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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/author/mongabayauthor/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2026 07:30:47 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
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					<title>El Niño, the monsoon, and the confusion of Kerala&#8217;s fishers [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/el-nino-the-monsoon-and-the-confusion-of-keralas-fishers-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/el-nino-the-monsoon-and-the-confusion-of-keralas-fishers-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Sep 2026 13:00:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Kurien]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arabian sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fishermen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sea]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/24232735/Kochi_Fishing_Fishermen_Kerala_India-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41191</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Science, Coast, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Fish, Fishing, Monsoons, Oceans, and Villages]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The phone call came on a humid July afternoon. It was a fisherman from Marianad, a village in Thiruvananthapuram district where I first began my work with fishers in 1973. He was calling to share what he was seeing at sea. The sea had been rough, he said. Fishers were still going out, despite the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The phone call came on a humid July afternoon. It was a fisherman from Marianad, a village in Thiruvananthapuram district where I first began my work with fishers in 1973. He was calling to share what he was seeing at sea. The sea had been rough, he said. Fishers were still going out, despite the risk, because there were plenty of fish in the deeper waters. The turbid water was working in their favour too — fish were getting caught in the nets more easily. Supply on the shore was short, so prices were high. Earnings were good. But something puzzled him. The sea felt cooler now than he remembered it in earlier Julys. That was not what he expected. It was not what I expected either. The name that came from fishers To make sense of it, it helps to start with a story from the other side of the world. Off the coast of Peru and Ecuador, fishers noticed that every few years, around Christmas, the ocean would turn unusually warm, and the fish they depended on would vanish. They named the phenomenon after the season it arrived in — El Niño or &#8220;the little boy,&#8221; referring to &#8220;the Christ Child&#8221;. A name given by fishers has since become the scientific term for one of the most powerful climate patterns on Earth. El Niño is not a local event. When the surface of the tropical Pacific warms, the effects ripple outward across the planet — shifting rainfall belts,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/el-nino-the-monsoon-and-the-confusion-of-keralas-fishers-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>India postpones Cambodia tiger reintroduction</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/india-postpones-cambodia-tiger-reintroduction/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/india-postpones-cambodia-tiger-reintroduction/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2026 13:03:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/24115921/3646793728_c8315f30a0_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=41185</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Conservation, Extinction, Forests, In-situ conservation, Mammals, Mountains, Protected Areas, Tigers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India and Cambodia have postponed a plan to reintroduce Bengal tigers into Cambodia, moving the target from 2025 to 2028 after a review found that the available prey base in the proposed release landscape remains too low to support a viable tiger population. The delay comes months after Mongabay reported concerns among conservation scientists about [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India and Cambodia have postponed a plan to reintroduce Bengal tigers into Cambodia, moving the target from 2025 to 2028 after a review found that the available prey base in the proposed release landscape remains too low to support a viable tiger population. The delay comes months after Mongabay reported concerns among conservation scientists about whether the Cardamom Mountains landscape has sufficient prey to sustain tigers over the long term. Cambodia’s last confirmed tiger was photographed by a camera trap in 2007, and the country formally declared tigers extinct in 2016. The proposed release site is in the Cardamom Mountains of southwestern Cambodia, in the 926,123-hectare Kravanh National Park. The landscape is among Cambodia’s most intact forest areas, but prey availability has remained a major concern. A 2020 study assessing the feasibility of tiger reintroduction in the Cardamom Rainforest Landscape found a high risk that prey densities were insufficient to support a viable tiger population. Researchers estimated a less than 25% probability that the area could support 25 adult tigers. The study found an 80% probability the forest had enough prey to support a small population of five tigers. Carnivore biologist K. Ullas Karanth, who was quoted in Mongabay’s June report, has emphasised that prey availability ultimately determines whether tigers can survive in a landscape. He has cautioned that releasing tigers into forests without sufficient prey is unlikely to succeed. The revised 2028 timeline gives Cambodia additional time to rebuild prey populations and strengthen protection in the proposed tiger habitat.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/india-postpones-cambodia-tiger-reintroduction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Odours offer new clues in monitoring big cats</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/odours-offer-new-clues-in-monitoring-big-cats/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/odours-offer-new-clues-in-monitoring-big-cats/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2026 10:17:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sneha Mahale]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leopard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leopards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife monitoring]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/23180257/Tiger_spray_marking._DavidRaju_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41161</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Camera traps, Cats, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Forests, Mammals, Research, Technology and Conservation, Tigers, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Camera trapping and genetic sampling are big cat monitoring techniques that can estimate population size, density and identify individuals. But they often provide limited information about an animal’s age, sex, reproductive status or health. A new study now suggests that the animal’s urine and scat could reveal more than its presence in a forest. Researchers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Camera trapping and genetic sampling are big cat monitoring techniques that can estimate population size, density and identify individuals. But they often provide limited information about an animal’s age, sex, reproductive status or health. A new study now suggests that the animal’s urine and scat could reveal more than its presence