest Invasive Species ICFREPublication, 2005).

Under the Convention of Biological Diversity(CBD), 1992, Governments are workingtogether to take more aggressive measuresto prevent alien species from invading forestareas in the first place and to prepare achecklist of Forest Invasive Species, at thenational level. The Asia–Pacific ForestInvasive Species Network is constituted tobuild international consensus and developstrategies to reduce the threat posed by FISand promote the exchange of information onthe existing weeds and approach forcombating the menace of such weeds andplants in forest ecosystem.

Management of FIS is a priority issue underthe Convention on Biodiversity. Certain alienspecies such as Lantana, Alternanthera,Eichornia and Euphorbia are established /naturalized in our country and are beingutilized / experimented for better use. Thereis an immediate need to look into the ‘Onetime use’ or sustainable use of these species.The better option might be eradication vis-à-vis ‘One time use’, thereby discouragingtheir further promotional aspects.

BCC Division, ICFRE, Dehradun is activelyinvolved in collecting and compilinginformation on Forest invasive Specieslocated in geographical domain of differentRegional Institutes of ICFRE on Floral (weedsand plant) Forest Invasive Species,Entomological (insects) FIS, and pathogenic


(fungi) FIS of different ecosystems and theirdistribution at national and regional levelsfor its dissemination to all stakeholders,researchers, scientists and developingagencies. It would facilitate generation of newideas concerning the importance ofassessment of FIS and provide an insight tothe current status of FIS in different agro-climatic zones of India. (Forest InvasiveSpecies ICFRE Publication, 2005)

As the inventory / documentation of Forestinvasive species – including pests, diseases,weeds and sometimes-certain tree species –have become the main focus of the Ministryof Environment and Forests, Govt. of India,an attempt has been made in this paper toupdate information on floral (weeds andplants) invasive species, its impacts indifferent ecosystems as recorded at nationallevels and their management.

1. The Indian Scenario on Weeds

India is one of the megabiodiversity countriesin terms of flora and fauna. Many invasivespecies have entered into India accidentally.These species have the potential to causeenormous direct or indirect loss toecosystems and threaten biodiversity andwater availability. Some of the mostimportant noxious aquatic weeds of alienorigin in India are Salvinia molesta(Salvinia), Eichhornia crassipes (Waterhyacinth) and Alternantheraphiloxeroides (Alligator weed), andterrestrial weeds like Opuntia spp.,Lantana camara, Ageratina adenophora,Chromolaena ordata, Partheniumhysterophorus, Leucaena leucocephalaand Mikania micrantha. Most of theseweeds have occupied such niches wherechemical or mechanical control measures areneither feasible nor economic. These includeforest areas, tea, rubber and other plantationcrops, vacant or grazing areas and waterbodies. Biological control offers effective andenvironmentally-friendly solutions to theproblem of invading alien weeds. However,proper planning in the introduction of host-specific exotic bioagents to combat the alieninvasive weeds is essential. The maximum

degree of success in classical biologicalcontrol has been achieved in aquatic weeds(55.5%), followed by terrestrial weeds (23.8%)(Singh, S.P. 1997).

The reasons for transmission of invasivespecies can broadly be classified into threecategories: horticulture, conservation, oraccidental. In some cases invasive specieswere simultaneously introduced for multiplepurposes. However, when we look at thepercentages of introductions, horticulture isthe clear leader. Conservation organizationsare not free of blame either. In the name oferosion control, windbreaks, and wildlife foodand cover, conservation groups have broughtmany invasive species. Accidentalintroductions make up a small, butimportant sector of introductions.

Invasive species are distributed in differentbio-geographical areas because of their veryeffective seed dispersal mechanisms thatallow them to spread quickly over a largearea. These mechanisms – wind, water, andbirds, give them an advantage over manynative species which employ ants, mammalsor gravity to disperse their seeds. Manyinvasive plant species are also the first plantsto leaf out in the spring, and the last to droptheir leaves in the autumn. This “first andlast” strategy gives invasive species anadvantage, – they are photosynthesizing andstoring up energy for reproduction andgrowth longer than most native plant species.Invasive species can compete with nativeplants and animals, displace them, consumethem, act as parasites or transmit disease,reduce growth and survival rates, cause thedecline or extinction of local populations oreven entire species, and uproot or damageplants.

2. Major Floral Forest Invasive Speciesin India

Some of the invasive species are listed below:

2.1. Lantana camara is an obnoxious weedthat has encroached most of the areas undercommunity and reserve forestlands. Theouter fragile Himalayas are almost


completely encaptured by this rapidlyspreading weed. The weed not only ruinscommon agricultural and forestlands butalso serves as hideouts for wild animals.This weed also makes shade as well asallelopathic impacts on the regeneration ofimportant forestry species. Due to spread ofLantana, the yields of crops and pasture getreduced. The harvesting costs haveincreased manifold. Afforestation cost is alsoincreased due to loss of stand and slowergrowth rate due to weed competition.

2.2. Parthenium hysterophorus weed isdifficult to control as it seeds prolifically.Seed germinates readily and the planttolerates a wide variety of conditions. Theweed is a menace to agriculture because ithas allelopathic effect and competes withpastures and reduces carrying capacity. Theweed affects human and animal health bycausing respiratory problems and severedermatitis.

