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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/by/bahar-dutt/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:14:13 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
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				<item>
					<title>An unregulated groundwater economy drills into trouble</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/an-unregulated-groundwater-economy-drills-into-trouble/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/an-unregulated-groundwater-economy-drills-into-trouble/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jun 2026 16:52:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Esha Lohia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Central Ground Water Authority]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment Protection Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[saline water]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water consumption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water tanker]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/12134242/AP24112276256315-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environomy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Groundwater, Industry, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As Mumbai waits for the monsoon, water supply in the city has been cut by 10% since May 15, after water levels in the seven lakes that supply water, have fallen. The lakes depend entirely on seasonal rainfall to be filled, commonly causing water cuts in the summers. Adding to this situation, on June 7, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As Mumbai waits for the monsoon, water supply in the city has been cut by 10% since May 15, after water levels in the seven lakes that supply water, have fallen. The lakes depend entirely on seasonal rainfall to be filled, commonly causing water cuts in the summers. Adding to this situation, on June 7, the Mumbai Water Tanker Association (MWTA) went on strike. The strike was called off two days later following an intervention by Maharashtra&#8217;s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Mumbai receives around 4,100 million litres per day (MLD) against an estimated demand of 4,665 MLD, leaving a shortfall of about 565 MLD. Private water tankers fill this gap. The tanker association was protesting against notices issued by the state government ordering ring-well and borewell operators to stop supplying water to tankers until they obtain fresh licenses from the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA). The tanker association protest has drawn attention to a larger issue: Mumbai&#8217;s heavy dependence on groundwater and the limited oversight of its extraction. “Mumbai has more than 17,364 wells used for the commercial sale of water,” says groundwater activist Suresh Kumar Dhoka, citing information obtained through an RTI application. In 2015, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) made it mandatory for all commercial groundwater users to obtain No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the CGWA. As of May 2025, only 619 wells, mostly borewells, had received NOCs for monitoring and charging purposes. Earlier this year, a complaint filed by Dhoka triggered an investigation into hundreds of wells in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/an-unregulated-groundwater-economy-drills-into-trouble/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Valuing the diversity that feeds us [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/valuing-the-diversity-that-feeds-us-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/valuing-the-diversity-that-feeds-us-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jun 2026 16:18:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[S. Gopikrishna Warrier]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[S. Gopikrishna Warrier]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genetically modified crop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seed conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seeds]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/12144943/AP22143499795663-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38616</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Food, Organic Farming, Plantations, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There was a native mango tree in the front yard of our home that my father bought for the family in the mid-1970s. He had retired from government service and had returned to Thrissur. It was a big, sprawling tree which bore copious fruits every year. When the mangoes were small, tender and clustered in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There was a native mango tree in the front yard of our home that my father bought for the family in the mid-1970s. He had retired from government service and had returned to Thrissur. It was a big, sprawling tree which bore copious fruits every year. When the mangoes were small, tender and clustered in bunches, my mother had them plucked for pickle. As they ripened, she turned the fibrous fruits with tough skins into a sweet curry, which we poured on to our rice and ate at lunch.  We had to cut the mango tree in the early years of our stay in that house. We realised soon enough that though the tree was in our compound, it was perceived more as a local public property. Youngsters threw stones to make the mangoes drop, to pick the fruits. Their aim missed most of the time and the casualty was a broken roof tile in our home. And we could not afford replacing roof tiles ever so often.  I do not know if the mango tree was of the Chandrakaran variety that researcher Femi Benny wrote about. Needless to say, the stories about native varieties disappearing and giving way to market-friendlier varieties are talked about very often. Almost all old families in Kerala will recite names in Malayalam that described the fruit appropriately. For instance, one native mango variety was called Tholikayappan, which means bitter mango skin.  