The growing of tea invariably replaces biodiversity-rich tropical forests with a beautiful, but single species (monoculture). Soil erosion, competition for water, pollution from fertilizers and the requirement of firewood to fuel tea driers, are some of the main environmental concerns that accompany commercial tea cultivation.

By following the Sustainable Agriculture Network Standard, tea growers can pro-actively address social and environmental challenges. By complying with the requirements of this standard, tea estates can obtain "Rainforest Alliance Certification".

In the absence of any viable regulatory mechanism for gene technology, the Supr-eme Court has set up a six-member expert committee to monitor field trials on certain crops using genetically-modified organisms. The panel. which has three months to submit its rep-ort, will ensure that the open tests do not have any adverse impact on the traditional crops, flora and fauna due to the release of harmful GMOs into the atmosphere.

Fire erupted on Margalla Hills at two points on Wednesday, gutting a huge stretch of forest area, besides affecting flora and fauna.

The area under forest cover in Karnataka has increased by four square kilometres, according to a latest report of the Forest Survey of India. It says the change has been noticed in the assessment year of 2009, compared to the survey carried out in 2008. The report was put in the public domain recently.

Sources in the State government told The Hindu that the change for the better was being seen for the first time in about a decade. What was noteworthy was that at a time when forests were being “plundered in terms of their flora and fauna and conservationists facing a tough challenge,” the increase, though negligible, marks a refreshing change.”

Plants are flowering faster than scientists predicted in response to climate change, research in the United States showed on Wednesday, which could have devastating knock-on effects for food chains and ecosystems.

Global warming is having a significant impact on hundreds of plant and animal species around the world, changing some breeding, migration and feeding patterns, scientists say.