2.3. Eupatorium glandulosum is found inthe temperate region of the south and thenorth; ecological disruption has given wayto this weed. This weed spread fast andchecks the regeneration of other species,particularly in Western Ghats, and hasreplaced the valued flora at places. It comesup in disturbed soil. In most of the goat-travelled path it comes up well; that is whyit is locally known as goat weed. Since theplant has no local or commercial use, it haswidely spread in denuded and forestlands.

2.4. Ulex europaeus was introduced toIndia from England and other Europeancountries. It is a thorny shrub, naturalizedin Nilgiri and Palni Hills, at high elevations.This species colonizes in grasslands andencroaches into shola forests. It invadeswatersheds, which supply a substantialamount of drinking water. It is threateningagricultural and grazing lands. Thickets areimpenetrable to humans and have persistentthorny litter.

2.5. Acacia mearnsii was introduced inWestern Ghats particularly in the Nilgiris toprovide fuel wood to the rural people to save

the Shola forests, which were degraded inthe past by human activities. A. mearnsii wasalso planted in the tea gardens to provideshade to the tea plants but it has nowcovered most of the Shola forests and hasbecome menace in the Nilgiri hills.Regeneration of Shola forest is affected dueto profuse spreading of this tree.

2.6. Mikania micrantha is a perennial fastgrowing weed of Neotropical origin, hasbecome a major menace in natural forests,plantations and agricultural systems innortheast and southwest India. It is aherbaceous climber invading, especially theyoung teak plantations. The survival of teaksaplings is very much affected by theovergrowth of this weed.

2.7. Cytisus scoparius was introduced fromthe European countries into the WesternGhats for ornamental purposes but now ithas become menace in the Nilgiri hillsparticularly in the Shola forest and in grazinglands. It reduces the regeneration of Sholaspecies and invades the grasslands, thusdecreasing the production of grass for thecattle in Nilgiris. This species is spreadingfast in the areas disturbed by forest fires orbiotic interferences.

2.8. Opuntia vulgaris is a succulent thornyshrub which, colonizes the dry deciduousforest areas and the rain shadow portions ofthe Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats.The plant is native to America, butnaturalized in many parts of India.

2.9. Prosopis chilensis is a small thornytree, with spreading branches. The speciesis commonly found in plains of Tamil Naduand Andhra Pradesh and has spread to drydeciduous forest areas. P. chilensis is nativeof South and Central America and widelynaturalized in tropical Asia.

2.10. Euphorbia royleana comes upprofusely and has covered thousands ofhectares of land in the Himalayan zones. Thisplant is shifted to a desert environment.Being cactus in habit, it has no role inconserving soil. Similarly, in this zone there


are other plants viz. Artemisia vulgaris,Carrisa carander and Dodonea viscosa, whichhave also become weeds and have large areasunder their control. Cannabis sativa weedhas spread to most of the deforested andcommunity lands, complicating landmanagement. Beside the above, unabatedfree grazing and intense human activitieshave led the way to many other plant specieshaving no use in supporting ecology andeconomy of the region. These are Agavecatula, Ageratum conizoides, Cassia tora,Clerodendron viscosum etc.

3. Measures to Prevent Introductionof FIS

It is now widely known that due to lack ofproper information, man has introducedmany exotic trees and shrubs under the lureof fast growing species. This has not onlychanged the socio-economic structure of thelocal communities, but also influenced theentry of invasive plants, which because ofwide ecological amplitudes has overpoweredthe native vegetation. Therefore, someimmediate actions are needed to control theexplosion of invasive species which aresummarised below :-

3.1. Pre-activity Invasive Plant Survey: Aninvasive plant survey should be completedprior to the commencement of any land-disturbing activities to identify potentialproblem areas. Sites with invasive plantsidentified on them should be made note ofin order to alter practices to limit their spread(e.g. control prior to land disturbance,cleaning of equipment and materials beforeleaving the site). As the pre-activity invasiveplant survey acts as a base-line for potentialinfestations, a follow-up survey should alsobe undertaken to assess the invasive plantspread as a result of the pre-activities.

3.2. Limiting Soil Disturbances:Unnecessary soil disturbance should beavoided to prevent establishment of invasiveplant infestations.

3.3. Immediate Re-vegetation ofDisturbed Sites: Re-vegetation of the area

with an approved species in a timely manner,should be done to check the establishmentof invasive plants on disturbed ground.

3.4. Use of Certified “Weed Free” Seed forRe-vegetation of Disturbed Sites:Application of virtually invasive plant freeseed mix needs to be ensured. This can beachieved by using “Certificate of SeedAnalysis” methodology. In which, rather thanusing the typical 25 gm sample to confirmthe validity of the sample, request shouldbe made to the supplier for the analysis of alarger seed sample. Alternatively, one canstart with pure seed and then prepare theseed-mix manually.

3.5. Clean Equipment and Materials: Itshould be ensured that all equipment,materials and vehicles are free of invasiveplant seeds and plant parts before arrivingon site. All agricultural implements or anyequipment potentially exposed to invasiveplants must be cleaned, prior to use. Alsoequipment, materials and vehicles exposedto weeds are to be cleaned, prior to leavingthe plantation site.

