'Water man of India' Rajendra Singh bags top prize

An award known as "the Nobel Prize for water" has been given to an Indian campaigner who has brought water to 1,000 villages.

The judges of the Stockholm Water Prize say his methods have also prevented floods, restored soil and rivers, and brought back wildlife.

The prize-winner, Rajendra Singh, is dubbed "the Water Man of India"The judges say his technique is cheap, simple, and that his ideas should be followed worldwide.Mr Singh uses a modern version of the ancient Indian technique of rainwater harvesting.It involves building low-level banks of earth to hold back the flow of water in the wet season and allow water to seep into the ground for future use.

Mr Singh discovered the vital need for solutions to disappearing water while working in a rural village

He first trained as a medic, but when he took up a post in a rural village in arid Rajasthan he was told the greatest need was not health care but drinking water.

Groundwater had been sucked dry by farmers, and as water disappeared, crops failed, rivers, forests and wildlife disappeared and people left for the towns.

"When we started our work, we were only looking at the drinking water crisis and how to solve that," Mr Singh said.

"Today our aim is higher. This is the century of exploitation, pollution and encroachment. To stop all this, to convert the war on water into peace, that is my life's goal."

The Stockholm International Water Institute, which presented the prize, said his lessons were essential as climate change alters weather patterns round the world.

The methods are based on an ancient Indian technique

Its director, Torgny Holmgren, said: "In a world where demand for freshwater is booming, we will face a severe water crisis within decades if we do not learn how to better take care of our water. Mr Singh is a beacon of hope."

In its citation, the judges say: "Today's water problems cannot be solved by science or technology alone. They are human problems of governance, policy, leadership, and social resilience.

"Rajendra Singh's life work has been in building social capacity to solve local water problems through participatory action, empowerment of women, linking indigenous know-how with modern scientific and technical approaches and upending traditional patterns of development and resource use."

The award was applauded by Katherine Pygott, a leading UK water engineer who has drawn on Mr Singh's work to help prevent flooding in the UK.

From BBC News

Spain: Rare Iberian lynx tracked in Madrid region

The critically endangered Iberian lynx has returned to the Madrid region of Spain for the first time in decades, it's reported.

Conservation efforts have successfully raised the Iberian lynx population to more than 300, but many have been killed on Spanish roads

It's more than 40 years since the species has set foot in the region, but now one has been tracked near a town just 50km (31 miles) south of the Spanish capital, El Pais reports. The male lynx, called Kentaro, was born in captivity and released along with seven others in Toledo in late 2014. Since then he's been quite the adventurer, travelling about 100km and crossing several motorways, according to conservationists. "Not all lynxes are this adventurous. They tend to stay close to where they were born," says Ramon Perez de Ayala from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). But Kentaro has "packed his bags and set off on his travels," he says. "We've been lucky because the roads he has crossed are well fenced and he hasn't been run over. He will have followed the fences until he found a bridge, and then crossed over there." Kentaro wears a GPS collar which allows conservationists to track his whereabouts.

The Iberian Lynx is the world's most endangered feline, and the only breeding populations are both in southern Spain. Traffic is one of the the biggest dangers for the species - according to El Pais, at least 21 lynxes were hit and killed on Spanish roads in 2014, and 14 died the year before. The WWF wants Spain's regional governments to put in place special measures which would help protect lynxes, including fencing off roads and motorways.

From BBC news