in a forest. Researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Ahmedabad University and the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences tested whether volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in urine and scat could provide a non-invasive way of collecting information about Bengal tigers and Indian leopards. “The goal was to see whether you could ‘read’ biologically meaningful information — species, age, sex, even reproductive state — directly from the odours the animals leave behind, without ever having to catch, dart, or physically handle the animal,” says B.V. Aditi Prasad, the corresponding author of the study and currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany. Testing the method The researchers collected urine and scat from nine captive tigers and 15 captive leopards at three zoos — Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bengaluru, Kamala Nehru Zoological Park in Ahmedabad and Sayajibaug Zoo in Vadodara. The ages and sexes of the animals were known, allowing researchers to compare their chemical profiles with these characteristics. A new study of tiger and leopard samples in India suggests that a big cat&#8217;s urine and scat could reveal more about its ecology than camera traps and genetic samples. Image by Prasenjeet Yadav.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/odours-offer-new-clues-in-monitoring-big-cats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/odours-offer-new-clues-in-monitoring-big-cats/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Five orangutans found in Odisha forest face long road back home to Indonesia</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/five-orangutans-found-in-odisha-forest-face-long-road-back-home-to-indonesia/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/five-orangutans-found-in-odisha-forest-face-long-road-back-home-to-indonesia/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2026 10:11:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Junaidi Hanafiah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[exotic species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pets]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/23144141/Orangutan-Sumatera-di-SRA-7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41150</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mizoram and Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered species, Environmental Crime, Environmental Law, Human Wildlife Conflict, Law Enforcement, Monkeys, Pet Trade, Primates, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The five infant orangutans found roaming a woodland in Odisha earlier this month may have been trafficked across several international borders — and now face a long journey home through the different legal and bureaucratic systems of India and Indonesia, conservationists say. “This starts with hunting in the wild, separating babies from their mothers, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The five infant orangutans found roaming a woodland in Odisha earlier this month may have been trafficked across several international borders — and now face a long journey home through the different legal and bureaucratic systems of India and Indonesia, conservationists say. “This starts with hunting in the wild, separating babies from their mothers, and transporting them across various regions, then selling them or keeping them as exotic pets,” said M. Indra Kurnia, director of conservation at the Sumatran Orangutan Lestari Foundation-Orangutan Information Center (YOSL-OIC). The five infants were found on September 8 by locals near the Bichitrapur forest area in Balasore district, Odisha. Authorities are investigating how the animals came to be there, and the possible involvement of an international wildlife trafficking network. Only Indonesia and Malaysia have native orangutan populations, with the Indonesian island of Sumatra around 2,000 kilometres across the Indian Ocean from Odisha. The Bornean species lives in Indonesia and Malaysia, while the Sumatran and Tapanuli species are found only in Indonesia. “We mustn’t just see this as a local case in the country where the animals were found,” Indra said. This infant Sumatran orangutan in Indonesia was separated from its mother when it was forcibly taken from the wild by hunters. Image by Junaidi Hanafiah/Mongabay Indonesia. Questions over wildlife smuggling route This isn’t the first time stolen orangutans have been discovered in India, thousands of kilometres from their mothers. In 2022, authorities in India recovered two stolen juvenile Sumatran orangutans in the north of Mizoram.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/five-orangutans-found-in-odisha-forest-face-long-road-back-home-to-indonesia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>The ghost of the mountains</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-ghost-of-the-mountains/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-ghost-of-the-mountains/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2026 13:41:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Team Mongabay-India]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Divya Kilikar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Project Snow Leopard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow leopard]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/23004525/snow-leopard-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=41148</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Species File]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Endangered species, Environment, Himalayas, Mammals, Wildlife, and Wildlife Protection Act]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Ladakh is planning to introduce guided wildlife safaris along snow-leopard trails. Conservationists warn that opening fragile high-altitude wilderness routes to tourists could disturb the species and other wildlife. The union territory is home to the country’s largest contiguous snow leopard habitat. The snow leopard (Panthera [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Ladakh is planning to introduce guided wildlife safaris along snow-leopard trails. Conservationists warn that opening fragile high-altitude wilderness routes to tourists could disturb the species and other wildlife. The union territory is home to the country’s largest contiguous snow leopard habitat. The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is one of the world’s most elusive big cats, earning it the moniker ‘ghost of the mountains’. Its thick, pale grey coat with dark rosettes helps it camouflage into the snowy, rocky environment, making it difficult to spot. A long, thick tail helps the cat balance on the rocks and protects it from the cold. Unlike other big cats, snow leopards do not roar. Instead, they communicate through growls, high-pitched yowls and chuffing. Snow leopards are found in high mountains across Central and Northern Asia, including the Himalayan region. A recent report estimated India&#8217;s snow leopard population to be 718, while globally, there are over 3,386 mature individuals in the wild. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Species categorises the snow leopard as vulnerable due to its rapidly declining population. In India, it receives the highest legal protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Snow leopards are apex predators, crucial to maintaining the ecological balance of fragile mountain ecosystems. Yet their survival is increasingly under pressure owing to growing tourism, road and dam construction, habitat degradation, and climate-driven changes. In a report that Mongabay-India published in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-ghost-of-the-mountains/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>As city trees fall, experts point to poor planning and civic apathy</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-city-trees-fall-experts-point-to-poor-planning-and-civic-apathy/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-city-trees-fall-experts-point-to-poor-planning-and-civic-apathy/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2026 10:23:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Esha Lohia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[city planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban trees]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/22195358/1b24c979-f19d-4c6c-8f13-246673aef5ff-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41135</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Climate Science, Ecosystem services, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Floods, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, when Mumbaikars hoped the monsoon would end the heatwave, heavy rains and gusty winds turned the city’s tree-lined roads into hazard zones. Now, the monsoon in Mumbai does not just mean floods; it also means fearing that the next tree to fall could be the one you’re walking under. In a span [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, when Mumbaikars hoped the monsoon would end the heatwave, heavy rains and gusty winds turned the city’s tree-lined roads into hazard zones. Now, the monsoon in Mumbai does not just mean floods; it also means fearing that the next tree to fall could be the one you’re walking under. In a span of a week in June-July, three people died in separate tree-related incidents. On June 30, 11-year-old Vihaan Srivastava died when a 60-year-old tree fell on the school bus he was on, in Chembur. Kumar Hasan Raza Jahangir Alam Syed, 18, died when a large tree branch struck him while he was riding a motorcycle in Aarey Colony, on July 5. On the same day, Yunus Kundawala, 63, died after he was struck by a falling tree in Kurla. Between June 22 and July 17, 902 trees have been uprooted, and 1,251 branches have fallen across public spaces in Mumbai. July 5 and July 6 recorded the highest single-day figures during the rain, 203 and 523 tree-fall incidents, respectively. Data from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) shows 655 tree falls in 2022, 687 in 2023, 653 in 2024 and 855 in 2025. This year, on July 7, BMC commissioner Ashwini Bhide, in a press conference, said concrete roads alone are not the cause of the problem, and attributed the tree-falling incidents to strong winds. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), gusty wind speeds reached 70-80 kilometres per hour between July 6 and July 7. However,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-city-trees-fall-experts-point-to-poor-planning-and-civic-apathy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>El Niño brings drought and extreme rain together</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/el-nino-brings-drought-and-extreme-rain-together/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/el-nino-brings-drought-and-extreme-rain-together/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Sep 2026 13:52:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[extreme rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heavy rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/22113123/11th_century_Bhoramdeo_temple_Kawardha_Chhattisgarh_-_2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=41121</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Flood and drought]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Gujarat]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Climate Science, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Floods, Global Warming, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Mandvi taluka in Kutch district, Gujarat, received around 177 mm of rain in just eight hours on September 15, causing widespread waterlogging and disrupting normal life. Until then, the district had faced a 70% rainfall deficit. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on September 15 that several parts of Gujarat, along with Madhya Pradesh and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Mandvi taluka in Kutch district, Gujarat, received around 177 mm of rain in just eight hours on September 15, causing widespread waterlogging and disrupting normal life. Until then, the district had faced a 70% rainfall deficit. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on September 15 that several parts of Gujarat, along with Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, received heavy rainfall (120-200 mm). Other districts of Gujarat have also seen heavy rain in just a few hours, especially in an El Niño year when rain deficit remains a major concern. Umergam in Valsad district of Gujarat received 1,064 mm of rain in just one day on July 23, the third-highest daily rainfall ever recorded in the country after Sohra (1,563.3 mm on June 16, 1995) and Aminidivi (1,168.5 mm on May 6, 2004), according to the IMD. The region received such intense rainfall that the state government had to seek help from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Some 352 people were rescued in South Gujarat, while over 22,000 people in Navsari and Valsad were shifted to safer locations. Studies highlight such phenomena, especially in El Niño years. A study published in the journal Science in 2025 said that although El Niño events are known to suppress total summer rainfall throughout India, they increase the frequency of extreme daily rainfall events in certain regions. The study used data from 1901 to 2020 to reach this conclusion. The study claimed that the broad Central Monsoon Zone in central India, and the narrow&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/el-nino-brings-drought-and-extreme-rain-together/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/el-nino-brings-drought-and-extreme-rain-together/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Community-based mangrove monitoring should compliment satellite data [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/community-based-mangrove-monitoring-should-compliment-satellite-data-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/community-based-mangrove-monitoring-should-compliment-satellite-data-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Sep 2026 10:56:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Utchimahali Mariappan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate resilience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/22101938/02_Kudikadu_UM-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41118</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Tamil Nadu]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coast, Commentary, Community based conservation, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Forests, Mangroves, Nature-based Climate Solutions, Plantations, Plants, Positive Environmental, Reforestation, Satellite Imagery, and Villages]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Early one morning at Kudikadu, a small fishing hamlet on the Uppanar river in Cuddalore district, a forester and their team members walked the mangrove nursery before the tide turned. They carried no satellite receiver or drones; only notebooks and pencils. They counted saplings, noted which ones survived the last spring tide and which did [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Early one morning at Kudikadu, a small fishing hamlet on the Uppanar river in Cuddalore district, a forester and their team