3.6. Use of “Weed Free” Hay Bales forErosion Control and Feed: The use of strawbales for erosion control is discouraged.Unlike hay, it is very difficult to determine ifthe straw bales are free of invasive plantseeds. Therefore, certified “weed free” haybales acquired from producers with a“Certificate of Inspection” should be used forerosion control. Hay imported for feed shouldas well be certified “weed free.”

3.7. Early Detection and Eradication:Continuous monitoring for early detectionand eradication of invasive plants is essentialthrough proactive approach. To do thiseffectively, field staff should be trained in theidentification of restricted and noxiousinvasive plants, collection of surveyinformation, and the importance ofdestroying individual invasive plants andreporting new infestations in a timelymanner.


3.8. Limit Seed Introductions in Fill: Priorto the movement of the material, inspectionshould be done for gravel pits, soil stockpilesor other fill sources to ensure the producthas a low risk of introducing invasive plants.

3.9. Incorporate Invasive PlantManagement in Planning Phase: Invasiveplants should be considered in alloperational plans to ensure effective andefficient management. Effective invasiveplant management plans incorporateeducation, survey, control, and prevention.

3.10. Communication: Communicationbetween various stakeholder and ProvincialMunicipal and Government agencies isbeneficial to transfer information promotingregional awareness. Information such as theinvasive plant history of certain locations orinvasive plant infestation locations may bebeneficial to all parties.

3.11. Education and Awareness: Invasiveplant education and awareness programsdeveloped co-operatively or individually bycompanies and agencies are essential inorder to put the above preventive measuresinto practice.

4. Common Methods of Weed Control

4.1. Mechanical: Mechanical controlmeasures involve hoes, cultivators, harrows,rotary weeders, discs, ploughs, scythes,mowers and so on. With these tools, theweeds are physically lifted from the soil, cutoff or buried.

4.2. Chemical: This is one of the mostcommon methods employed for control ofFIS. Most chemicals are species specificthough their use might not always bedesirable due to environmental degradationand pollution that they often cause.

4.3. Tillage: Tillage helps in the burial ofmost small annual weeds. If all growingpoints are buried, most annual weeds willbe killed. Tillage also disturbs the rootingsystem of most of the perennial weeds. The

root system is cut enough so that the plantdies from desiccation before it can re-establish its roots. In moist soils or if it rainssoon after tillage, the roots may quickly re-establish themselves. In effect, one maytransplant the weed with little or no injury.Mowing is effective on tall growing plants.Tall annual weeds are mowed or scythed toreduce competition with crop plants and toprevent seed production.

4.4. Crop Competition: Crop competitionis one of the cheapest and most usefulmethods that farmers can use. It amountsto using the best crop production methodsso favorable to the crop that weeds arecrowded out. Actually competition makesfull use of one of the oldest laws of nature-”Survival of the fittest”. Weeds compete withcrop plants for light, soil moisture, soilnutrients and carbon dioxide. Early weedcompetition usually reduces crop yields farmore than late season weedy growth.Therefore, early weed control is extremelyimportant. Late weed growth may notseriously reduce yields, but it makesharvesting difficult, reduces crop quality,and rein fests the land with seeds andharbours insects and diseases.

In planning a control programme, it isimportant to know the weed’s life cycle.Possibly the cycle can be interrupted withan easy but very effective control. In cropproduction, this may be a shift in plantingdate or a well-timed chemical spray, thusaffording the crop an upper hand orcompetitive advantage.

Smothering with plastics, tar, paper, straw,saw dust or any other similar material islargely a matter of competition for light. Mostweed seedlings cannot penetrate the thickcoverings and are killed due to lack of light.

4.5. Crop Rotation: Certain weeds are morecommon in some crops than in others.Besides the annual weeds, for the parasiticweeds such as Striga in sorghum andOrabanche in tobacco, the hosts should bethe crop grown. Rotation of crops is an


efficient way to reduce weed growth. A goodrotation for weed control usually includesstrong competitive crops grown in each partof the rotation. In growing mixed crops asin the tropics, the weed problem is eliminatedto a greater extent in most of the irrigatedcrops.

4.6. Biological Control: In biological weedcontrol, a ‘natural enemy’ of the plant is usedwhich is harmless to the other desiredplants. Insects or disease organisms are theusual natural enemies. Also, parasitic plants,selective grazing by livestock and highlycompetitive replacement plants are otherforms of biological control. The outstandingexample of biological weed control is Cactus(Opuntia spp.) with a moth borer Cactoblasticcactorum and or Lantana camara with severalkinds of caterpillars and a fly, whichdamages the berries. Researches havelocated and tested numerous biologicalagents against Parthenium weed. These haveincluded a gall-forming moth, leaf minor,weevil, beetles and a rust fungus.

5. Control Measures Undertaken forMajor Forest Invasive Species in India

5.1. Lantana camara: Various attemptsviz. mechanical, biological and chemical forcontrol and eradication of this weed havebeen tried in the past. All these methodshave proved costly and partly successful.

5.1.1. Biological Control: A survey of thenatural enemies of Lantana camara yielded148 species of insects but only Lantanophaga(Platyptilia) pusillidactyla (pterophorid) wasof some importance. However, L.pusillidactyla has a number of naturalenemies, which impaired its effectiveness.A polyphagus scale insect viz. Ortheziainsignis (Brown) has been recordedsuppressing the Lantana population in manyparts, but it cannot be used as it attacks anumber of economically important foresttrees.

