Andhra Pradesh is a state on the east coast of southern India. It is the seventh-largest state and the tenth-most populous in the country. Telugu, one of India's classical languages, is the primary official language and the most widely spoken language in state and as well as in South India. Amaravati is the state capital, while the largest city is Visakhapatnam. The state shares borders with Odisha to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the north, Karnataka to the southwest, Tamil Nadu to the south, Telangana to northwest and the Bay of Bengal to the east. It has the second-longest coastline in India at about 974 kilometres (605 mi).
Omidyar Network is a self-styled "philanthropic investment firm," composed of a foundation and an impact investment firm. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, Omidyar Network has committed over US$1.5 billion to nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies across multiple investment areas. According to the OECD, Omidyar Network's financing for 2019 development increased by 10% to US$58.9 million.
Pulicat Lake is the second largest brackish water lagoon in India,, measuring 759 square kilometres (293 sq mi). A major part of the lagoon lies in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. The lagoon is one of three important wetlands that attracts northeast monsoon rain clouds during the October to December season. The lagoon comprises the following regions: Pulicat Lake, Marshy/Wetland Land Region (AP), Venadu Reserve Forest (AP), and Pernadu Reserve Forest (AP). The lagoon was cut across in the middle by the Sriharikota Link Road, which divided the water body into lagoon and marshy land. The lagoon encompasses the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary. The barrier island of Sriharikota separates the lagoon from the Bay of Bengal and is home to the Indian Space Research Organisation's Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
There are four categories of protected areas in India, constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Tiger reserves consist of areas under national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. There are 53 tiger reserves in India. As of January 2023, the protected areas of India cover 173,629.52 square kilometres (67,038.73 sq mi), roughly 5.28% of the total geographical area of the country.
The flora of India is one of the richest in the world due to the wide range of climate, topology and habitat in the country. There are estimated to be over 18,000 species of flowering plants in India, which constitute some 6-7 percent of the total plant species in the world. India is home to more than 50,000 species of plants, including a variety of endemics. The use of plants as a source of medicines has been an integral part of life in India from the earliest times. There are more than 3000 Indian plant species officially documented as possessing into eight main floristic regions : Western Himalayas, Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Indus plain, Ganges plain, the Deccan, Malabar and the Andaman Islands.
Ceres is a non-profit sustainability advocacy organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, and founded in 1989. As of May 2017, its president is Mindy Lubber.
Global Witness is an international NGO that works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses worldwide. The organisation has offices in London and Washington, D.C.
Tholkappia Poonga or Adyar Eco Park is an ecological park set up by the Government of Tamil Nadu in the Adyar estuary area of Chennai, India. According to the government, the project, conceived based on the master plan for the restoration of the vegetation of the freshwater ecosystems of the Coromandel Coast, especially the fragile ecosystem of the Adyar estuary and creek, was expected to cost around ₹ 1,000 million which will include the beautification of 358 acres of land. The park's ecosystem consists of tropical dense evergreen forest, predominantly comprising trees and shrubs that have thick dark green foliage throughout the year, with over 160 woody species, and comprises six vegetative elements such as trees, shrubs, lianas, epiphytes, herbs and tuberous species. The park was opened to public by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on 22 January 2011 and named after the renowned Tamil scholar Tholkappiar. About 65 percent of the park is covered by water and artefacts and signages. In the first 2 months of its inauguration, nearly 4,000 children from several schools in the city and the nearby Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts have visited the park to learn about wetland conservation, eco-restoration and water management. While the first phase of the ecopark covered about 4.16 acres of CRZ-III area, the entire area covered under the second phase falls under this category.
Mathis Wackernagel is a Swiss-born sustainability advocate. He is President of Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability think tank with offices in Oakland, California, and Geneva, Switzerland. The think-tank is a non-profit that focuses on developing and promoting metrics for sustainability.
Forestry in India is a significant rural industry and a major environmental resource. India is one of the ten most forest-rich countries of the world. Together, India and 9 other countries account for 67 percent of the total forest area of the world. India's forest cover grew at 0.20% annually over 1990–2000, and has grown at the rate of 0.7% per year over 2000–2010, after decades where forest degradation was a matter of serious concern.
Jaya Prakash Narayana is an Indian liberal politician, activist and a former public administrator. He is the founder and president of Lok Satta Party. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Kukatpally constituency of Telangana in India.
Seva Mandir is an Indian grassroot NGO based in Udaipur, in Rajasthan state, founded by Dr. Mohan Sinha Mehta in 1968. Seva Mandir works mainly in natural resource development and sustainability, village development, women empowerment, education and health care, continuing education, and children's welfare.
Conservation in India can be traced to the time of Ashoka, tracing to the Ashoka Pillar Edicts as one of the earliest conservation efforts in the world. Conservation generally refers to the act of carefully and efficiently using natural resources. Conservation efforts begun in India before 5 AD, as efforts are made to have a forest administration. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the ministry responsible for implementation of environmental and forestry program in India, which include the management of national parks, conservation of flora and fauna of India, and pollution controls.
Anwaruddin Choudhury is an Indian ornithologist and mammalogist and wildlife conservation across North-East India. His work spans decades of research, field studies, and policy advocacy. He has served in various governmental roles, including as Deputy Commissioner in Assam and as Secretary in the state government, ultimately retiring as the Divisional Commissioner of Barak Valley in August 2019. Choudhury is also the Honorary Chief Executive and a trustee of the Rhino Foundation for Nature in North-East India Born into a family with an educational background, Choudhury was raised in Shillong & finished his matriculation in 1974. He initially pursued science but later earned a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Geography, followed by a Master's degree from Gauhati University, where he also received a gold medal for his academic performance. He completed his PhD in 1989 on primate studies and DSc in 2008 on review of mammals of North-east India, both from Gauhati University
The Provisions of the Panchayats Act, 1996 abbreviated as PESA Act is a law enacted by the Government of India for ensuring self governance through traditional Gram Sabhas for people living in the Scheduled Areas of India. Scheduled Areas are areas identified by the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Scheduled Areas are found in ten states of India which have predominant population of tribal communities. The Scheduled Areas, were not covered by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment or Panchayati Raj Act of the Indian Constitution as provided in the Part IX of the Constitution. PESA was enacted on 24 December 1996 to extend the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution to Scheduled Areas, with certain exceptions and modifications.
Nara Lokesh is an Indian politician serving as the Minister of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications and the Human Resources Development departments in the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the General Secretary of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He is the son of N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and leader of the TDP. Lokesh served as the Minister of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development and the Information Technology, Electronics and Communication departments from 2017 to 2019 while being elected as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) in 2017.
Papagni River is a non-perennial, inter-state river in southern India that flows through the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is a right bank tributary of the Pennar river.
The Environmentalist Foundation of India (E.F.I) is an environmental conservation group based out of Chennai, Hyderabad, Puducherry, Bangalore, Trivandrum, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Coimbatore which focuses on wildlife conservation and habitat restoration. Started in 2007 and registered in 2011, the organisation is known for its work in cleaning and scientific restoration of lakes in India for biodiversity. The organisation and its efforts grew from one pond in Chennai to include over 167 water bodies in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal in the last 14 years.
The Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation (VENHF) is a registered non-profit organisation (2012) with its headquarter in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, India, working for the protection and conservation of the nature, natural resources and rights of the nature dependent communities in the ecologically fragile landscape of Vindhya Range in India. Vindhya Bachao Abhiyan is the flagship campaign of the organization.