members walked the mangrove nursery before the tide turned. They carried no satellite receiver or drones; only notebooks and pencils. They counted saplings, noted which ones survived the last spring tide and which did not. By now, hundreds of villagers are enrolled in Tamil Nadu&#8217;s Village Mangrove Councils, walking their own stretches of coast on their own schedules to observe the mangroves. The result? Something remote sensing alone cannot give you: ground truth, gathered frequently, at fine scale, with enough sampling points across enough seasons to mean something. This matters because Tamil Nadu&#8217;s mangrove restoration story is largely a story told from space. A recent assessment by Anna University&#8217;s remote sensing department reported that the state&#8217;s mangrove area roughly doubled, from about 4,500 hectares (ha) to 9,039 ha, between 2021 and 2024, an increase linked to plantation drives and protection measures carried out over the same period. This value is the sum of new plantations making up 40.1% (3,625 ha) of the total area and existing mangrove forests comprising 59.9% (5,414 ha). The figures were derived mostly from satellite imagery, and the scale of the jump has been debated within the scientific community, with several researchers questioning whether such a rapid, plantation-driven increase in green cover reflects genuine ecological recovery or simply more pixels reading as canopy. That debate is itself the point: when the only evidence for a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/community-based-mangrove-monitoring-should-compliment-satellite-data-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Monsoon amplifies antibiotic resistance gene levels in river water used by residents</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/monsoon-amplifies-antibiotic-resistance-gene-levels-in-river-water-used-by-residents/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/monsoon-amplifies-antibiotic-resistance-gene-levels-in-river-water-used-by-residents/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2026 14:08:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lekha Bandopadhyay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/21121256/Rispana-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41096</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uttarakhand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Encroachment, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Floods, Himalayas, Natural Resources, Pollution, Rivers, Roads, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In May 2019, Kenyum Bagra, a Ph.D. student from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, was collecting river water and sediment samples at multiple locations in Uttarakhand, along Bindal Rao and Rispana, two heavily polluted sub-tributaries of the Ganga river, flowing through Dehradun’s densely populated settlements. While Rispana is a perennial stream, she noted that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In May 2019, Kenyum Bagra, a Ph.D. student from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, was collecting river water and sediment samples at multiple locations in Uttarakhand, along Bindal Rao and Rispana, two heavily polluted sub-tributaries of the Ganga river, flowing through Dehradun’s densely populated settlements. While Rispana is a perennial stream, she noted that Bindal, a seasonal river, was dry at upstream locations, as expected at this time before the arrival of the monsoon (between June and September) except near the settlements where there was a slim flow. This flow was the city’s wastewater that drains into the riverbed throughout the year. Running in parallel, Rispana and Bindal respectively carry almost 10 million litres per day (MLD) and about 18 MLD of municipal wastewater, before joining downstream to form the Suswa river, a polluted river stretch listed under the Namami Gange river restoration programme. Bagra also noticed that both rivers were being used to dump solid waste. “During my work, I saw solid waste dumped directly into these rivers, as well as dead animals, while children were playing and bathing just downstream,” says Bagra, now an Assistant Professor at IIT-Varanasi. Based on seasonal (pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon) and multilocational samplings in 2019, Bagra’s mentor Gargi Singh, Associate Professor, IIT-Roorkee, recently reported that throughout the sampling stretches, these rivers showed widespread faecal and anthropogenic pollution. Monsoon rainfall was also associated with a surge in antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) in both of these rivers. The river sediments were found to contain&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/monsoon-amplifies-antibiotic-resistance-gene-levels-in-river-water-used-by-residents/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/monsoon-amplifies-antibiotic-resistance-gene-levels-in-river-water-used-by-residents/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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						<item>
					<title>Sacred groves are better at growing future forests in the Western Ghats</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/sacred-groves-are-better-at-growing-future-forests-in-the-western-ghats/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/sacred-groves-are-better-at-growing-future-forests-in-the-western-ghats/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2026 11:31:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sacred groves]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/20201344/Durgawadi_ambe_hatvij_Junnar_pune_2_07-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41080</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the villages of the Western Ghats, some of the oldest and tallest trees do not grow inside a national park. They grow in sacred groves, small patches of old, mostly untouched forest that local communities have protected for generations, because they believe the trees belong to their deities and ancestors. A new study published [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the villages of the Western Ghats, some of the oldest and tallest trees do not grow inside a national park. They grow in sacred groves, small patches of old, mostly untouched forest that local communities have protected for generations, because they believe the trees belong to their deities and ancestors. A new study published in the journal PLOS One found that young trees regenerate far more successfully in these groves. Seeds dropped by fruit-eating birds are much likelier to survive and grow there than in surrounding farms and villages. India has more than 100,000 sacred groves, which are recognised as essential to community-based conservation. The Western Ghats is a mountain range that runs about 1,600 kilometres down India’s west coast, across six states. The study began there by chance. A team from the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF), which runs a giant-tree programme, had signed up a man in Vanzole village with a huge Terminalia bellirica (beheda) tree in his yard. Visiting, they saw giant trees all over the village. “It sparked a series of questions,” study co-author Kevin Matteson, associate director of Project Dragonfly at Miami University in the U.S. state of Ohio, told Mongabay in an email. How many giant trees were hiding in plain sight, and were birds like hornbills really using trees in such busy places? To find out, the team walked the whole village with two local experts, Namdev and Anant Shivgan, who mapped the land, identified the trees and led the team