Another insect Teleonemia scrupulosa wasimported from Australia in 1941 by ForestResearch Institute, Dehra Dun. After hostspecificity tests, the insect was declared

unsafe owing to its feeding on Teak (Tectonagrandis L.), a valuable timber tree, hence thewhole culture was destroyed in 1943.However, in 1951 it was recorded from DehraDun and the subsequent surveys showed itspresence up to the distance of 40 km fromthe point of the escape. It was furtherreported to kill Lantana in Bhimtal, Nainital,U.P. In 1976, T. scrupulosa was reportedinfesting Lantana at various locations inKarnataka and Tamil Nadu, although no caseof complete death was recorded. Subsequentobservations have also shown that inspiteof defoliation by this insect the plants werenot killed.

For biological suppression of Lantana,Diastema tigris Guenee, Saliba (Syngamia)haemorrhoidalis Guenee and Uroplata girardiPic. (origin: Mexico) have also beenintroduced. Similarly Epinotia lantanae(Busck) has established in certain pocketsof South India. E. lantanae in combinationwith Octotoma lantanae affects 95% of thefruits of Lantana in Bangalore.

5.1.2. Chemical Control: To eradicateLantana a series of experiments withdifferent chemicals were conducted. Theexperiment was conducted by R. C. Ghosh ,during 1980 at Forest Research Institute,Dehra Dun. Twenty five treatmentscomprising of different concentrations ofweedicides, namely Tordon 10 K, Tordon22k, Brush Killer 64, Weedone concentrate48 and 2, 4, 5-T 20 percent Amine were triedin split plot design with three replicationsfor eradication. It was found from the resultsthat application of different concentrationsi.e. 10 lit / ha., 5 lit / ha and 3 lit / ha ofTordon 22k and 10 Kg. / ha of Tordon 10 Kcompletely killed Lantana weed followed byTordon 155 @ 10 lit / ha and Brush Killer64 @ 10 lit / ha.. Tordon 22K @ 3,5,10 lit/ha., Tordon 10 K @ 10 Kg / ha. and Tordon155 @ 10 lit / ha are recommended. Theresearch findings were implemented in thevarious forest types of India and inplantations.

5.1.3. Mechanical Control: The ForestOperation Unit of Silviculture Division, FRI,has developed a series of tools for mechanical


eradication of Lantana. The tools were StalkPuller (Light and Heavy duty). The uprootingof Lantana by these tools was found to beefficient and economical with involvement ofless labour. Various forest officials of thecountry were trained in handling of the tools.

5.2. Parthenium hysterophorus

5.2.1. Biological control: During the lastfew years much emphasis has been given tocontrol Parthenium through variousbiological agents like pathogens, insects andplants.

5.2.2. Control by Insects

a) Indigenous Insects

Many insects like, mealy bugs, aphids andgrasshoppers have been reported feeding onParthenium as an alternate host. A stem-boring scolytid beetel, Hypothenamuserudistus was reported to cause widespreaddamage to Parthenium in 1979. Oberea spp.has also been found to kill this weedsignificantly. Severe attack of a cerambycidLeptrocentrus taurus (F.) and a scale insectOrthezia insignis (Brown) were reported fromMysore and Bangalore, respectively (Joshi,S. 1991)

b) Exotic Insects

In 1983 a Chrysomelid beetel Zygogrammabicolorata was imported from Mexico. Boththe larvae and adults caused severedefoliation of Parthenium and encouragedthe growth of vegetation formerly suppressedby this weed. The beetle has spread toHaryana, Punjab, Karnataka, MadhyaPradesh, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh andAndhra Pradesh.

5.2.3. Mechanical Control: Recently,Silviculture Division, F.R.I. has conductedexperiments on preparation of compost fromParthenium weed. The compost was preparedby Barkley & Indore process and it wasproved to be successful in eradicating carrotweed from the area.

5.2.4. Chemical Control: The followingchemicals were tried to eradicate Parthenium.

❖ Gramoxone: Parthenium can be killed byapplication of 2-3 litres / ha.

❖ 2-4 D Ethyl Easter: The chemical spray@ 0.2% in water proved to be the besttreatment for killing of Parthenium. Thisapplication proved to be most effective.

❖ Ammonium Sulphate: It was found thatspray of 20% of chemical in water has killedthe weed.

5.2.5. Control by Utilization: Partheniumhas been well documented for its insecticidal,nematicidal and herbicidal properties andbiogas production. It increases the rate ofdecomposition of cowdung. Methaneproduction is possible from SodiumHydroxide (NaOH) treated Parthenium.

5.3. Opuntia spp.

5.3.1. Biological Control: The firstoutstanding success in biological control inIndia was achieved when O. vulgaris wascontrolled in Central and North India byintroduction of the Mealy bug (Dactylopiusceylonicus) from Brazil. This, of course, wasnot a deliberate attempt as D. ceylolicus wasmistaken for the true cochineal insectDactylopius coccus Costa and was introducedfor commercial production of cochineal dye.But the potential of classical biologicalsuppression was established by using theinsect to control the weed. The area becamefit for cultivation within five to six years. D.ceylonicus being restricted to O. vulgarisproved a failure when introduced anddistributed in South India to suppress O.stricta var. dillenii (Haw). In 1926, D. opuntiae(a North American spp.) was imported fromSri Lanka and its colonization resulted inspectacular suppression of O. stricta andrelated O. elatior Mill. More than 40,000 haarea was thus cleared.

