earthnow-aliya

Wednesday , October 15th 2008: Sustainable use of resources: --> by conserving energy --> by conserving water --> by conserving biological resources (ie protecting forests, natural vegetation ,ecological riches) --> Reflect on what is happening around the globe: Lack of vegetative cover is changing the global climate.. Lack of vegetative cover is helping soil erosion. Lack of vegetative cover is reducing the fertility of soil. Lack of vegetative cover is uncompromisingly reducing rainfall. Consequently..a global institutional commitment is required. Accordingly let us begin with reducing pollution. -->Let us begin with REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE *Reduce the energy being used. *Reduce population…...population control. *Reduce using plastic ..synthetic rubber…motor fuel. --> Let CONSUMERISM gradually dwindle … Let NOT CONSUME more than the production. At the moment,50 times more st

This is the way that autumn came to the trees: It stripped them down to the skin, left their ebony bodies naked. It shook out their hearts, the yellow leaves, scattered them over the ground. Anyone could trample them out of shape undisturbed by a single moan of protest. The birds that herald dreams were exiled from their song, each voice torn out of its throat. They dropped into the dust even before the hunter strung his bow. Oh, God of May have mercy. Bless these withered bodies with the passion of your resurrection; make their dead veins flow with blood again. Give some tree the gift of green again. Let one bird sing. Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911-1984) - translated by Naomi

Thursday,9th October 2008 Earlier the Rulers of Rajasthan were committed in conservation of natural resources through indigenous traditions and practices. JOHADS were built across a slope to catch rainwater . JOHADS were earthen check dams -- built to conserve water ,which led to increase in the groundwater level. JOHADS had high banks on three sides & the fourth side was left open for the rainwater to come into. & The KUND. A KUND’s shape is like an overturned cup positioned on a saucer.. A KUND was designed for the sandy Thar desert of western Rajasthan to harvest and gather ....rain water for drinking purposes.. In actuality KUND is an underground well... fashioned like a saucer , sort of catchment area which slopes down in the direction of the centre where the well is situated. Sides of the well are covered with lime & ash. More over, homes and hawelis in Western Rajasthan were constructed with rooftop water harvesting system. Rainwater from these rooftops was dir

Wednesday October 8th 2008. 1. KHEJARI : Local Name. Botanical name: Prosopis Cineraria Druce. The Khejri tree is the State Tree of Rajasthan, India. It’s a thorny small tree…. deep-rooted making it thus drought resistant. Khejri tree is sacred & is considered lucky to grow at home. It has many uses . .. Its thorny branches are cut and used as a fence to keep animals away from crops, The leaves are dried and used for feed and its bean-like fruit can be eaten ripe or unripe. The wood is used as fuel. 2. Castor Tree : Castor bean, Castor oil plant, Wonder tree • Hindi : Arandi Botanical name: Ricinus communis The castor tree, is an upright, tropical is a small tree, grows up to 30 feet tall. The Green leaves have uneven edge. The flat seeds are in a seedpod that burst when ripen. When mature the oblong fruit turns brown. The seeds of castor oil plant, are very poisonous…,however, once prepared commercially castor oil contains no toxic characteristics.. The oil extracted from the bea

Jatropha : Imminent Bio Diesel J atropha is native to Central America and now grows naturally in many tropical and subtropical areas, including India.. .. The mature small trees do not grow very tall. Jatropha was introduced by the Portuguese as a valuable hedge plant in Asia. In India it can grow as a sturdy bush , in scanty rain -areas, and providing rich dividends as raw material for Bio Fuel * The planting of Jatropha as a hedge -- protects the soil from wind erosion. The wind carries the soil & accumulates at the base of the plants, forming boundaries along the ground. This holds in water, more water absorption & less soil erosion. Planted in desert areas decreases the loss of land ,through deforestation or desertification. * The hardy Jatropha is resistant to drought and pests. * It produces seeds containing up to 40% oil. When the seeds are crushed and processed, the resulting oil can be used in a standard diesel engine. The residue can also be processed into biomass to

Saturday 4th October 2008 Common name: Amla, Indian Gooseberry. Botanical name: Phyllanthus emblica. 1. A mla (pronounced Awanlah) {N is silent} Is an indigenous tree to the Indian subcontinent, Amla is a small to medium sized deciduous tree (plants that shed their leaves annually at the approach of a season of cold or drought), reaching 8 to 18 m in height, the fruit is edible of the same name. The Tree is pleasing to look at….with crooked trunk and spreading branches drooping down. The leaves are simple, nearly stalk less and closely set along slender branchlets. The leaves are often mistaken for leaflets of pinnate leaves (describes a leaf that has a central axis or stem with parts branching off it). The flowers are small, greenish-yellow or pinkish. The fruit is nearly spherical, light greenish yellow, quite shiny and hard looking, with 6 vertical stripes or furrows. Ripening in autumn, the berries are harvested by hand after climbing to upper branches bearing the fruits. Sour &

Friday, The 3rd of October 2008 Please click on the pictures to enlarge Orchid Cactus T he Orchid Cactus, has bloomed tonight! ummm .. & it stirs up a lot of emotions within…. Its heartening .. Like my niece just commented on the images.. ‘ A thing of beauty is joy for ever….’ & Tomorrow it will no more…. Orchid Cactus , Jungle Cactus, Night Blooming Cereus, Botanical name: Epiphyllum oxypetalum Family: Cactaceae (cactus family) Epiphyllum Oxypetalum is by far the most extensively cultivated species from this genus of cacti. Cactus grows as an epiphyte (a plant that grows on top of or is supported by another plant but does not depend on it for nutrition) in the tropical rainforests of Guatemala and Honduras. These rainforests have high humidity, and temperatures that are constant throughout the year. Orchid cactus blooms at night, since the flowers are mostly pollinated by bats and large moths. They have large white star-like flowers to help their pollinators loca