to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/sacred-groves-are-better-at-growing-future-forests-in-the-western-ghats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Floods affect millions in Bihar despite rainfall deficit</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/floods-affect-millions-despite-rainfall-deficit/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/floods-affect-millions-despite-rainfall-deficit/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2026 17:24:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashwini Kumar Shukla]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ganga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heavy rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/18162929/IMG_3596-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41051</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bihar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cities and Towns, Ecosystem services, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Floods, Rivers, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Geeta Devi is a resident of Gandhi Tola in Manihari, Katihar district, Bihar, one of the 15 districts worst hit by this year&#8217;s floods. Waist-deep water fills her three-room mud house, which is still standing. But she isn&#8217;t sure how long it will hold. She has kept her valuable belongings in an elevated place. Almost [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Geeta Devi is a resident of Gandhi Tola in Manihari, Katihar district, Bihar, one of the 15 districts worst hit by this year&#8217;s floods. Waist-deep water fills her three-room mud house, which is still standing. But she isn&#8217;t sure how long it will hold. She has kept her valuable belongings in an elevated place. Almost every day, the 35-year-old farmer braves the water to go from her makeshift shelter to her house check how much the water has risen and whether her things are safe. Geeta&#8217;s husband is in Delhi where he works as a daily-wage labourer, leaving her in charge of the flooded household, agricultural field, livestock and her four children. Scale of the losses Bihar is facing severe flooding, with the Ganga and several other rivers flowing above the danger mark. The Kosi is flowing above the danger mark at Baltara and Kursela, while the Budhi Gandak is above the mark at Khagaria. The Ganga is above the danger mark at Digha, Gandhi Ghat, Hathidah, Bhagalpur, Kahalgaon and Munger. The Punpun is above the mark at Paliganj, while the Bagmati and Ghaghra are above the danger mark at Benibad and Darauli. The floods have affected 15 districts of Bihar, with almost 50 lakh (5 million) people affected across 88 blocks and 575 gram panchayats, according to the state government’s press release dated September 14, 2026. Geeta is now sitting with her four children on a raised embankment beside the railway tracks. A small patch of cut grass lies&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/floods-affect-millions-despite-rainfall-deficit/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/floods-affect-millions-despite-rainfall-deficit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>As exotic primates reach India, welfare concerns grow</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-exotic-primates-reach-india-welfare-concerns-grow/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-exotic-primates-reach-india-welfare-concerns-grow/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2026 15:55:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[captive animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[exotic species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gibbon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monkeys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pets]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/18130613/PHOTO-2026-09-11-16-19-00-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41030</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Endangered species, Environmental Crime, Health impacts, Monkeys, Primates, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 2 of a series on exotic pet trade. The series looks at the health impacts, legal challenges and the ecological consequences of keeping exotic wild animals as pets. Part 1 elaborates on how the trade enables zoonoses or zoonotic disease spillovers. Recently, pictures and videos of five orangutan babies in a forest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 2 of a series on exotic pet trade. The series looks at the health impacts, legal challenges and the ecological consequences of keeping exotic wild animals as pets. Part 1 elaborates on how the trade enables zoonoses or zoonotic disease spillovers. Recently, pictures and videos of five orangutan babies in a forest in Odisha, thousands of miles from their real home, were plastered across many screens. As authorities investigate the antecedents of the critically endangered animals and discuss their future, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: international wildlife trafficking is widening its reach, and India is emerging as a destination. Keeping exotic animals and birds as pets, is not new in India. Non-native parrots have long dominated the scene. But keeping them legally involves navigating a complex set of legal procedures. The repertoire of species illegally reaching Indian shores, however, has expanded significantly in recent years. Primates are the new parrots. Gibbons, lemurs, marmosets and macaques, once difficult to find outside their native ranges, are increasingly turning up in seizures linked to the illegal pet trade. Primates are a group of mammals that includes humans, apes, monkeys, lemurs and lorises, generally characterised by grasping hands and feet, forward-facing eyes and relatively large brains. The seizure of an orangutan from an apartment bathroom in Mumbai in 2024, a Tamil actor’s pet Lar gibbon, and the controversy over two lemurs at Vantara highlight the emerging trade. An orangutan rescued by authorities at Yayasan Orangutan Sumatera Lestari – Orangutan Information Centre&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-exotic-primates-reach-india-welfare-concerns-grow/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-exotic-primates-reach-india-welfare-concerns-grow/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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						<item>
					<title>As tigers spill beyond reserves, India rethinks conservation</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-tigers-spill-beyond-reserves-india-rethinks-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-tigers-spill-beyond-reserves-india-rethinks-conservation/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2026 12:04:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[big cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tiger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wild Cats]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/18110753/Copy-of-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40999</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Forests, Grazing, Human Wildlife Conflict, Mammals, National Parks, People, Protected Areas, Tigers, Wildlife, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Forty-five-year-old Mahadeva Gowda was tending to his cotton farm in the village of Badagalapura in the southern Indian state of Karnataka when a tiger lunged at him from behind. He was caught unaware: He says he wasn’t aware that the forest department was trying to capture a tiger roaming through the areas. Before he realised [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Forty-five-year-old Mahadeva