5.4. Mikania micrantha

5.4.1. Biological Control: Biological controlcausing a host specific thrips, Liothrips


mikaniae from Trininad was tried withoutmuch success.

5.4.2. Chemical Control: The treatmentsof 1.2 kg gramaxone, 0.8 kg gramaxone+1kg 2, 4-D amine / ha significantly reducedthe growth of Mikania. Control of 50-60%weed was noticed 2-3 days after spraying ofgramaxone and 2, 4-D amine. There was nofurther growth of the weed up to 80 daysafter spraying.

6. Conclusion

Forest Invasive species (weeds and plants),due to their inherent properties of efficientnutrient uptake, easily invade disturbedlands, and adversely affect the ecosystem.They, thus, pose a serious challenge tosustainable management of forests alongwith agricultural ecosystems andconservation of biodiversity. Althoughseveral methods including biological,chemical have been attempted from time totime to control these species, no singlemethod has been found effective onsustainable basis. On the basis of thisinformation, it could be concluded that:

❖ There is a strong need for betterenvironmental education and greateraccountability for sectors that areresponsible for the introduction of invasivespecies. The Government of India needs toofficially designate the State ForestDepartments and ICFRE Institutes asauthorities for monitoring, control of FIS andimplementation of import / export controlsfrom forest, national parks and otherprotected areas.

❖ A national inventory and assessment ofinvasive and potentially invasive speciesneeds to be made to create a database andto determine the status of their threat to thecountry.

❖ Effective communication systems amongthe local institutions responsible for specifictasks relating to the management,monitoring and eradication of invasivespecies should be established.

❖ An Action Plan on how participatinginstitutions can effectively contribute to an“Invasive Species Monitoring Programme”should be developed.

❖ Local resources and sources of funding toenable participating institutions to effectivelyimplement proposed invasive speciesactivities should be identified.

❖ Local institutions should be aware of whichinvasive species are in our neighboringcountries and devise ways to detect theirpresence and prepare eradication strategies.

References

❖ Chattorjee Asima and Pakrashii S.K.,(1994), The Treatise on Indian MedicinalPlants, India.

❖ Forest Invasive Species ICFRE, PublicationNo.117ICFREBR 28/ 2005.

❖ Ghosh, R.C., (1980), Chemical Control ofLantana Camara and Imperata cylindrica twomajor weeds in Forests of India.Commonwealth For. Rev. 59:460

❖ Goyal, C.P., Brahma, B.C., (2001), A rayof hope against Parthenium in Rajaji Nationalpark. Indian Forester 127(4): 409-414.

❖ Singh, S.P., (1997), Perspectives inbiological control of Parthenium. In: Proc.First International Conference on PartheniumManagement, University of AgriculturalScience, Dharwad, 6-8 Oct., 1997.1:22-32.

❖ Haysom, K.A. & Murphy, S.T., (2003). Thestatus of invasiveness of forest tree speciesoutside their natural habitat: a global reviewand discussion paper. Forest Health andBiosecurity Working Paper FBS/3E. Rome,FAO. Available on the Internet: www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/J1583E/J1583E00.HTM

❖ Joshi, S., (1991), Biological control ofParthenium hysterophorus (Leguminosae), inBangalore, India. Tropical Pest Management37, 182-4.

❖ Available on the Internet http://ifs.nic.in/rt/misc/apfisn/apfisn.htm


Studies on Environmental Awareness in SchoolStudents from Aurangabad City

G.BG.BG.BG.BG.B..... R R R R Rakh*,akh*,akh*,akh*,akh*, D D D D D.D.D.D.D.D..... K K K K Khamkar*,hamkar*,hamkar*,hamkar*,hamkar*, A.M.LatA.M.LatA.M.LatA.M.LatA.M.Late*,e*,e*,e*,e*, A.S.DhapatA.S.DhapatA.S.DhapatA.S.DhapatA.S.Dhapate* e* e* e* e* and M.B M.B M.B M.B M.B.M.M.M.M.Mule*ule*ule*ule*ule*

* Department of Environmental Science, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad – 431 004 (MS), India. Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

This paper deals with studies on environmental awareness among schoolstudents of different media, from the Aurangabad city. To study the environmentalawareness level, students of IXth class were selected from six schools with differentmedia of instruction. (Marathi, English & Urdu).

A preliminary survey was conducted for selecting the six schools for the presentinvestigation. Questionnaire method was adopted based on the syllabus for compulsoryenvironmental education, as per the directives of the Honorable Supreme Court. Answersgiven by the respondent students are converted into True or False form. The comparativeenvironmental awareness level in students from the selected schools in percentagewas calculated by using CEA formula.

The results obtained from the present study reveal that environmental awarenesslevel in students from English medium schools, have the maximum awareness level,whereas the level of awareness in students of Marathi medium have moderateawareness, as compared to students from Urdu medium with minimum level.

Key words : Environmental awareness, Education, Schools, Questionnaire,Comparative Environmental Awareness (CEA).

Introduction

In the modern age of development with theprogress of industrialization, urbanizationand adoption of modern technologies inagriculture, environmental problems havebecome a concerning issue for humansociety.

By considering the importance ofenvironmental conservation, most developedcountries also have included the issues ofenvironmental protection in their politicalagenda.

It has been widely accepted that toconscientious the human society about theenvironmental issues and to makeperspective plans for mitigation ofenvironmental problems, environmentaleducation is an important tool through whichthe goals for awareness can be achievedeasily.

Environmental education is aimed atproducing a citizenry that is knowledgeableconcerning the biophysical environment andits associated problems, to aware of how tohelp solve these problems, and motivate to


work towards their solution (Stapp et.al.1969). The subject of environmentaleducation has been discussed at severalnational and international seminars,workshops and conferences (Sharma, 1996).

Environmental education acts as anindispensable tool in the battle against thedegradation of the living environment. It hasan appeal to launch an internationalenvironmental education Program (UnitedNations, 1972).

Along with the adoption of modern eco-friendly technologies to minimize the stressof human activities on environment, for theprotection and conservation of theenvironment of the globe, environmentaleducation plays an important role. However,it plays a crucial role in the process ofsustainable development also. (TbilisiDeclaration, 1977, RIO, 1992, Montreal,1997).

There is a paramount need to create aconsciousness of the environment. It mustpermeate all ages and all sections of society,beginning with the child. Environmentalconsciousness should be inculcated intoteaching in schools and colleges (NPE, 1986).

Environmental education is a key to thesuccess of any overall environmentalstrategy, determined to help in the settingup of a Center of Excellence inEnvironmental Education, to play the vitalrole of setting the pace and agenda forEnvironmental Education in the country(Kartikeya, 2000).

In India, the Supreme Court in theirjudgments of writ petitions (M.C. Mehta VsUnion of India, 1991; M.C. Mehta Vs Unionof India, 2003) has directed for the urgentneed for environmental education. TheSupreme Court Bench had issued an orderon November 22, 1991 to all stategovernments, and to the State EducationBoards, to make environmental education,a compulsory subject (India times, 2003).

The Supreme Court issued notice to someof the country’s key educational bodies andState Governments for negligence in theimplementation process of environment, ascompulsory subject. The Court fined Rs.15,000/- to ten States, including theMaharashtra State for such a failure. Thegovernment of Maharashtra directed theSecondary and Higher Education Board toadopt environmental education as acompulsory subject for school students(GOM, 2003).

The Supreme Court inter alia, directed theNCERT to take appropriate steps to prescribea course on environment and to consider thefeasibility of making environment acompulsory subject at the school level. Inpursuance of this, the NCERT framed thesyllabus and incorporated environmenteducation as compulsory subject from IXth

to XIIth standards. In this regardMaharashtra Government implemented theenvironment education from the academicyear 2005 – 2006 for the IXth class, 2006 -2007 for the Xth and XIth, 2007 – 2008 forthe XIIth class (Mehta, 1991, MSSHEB,2005).

The marks distribution pattern for thiscompulsory environment education, i.e., 60marks for theory and 40 marks for field work/ project, and the marks obtained by thestudents are incorporated in the mark sheet.While in the primary implementation stagesome changes have been introduced and theexamination pattern also was changed, i.e.,it was decided that instead of by the Board,the examination will be conducted at theschool level itself. (MSSHEB, 2006).

However, considering the workload forteaching this compulsory environmenteducation, prescribed qualification for theteacher to teach the environment educationin school, two lectures per week for thissubject and no need of a separate qualifiedteacher from the principle subject (i.e.,Environmental Science) were adopted.(MSSHB, 2007).


Hence, by considering the vision of theHonorable Supreme Court to makeenvironmental education as a compulsorysubject, and the lacunae in policy decisionsduring the implementation phase of thissubject, the present study has beenundertaken to study the environmentalawareness level among students of someselected schools from the Aurangabad city.

Materials & Methods

Aurangabad is the headquarters of theMarathwada region of the MaharashtraState. There are good numbers ofeducational institutions such as schools,colleges, and a university etc. in theAurangabad city.

Six different schools viz. Bal Dyan MandirHigh School Khadkeshwar and Zilla ParishadHigh School Behind Z.P. Office for Marathimedium, Little Flower High School inCantonment Area and Christ Church HighSchool near Milind College for Englishmedium and Indira Gandhi Urdu Girls HighSchool in Sabji Mandi and Maulana AzadHigh School, Near Aurangabad MunicipalCorporation for Urdu medium were selectedfor this awareness study (Table No. 1).

The questionnaire administered includes tendifferent questions based for the syllabus ofthe compulsory environment education, forIXth class. Objective type of questions, withfour options for each question was given, andthe medium of the questionnaire is the sameas the medium in the school.

The percentage of environmental awarenessin students was calculated on the basis ofTrue Answers (TA) and False Answers (FA)given by the respondent students.

TA (%) = STA x 100 SRQ

Where, TA = True Answer, STA = Number ofstudents who given as True Answer, SRQ =Total number of students that haveresponded to the Questionnaire.

FA (%) = SFA x 100 SRQ

FA = False Answer, SFA = Students givenFalse Answer, SRQ = Students Respondedto Questionnaire.