Gowda was tending to his cotton farm in the village of Badagalapura in the southern Indian state of Karnataka when a tiger lunged at him from behind. He was caught unaware: He says he wasn’t aware that the forest department was trying to capture a tiger roaming through the areas. Before he realised what was happening, the tiger swiped at his face, severely injuring his eyes and part of his face. After multiple reconstructive surgeries, Gowda has been left to live the rest of his life blinded, without eyes, his mouth only able to open partially, and his speech slurred. His wife, Indrani, says survival is extremely difficult for the family; Gowda was the household’s breadwinner, and now, he can’t work. He’s now become fully dependent on his wife for even his most basic needs. The incident occurred in mid-October 2025. Two weeks later, another farmer, 55-year-old Rajashekarappa, was grazing his cattle in a field when he encountered a tiger. It was fatal. Badagalapura and other villages that regularly report tiger encounters sit on the edge of the forest, placing them within what the forest department considers a “tiger landscape.” “Tigers have been present in this landscape for centuries and they constantly move here,” says S. Prabhakaran, who served as conservator of forests and oversaw operations at Karnataka’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve until earlier this year. The 1,456-square-kilometre park is home to between 154 and 175 tigers, according to a 2024 estimate by India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-tigers-spill-beyond-reserves-india-rethinks-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Reviving Himachal&#8217;s traditional Kath-Kuni homes to beat the heat</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/09/reviving-himachals-traditional-kath-kuni-homes-to-beat-the-heat/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/09/reviving-himachals-traditional-kath-kuni-homes-to-beat-the-heat/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2026 18:16:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rachna Verma]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kartik Chandramouli]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[architecture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate adaptation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Himalaya]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/17121449/Kath-Kuni-banner-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&#038;p=40969</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh and Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change Adaptation, Himalayas, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As Himachal Pradesh warms, people are reconsidering traditional Kath-Kuni homes for more than their cultural and architectural value. For generations, people in parts of the state built houses by interlocking layers of locally sourced timber and stone. The thick walls, wooden bands and locally adapted construction helped homes withstand the region’s earthquakes and harsh winters. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As Himachal Pradesh warms, people are reconsidering traditional Kath-Kuni homes for more than their cultural and architectural value. For generations, people in parts of the state built houses by interlocking layers of locally sourced timber and stone. The thick walls, wooden bands and locally adapted construction helped homes withstand the region’s earthquakes and harsh winters. Today, some families also find that these houses offer a different kind of comfort during increasingly warming summers. “We decided that we wanted a wooden house because it naturally maintains the temperature. It stays cool in summer and warm in winter,” says Asha Thakur, who is rebuilding her home in Kullu using the Kath-Kuni tradition. Her family waited almost two years for master mason Bhagat Ram, who has spent around 25 years learning and practising the craft. He describes the experience of being inside these houses simply: “These houses become pleasantly cool inside. It&#8217;s just like sitting under the shade of a tree on a hot day.” “It is a passive climate regulation system,” says Professor Thanshwimong Chowdhury of IIT-Mandi, who is studying materials and heat transmissibility in this traditional architectural style. As the Himalaya warms, can an old way of building become part of the response to a changing climate? This film was produced under Mongabay-India and ALT EFF’s Video Reporting Opportunity programme. Watch more videos from this series: How a village in Bastar in stopping forest fires How Maldharis find freshwater in one of India&#8217;s hottest landscapes &nbsp;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/09/reviving-himachals-traditional-kath-kuni-homes-to-beat-the-heat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Indus Waters Treaty needs modernisation, experts say amid deadlock</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/indus-water-treaty-needs-modernisation-experts-say-amid-deadlock/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/indus-water-treaty-needs-modernisation-experts-say-amid-deadlock/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2026 17:45:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hydroelectric Power]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water crisis]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/17161710/AP6804011606-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40983</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Dams, Environmental Politics, Politics, Rivers, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On August 31, the Permanent Court of Arbitration — an intergovernmental body headquartered in The Hague — passed an order that said India could not unilaterally retreat from or cast aside the Indus Waters Treaty, a 66-year-old pact governing water sharing between India and Pakistan. India rejected the court’s decision shortly after, prolonging the deadlock [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On August 31, the Permanent Court of Arbitration — an intergovernmental body headquartered in The Hague — passed an order that said India could not unilaterally retreat from or cast aside the Indus Waters Treaty, a 66-year-old pact governing water sharing between India and Pakistan. India rejected the court’s decision shortly after, prolonging the deadlock between both countries and throwing the Treaty’s future into a state of flux. The PCA’s order was issued more than a year after India placed the agreement in “abeyance” following attacks by militants that India said were linked to Pakistan-based groups. “India&#8217;s position on the Indus Waters Treaty is consistent. The IWT stands in abeyance in response to Pakistan&#8217;s continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. Pakistan must credibly and irrevocably abjure its support for cross-border terrorism,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told the press in July. The PCA said it contemplated the meaning of India’s decision, since the word “abeyance” finds no recognition in the Treaty. It concluded that none of the grounds publicly cited by India “could justify suspension or termination of the Treaty,” and that it “remains fully in force, and India must observe its obligations.” Though famously having remained intact through three wars, the ongoing suspension has reinforced the need to modernise the agreement, experts say, so it can account for geopolitical differences, climate impacts, and changing water consumption habits. “If rights under an agreement cannot be exercised within a period of time without uncertainty, then it means