The Comparative Environmental Awarenessin percentage of six different schools selectedfrom the city, for the present investigationwas calculated.

CEA (%) = TATQ 10

Where, CEA = Comparative EnvironmentalAwareness, TATQ = Total Answer of TenQuestions.

Results and Discussion

To study the awareness levels in schoolstudents from the Aurangabad city, thename of selected schools, medium ofteaching, total number of students in eachdivision, total number of students in classwho responded to the questionnaire weresummarized in (Table No. 1). Theenvironmental awareness in school studentsfrom selected schools in percentage, basedon the answers given by the students in theTrue and False form for the questionsprovided in questionnaire were summarizedin (Table No. 2). However, the comparativeenvironmental awareness level inpercentage, in students were summarizedin (Table No. 3 and Fig. 1 and 2).

The maximum percentage of True answersgiven by respondent students was 100 andminimum 2 in the Little Flower High Schooland Maulana Azad Urdu High School,respectively. Whereas, the percentage ofawareness level in students of False answersranges from 16 to 92 and 0 to 45.

However, the results of comparativepercentage awareness level in students fromthe selected schools of different mediareveals that the maximum percent level of94.1% was observed in the Little Flower High


School i.e., from English Medium, 52.1 % inBal Dyan Mandir High School from Marathimedium and 68.3 % in Indira Gandhi GirlsUrdu High School, whereas minimum wasobserved at 21.3 % in Maulana Azad UrduSchool and moderate in Chirst Church HighSchool.

Conclusion

The results obtained from present studyreveals that, the students of English mediumschools have comparatively the maximumenvironmental awareness level, whereas thestudents from Marathi medium havingmoderate awareness about environmentalaspects as compared to students from Urdumedium, with minimum awareness level.

References

1. Dhapate, A. S., 2007a: EnvironmentalEducation: Status and Directions. ParyavaranShikshan: Dasha aani Disha. (An article inMarathi). Maharashtra Times, 9.

2. Dhapate, A. S., 2007b: EnvironmentalEducation: Status and Directions. ParyavaranShikshan: Dasha aani Disha. (An articlein Marathi). Daily Nanded Sanj,18th September, 3.

3. GOM, 2003 : Government of Maharashtracircular No. UGC/(100/03)/UE-4, dated 14th

October.

4. http://www.wwfenvis.org / http://www.wwfindia.org

5. India times :News item 2003. IST, TNN.

6. Kartikeya, 2000: Strategies in EnvironmentEducation – Experiences from India,International Meeting of Experts in EE,UNESCO, November, 20 -24, 2000.

7. M.C. Mehta Vs Union of India, 1991 : CaseNo. 860. Writ petition judgment by N.S. Hegadeand B.P. Singh, on 18th December, SC, NewDelhi.

8. M.C. Mehta Vs Union of India, 2003 : SOLcase No. 865. Writ Petition interim judgmenton 12th July. SC, New Delhi.

9. Montreal, 1997 : Montreal ProtocolAgreement, 16 September, 1997.

10. NPE, 1986 : A Draft of National Policy ofEducation, 1986.

11. Prashat Shinde, 2008: EnvironmentalEducation: No negligence. Paryavaran Shikhan– Anastha Nako. (Article in Marathi). Lokassta,Tues., 17th June, 6.

12. Rio, 1992: The Rio Earth Summit, 3 -14June, 1992.

13. Stapp, W.B., 1969: The Concept ofEnvironmental Education. J. Environ. Edu., 1(1): 30-31.

14. Stockholm, 1972: United NationsConference on Environment & Development,Stockholm, 5- 16 June, 1972.

15. Tbilisi Declaration Document, 1977:Intergovernmental Conference onEnvironmental Education, Georgia, 14-26October.

16. Tiwari, M., Khulbe K., Tiwari A., 2007:Environmental Studies. I.K. International, NewDelhi.

17. Trivedi, P.R., 2004. EnvironmentalEducation. APH Pub. Corp., New Delhi.

Fig.1: Comparative chart of EnvironmentalAwareness (%) in students of three

different medium schools.

Fig.2: Comparative chart of EnvironmentalAwareness (%) in students of three

different medium schools.

0102030405060708090

100

Bal DyanMandir High

School,Khadkeshwar

Little FlowerHigh School,Cantonment

Area.

Maulana AzadHigh School,Near AMC.

%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Zilla ParishadHigh School,Behind Z.P.

Office.

Christ ChurchHigh School,Near Milind

College

Indira GandhiUrdu Girls HighSchool, Sabji

Mandi

%


Table No. 1: List of schools selected to studythe Environmental Awareness in students.

Sr. Name of School Medium Total No. of Total No. ofNo. Students in Students

Class in Classresponded

1. Bal Dyan Mandir HighSchool, Khadkeshwar. Marathi 60 54

2. Zilla Parishad HighSchool,Behind Z.P. Office. Marathi 40 27

3. Little Flower High School,Cantonment Area. English 70 57

4. Christ Church HighSchool, NearMilind College. English 39 29

5. Indira Gandhi Urdu GirlsHigh School, Sabji Mandi. Urdu 50 37

6. Maulana Azad High School,Near AMC. Urdu 84 62

Table No. 3: Comparative statement of EnvironmentalAwareness (%) in school students.

Sr. No. Name of School Awareness in %

1. Bal Dyan Mandir High School, Khadkeshwar 52.1

2. Zilla Parishad High School, Behind Z.P. Office. 31.9

3. Little Flower High School, Cantonment Area. 94.1

4. Christ Church High School, Near Milind College 57.3

5. Indira Gandhi Urdu Girls High School, Sabji Mandi 68.3

6. Maulana Azad High School, Near AMC. 21.3


Tab

le N

o. 2: E

nvir

onm

ent

Aw

aren

ess

(%) in

sch

ool st

uden

ts f

rom

Aura

nga

bad

Cit

y

No.

of

Ques

tion

s in

Ques

tion

nai

re p

rovid

ed t

o s

chool

studen

ts

Sr.

No.

Nam

e of

Sch

ool

12

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1

0

T

F

T

F

T

F T

F

T

F

T

F

T

F

T

F

T

F

T

F

1.

Bal D

yan

Man

dir

Hig

h

Sch

ool, K

hadkes

hw

ar.

88

12

36

64

13

87

49

51

49

51

94

6

48

52

42

58

8

92

9

4 0

6

2.

Zilla

Pari

shad H

igh

Sch

ool,

Beh

ind Z

.P.

Off

ice.

22

78

14

86

11

89

55

45

7

93

48

52

52

48

48

52

7

93

55

45

3.

Lit

tle

Flo

wer

Hig

h S

choo

l,

Can

ton

men

t A

rea.

95

5

96

4

90

10

95

5

9

8

2

84

16

93

7

99

191

9

100

-

4.

Ch

rist

Ch

urc

h H

igh

Sch

ool,

Nea

r M

ilin

d C

olle

ge.

68

32

58

42

24

76

26

74

58

42

68

32

62

38

63

37

63

37

83

17

5.

Indir

a G

an

dh

i U

rdu

Gir

ls

Hig

h S

choo

l, S

abji M

an

di.

7

0

30

84

16

59

41

81

19

43

57

66

34

78

22

67

33

54

46

81

19

6.

Mau

lan

a A

zad H

igh

Sch

ool,

Nea

r A

MC

.

00

100

2

98

1 9

9

47

53

3

97

13

87

87

13

6

9

4 1

99

53

47

Not

e :i) T –

Tru

e &

F –

Fals

e.ii) A

ll F

igu

res

in t

able

are

in

%


INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

(Please follow the format of papers, published in the earlier issues of this journal)

Indian Journal of Environmental Education is an annual publication devoted to all branchesof Environmental Sciences, relevant to India. It aims at conveying the message of globalmanagement, implementation, people’s participation and the sustainable management ofour natural and human resources.

MANUSCRIPTS

Environmental papers intended for publication in this journal should be the outcome oforiginal research (field/laboratory), research reviews, environmental case-studies, successstories of environmental management, replicable models and school/college environmentalproject reports on any global or national environmental issues (Popular articles are notwelcome for this journal, but will be considered for Eco News).

Manuscripts should be computer-printed or atleast typed (but not hand-written) in doublespace, on one side of A4 size (Xerox) paper. A soft copy on a CD or e-mailed will be preferred.

Each manuscript should not exceed 2500 words. Inclusive of tables, diagrams, photographsand references, it should be within ten A4 size pages.

Manuscripts can be sent on a computer disk also, mentioning the format used, on the disk.

MAIN COMPONENTS OF A PAPER

a. Title, author/s’ name/s, postal and Email address/es.

b. Abstract: (About 5% of the total number of words of the paper).

c. Key Words: Not more than six (to facilitate easy retrieval on a computer).

d. Introduction, with background of the topic, its relevance and scope.

e. Text, with sub-headings.

f. References: To be listed in the order in which they are referred to and numbered in theText.

For Papers: Last name of the author, initials (if more than one author, initials and name of thelater authors), year, Title of the Journal, Volume, Number, Initial and final pages.

For Book Reviews: Instead of the Journal, Publisher, Place of publication and pages referredto, can be substituted.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Originals of black and white photographs, line-drawings in back ink (double the size of thefinal print) are required.

They should all be the author’s originals. If not, permission to reprint them is entirely theauthor’s responsibility.

COMMUNICATIONS / CORRESPONDENCE

All manuscripts are to be sent by Registered Post (with acknowledgement due) or by Courier,to the Editor, Indian Journal of Environmental Education, C.P.R. Environmental EducationCentre, 1, Eldams Road, Alwarpet, Chennai – 600 018. Tel: 044-2432 0756 / 044-2433 7023.

Receipt of the manuscript or its acceptance for publication will be intimated to the author.Unsuitable papers will be returned to the author, provided a self-addressed cover with postagestamps, are enclosed.

Citation for this Journal : IJEE


C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre is a Centre of Excellence of the Ministry of

Environment & Forests, Government of India, established jointly by the Ministry

and the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation.

The Centre has been set up to increase consciousness and knowledge about the

environment and the major environmental problems facing the country today. It has

been conducting a variety of programmes to spread awareness and interest among the

public, including, teachers, students, voluntary workers, educators, farmers, women

and youth, on all aspects of the environment and ecology, with the purpose of promoting

conservation of nature and natural resources.

All publications of C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre,

are printed on paper made of bagasse, a sugarcane waste.

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