that process isn’t&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/indus-water-treaty-needs-modernisation-experts-say-amid-deadlock/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>High-altitude bird hotspots remain outside protected areas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/high-altitude-bird-hotspots-remain-outside-protected-areas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/high-altitude-bird-hotspots-remain-outside-protected-areas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2026 14:15:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kasturi Das]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[protected areas]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/17130909/RCNX0076-e1789630907282-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40967</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Biodiversity, Birds, Cats, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Himalayas, Mountains, Protected Areas, Wildlife, and Wildlife Protection Act]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the high-altitude landscapes of Himachal Pradesh, conservation efforts have long revolved around the charismatic snow leopard (Panthera uncia). But a new study suggests this focus may be leaving a host of other ecologically vital species outside the conservation umbrella. The study, led by scientists from the Nature Conservation Foundation and partner institutions, mapped the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the high-altitude landscapes of Himachal Pradesh, conservation efforts have long revolved around the charismatic snow leopard (Panthera uncia). But a new study suggests this focus may be leaving a host of other ecologically vital species outside the conservation umbrella. The study, led by scientists from the Nature Conservation Foundation and partner institutions, mapped the distribution of Galliformes — a group of heavy-bodied, ground-dwelling birds that includes pheasants and partridges — across 26,000 square kilometres. It found that only 12.5% of areas with high Galliformes species richness and 8.8% of areas with high concentrations of endemic species fall within existing protected areas (PA), designated zones for conservation of wildlife and habitats. The findings indicate that important bird habitats lie outside the designated protected areas. They point to the need for conservation planning that considers multiple species and the landscapes they share, rather than focusing mainly on flagship species such as the snow leopard. Snow leopard cameras reveal bird conservation gap The study, however, did not begin with birds at all. It grew out of a snow leopard survey conducted between 2016 and 2019. “We deployed close to 300 camera traps to estimate snow leopard populations,” said Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi, a scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation, and senior author of the paper. “We completed that work and published those results. That is when we realised that while studying these charismatic species, our camera traps had detected many other animals.” Suryawanshi and his team revisited the data to identify species that warranted&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/high-altitude-bird-hotspots-remain-outside-protected-areas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>People and the politics of contest, construction and compensation</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/people-and-the-politics-of-contest-construction-and-compensation/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/people-and-the-politics-of-contest-construction-and-compensation/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Sep 2026 16:34:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Satish Bhartiya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shailesh Shrivastava]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ken-betwa river linking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[River Interlinking]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/16154553/%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8C%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%A8-%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%B5-%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A1%E0%A4%BC%E0%A4%BE-%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE-%E0%A4%8F%E0%A4%95-%E0%A4%98%E0%A4%B0-1200x800-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40947</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Madhya Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Rivers, Tribes, and Villages]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The banks of the Barana river, where those affected by the Ken-Betwa project led the Panchtatva Satyagraha in July, now lie quiet. Although water levels have risen to cover much of the protest site, traces of the chita (pyre) and phansi (noose) used for demonstrations are still visible. The din of machinery can constantly be heard [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The banks of the Barana river, where those affected by the Ken-Betwa project led the Panchtatva Satyagraha in July, now lie quiet. Although water levels have risen to cover much of the protest site, traces of the chita (pyre) and phansi (noose) used for demonstrations are still visible. The din of machinery can constantly be heard from beneath the nearby bridge. A large number of slippers lie scattered near the bridge, left behind during police interventions on July 19. Bhagwati Saur, 60, who lives 30 km away in Mainari village in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh, arrived on July 4 at the protest site in Kupi village and returned home after the police cleared the site. She lives with her husband and six children in a five-room house. The family owns approximately five acres of agricultural land, where they grow mango, mahua and guava trees. She says that despite being affected by the project, she has, so far, received neither compensation for the house and land nor any related notice. “We pleaded for fair compensation, taking our appeal from Chhatarpur to Bhopal. When we were not heard, we had to raise our voices through the protest,” says Bhagwati. She is not the only one. In the affected villages, some families have been written off the compensation list, while others are awaiting payment. Many families are questioning the compensation rates and survey process. The April and July protests prompted the administration to order a reassessment of the families that had been left&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/people-and-the-politics-of-contest-construction-and-compensation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>The crane that loves a duet</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-crane-that-loves-a-duet/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-crane-that-loves-a-duet/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Sep 2026 15:52:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Team Mongabay-India]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/16140900/sarus-crane-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=40944</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Species File]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Ecology, Endangered species, Environment, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The female sarus crane typically initiates the duet, which has a three-part structure: an introduction, trill and main segment. ]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. A new study of sarus cranes across the agricultural landscapes of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat found that the birds follow a three-part structure in their duets, loud, coordinated calls produced by mating pairs. The female typically initiates the duet, which has an introduction, trill and main segment. While the acoustic details vary between populations and pairs, the researchers found no distinct regional “dialects”. The sarus crane (Antigone antigone) is the world’s tallest flying bird, standing up to 1.8 meters with a wingspan of 2.4 meters. The birds are recognisable through their grey bodies with a bright red neck and head. Unlike songbirds, sarus cranes have a more primitive vocal system called the pharynx and a limited number of vocalisations. While males and females are visually difficult to distinguish, researchers have found a way to tell them apart through the notes in their calls. The state bird of Uttar Pradesh, sarus cranes are mostly found in wetlands, grasslands and agricultural landscape. Its numbers are rising particularly in Uttar Pradesh’s Rohilkhand region. A total of 1,942 sarus cranes have been recorded in the region and forest department officials say the increase reflects ongoing conservation efforts, especially in wetlands and marshy areas, and is a boost for ecological balance. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Species categorises the sarus crane as vulnerable, which means it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild. In India, it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-crane-that-loves-a-duet/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>The itchy spread of Parthenium</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/the-itchy-spread-of-parthenium/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/the-itchy-spread-of-parthenium/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Sep 2026 15:32:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Barasha Das]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive species]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/15133254/1.-Vegetable-vendor-using-Parthenium-to-line-vegetable-baskets.-PC-Barasha-Das-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40926</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Health impacts, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a June morning in 2025, 24-year-old Niharika Deka of Kaliabor in Nagaon district, Assam, took the family’s cattle out to graze, filling in for her mother. By evening, an intense itch had developed around her eyelids and lips. Her mother had similar allergic reactions on her hands. Several doctors’ consultations and treatments followed. Doctors [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a June morning in 2025, 24-year-old Niharika Deka of Kaliabor in Nagaon district, Assam, took the family’s cattle out to graze, filling in for her mother. By evening, an intense itch had developed around her eyelids and lips. Her mother had similar allergic reactions on her hands. Several doctors’ consultations and treatments followed. Doctors initially suspected a cosmetic trigger. “The symptoms eased with medication, but the itch would flare up the moment I stepped into the fields or sometimes even outside the house. We kept shuttling between doctors,” Deka said. The picture became clearer when other villagers and students began reporting similar rashes and allergic episodes on exposed skin. Suspicion narrowed to a small, white-flowering wild plant that had recently begun proliferating across the locality. When its conspicuous flowering subsided after August, the allergies eased too. When the flowers returned in the summer of 2026, so did the itching. Deka said the repeated flare-ups have left dark patches around her eyelids and mouth, with similar discolouration on her mother’s hands. “It looks awful, and we don’t know if it’ll fade. I&#8217;m of marriageable age, and my parents are worried,” she said. About 150 km away, in Raja Mayong in Morigaon district, farmer Mahesh Nath is grappling with the same weed on his one-acre plot, where he grows vegetables and grains for a living. “It outpaces everything else,” he said. Around 2021, parthenium covered nearly 70% of his plot. During floods, Nath and his wife uprooted the plants when the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/the-itchy-spread-of-parthenium/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>BRICS declaration calls for climate action while recognising fossil fuel role</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/brics-declaration-calls-for-climate-action-while-recognising-fossil-fuel-role/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/brics-declaration-calls-for-climate-action-while-recognising-fossil-fuel-role/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Sep 2026 10:54:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/15102527/AP20240245078748-e1789448382957-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=40925</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Delhi, Global, and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon emissions, Carbon Finance, Carbon Offset, Carbon Trading, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Change Mitigation, Coal, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Natural Resources]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Amid increasing climate impacts and a fractured geopolitical order, the BRICS Summit in India underlined the importance of climate resilience in the New Delhi Declaration, along with energy security as a crucial foundation for social and economic development, national security and the welfare of all nations. The New Delhi Declaration, a consensus document adopted on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Amid increasing climate impacts and a fractured geopolitical order, the BRICS Summit in India underlined the importance of climate resilience in the New Delhi Declaration, along with energy security as a crucial foundation for social and economic development, national security and the welfare of all nations. The New Delhi Declaration, a consensus document adopted on September 12 by countries in the BRICS bloc, underlined the role of fossil fuels in the world’s energy mix, particularly for emerging markets and developing economies. The expanded BRICS grouping comprises 21 countries, including 11 members and 10 partner countries. India assumed the BRICS Chairship in January, and the 18th BRICS Leaders&#8217; Summit took place on September 12 and 13 in New Delhi. The declaration recognises the importance of the energy transition and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also emphasises the principles of technological neutrality and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC). The declaration also outlines areas for practical cooperation, including carbon markets, climate research and community-based adaptation. It calls for greater collaboration on smart grids, energy storage, hydrogen, critical minerals and efforts to decarbonise transport. Recognising the disproportionate burden climate change imposes across countries, the declaration expresses resolve to remain united in pursuit of the purpose, principles and objectives of the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement. It also calls on all countries to uphold their existing commitments and scale up their efforts to combat climate change. It describes protectionist measures such as carbon border adjustment mechanisms as punitive and discriminatory, and notes&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/brics-declaration-calls-for-climate-action-while-recognising-fossil-fuel-role/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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