The story that many elderly would mention is that many of these varieties&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/valuing-the-diversity-that-feeds-us-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Biodiversity and pastoral traditions lose shine with time in these grass preserves</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/biodiversity-and-pastoral-traditions-lose-shine-with-time-in-these-grass-preserves/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/biodiversity-and-pastoral-traditions-lose-shine-with-time-in-these-grass-preserves/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jun 2026 14:03:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vandana K.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desert]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livestock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional Knowledge]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/12122455/AP23167518472753-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Gujarat]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecology, Environment, Grasslands, Indigenous Peoples, Protected Areas, and Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nasibi Shermamad Jat, 55, remembers how, as a child, she would walk to the rakhal near her village with her mother to take their buffaloes for grazing. “I plucked imli (tamarind) from the trees and collected grass during drought,” she recalls. After she got married, her visits to the rakhal continued with her husband and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nasibi Shermamad Jat, 55, remembers how, as a child, she would walk to the rakhal near her village with her mother to take their buffaloes for grazing. “I plucked imli (tamarind) from the trees and collected grass during drought,” she recalls. After she got married, her visits to the rakhal continued with her husband and their camels. A protected area, a rakhal is typically characterised by sparse tree cover, shrubs, and grass in a savannah-like landscape, found in the arid and semi-arid regions of Kachchh, Gujarat. Nasibi’s village is one among the many villages across the parched region of Kachchh, where shades of white, beige and sandy brown dominate the landscape. Belonging to the pastoralist Maldhari community in Dhragavandh, a village near the India-Pakistan border, Nasibi’s family of eight owns 30 camels and six buffaloes. There are four rakhals surrounding her village located inside the Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary. “The kings gave us rakhals to graze our animals,” says Nasibi. Rakhals began as grass preserves in the 1880s, with the purpose of supplying fodder for animals used for hunting by the rulers of the princely state of Kachchh. Cutting trees was banned even then. The royal court earned revenue from some rakhals by allowing Maldharis to graze their herds in these areas. After Independence, the rakhals were taken over by the state forest department. In present times, rakhals are facing several pressures in the form of urbanisation, industrialisation, the fading away of traditional ecological knowledge, invasive species, renewable energy expansion, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/biodiversity-and-pastoral-traditions-lose-shine-with-time-in-these-grass-preserves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Not jungles, jungle cats need open landscapes, says study</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/not-jungles-jungle-cats-need-open-landscapes-says-study/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/not-jungles-jungle-cats-need-open-landscapes-says-study/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2026 13:14:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manjeera Gowravaram]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jungle cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wild Cats]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/11121703/image-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38610</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species and Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cats, Conservation, Habitat Loss, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new nationwide study mapping jungle cats’ distribution and estimating their population at a national scale finds that India has the potential to support more than 300,000 jungle cats. “We didn’t know much about jungle cats — their habitat associations, population status, interactions with tigers and leopards, or their role in illegal wildlife trade until [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new nationwide study mapping jungle cats’ distribution and estimating their population at a national scale finds that India has the potential to support more than 300,000 jungle cats. “We didn’t know much about jungle cats — their habitat associations, population status, interactions with tigers and leopards, or their role in illegal wildlife trade until this study,” says Kathan Bandyopadhyay, the study’s lead author. Drawing on more than 6,000 verified records, researchers mapped suitable habitat for jungle cats (Felis chaus) across India, largely using data from tiger surveys. The study has been published in Scientific Reports. The study found that jungle cats prefer warm, semi-arid regions with moderate rainfall and some human presence. Roughly 545,000 square kilometres of suitable habitat has also been identified. States such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat are likely to support large populations. Senior principal scientist at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Shomita Mukherjee notes, “Most researchers would not put in this kind of effort for a relatively common and small species.” A cat in the scrub and grass Jungle cats favour open habitats such as grasslands, scrublands, wetlands, and agricultural mosaics, while avoiding dense forests and urban areas. Their long legs and lean bodies help them move through tall grass, and their colouring blends into dry terrain. “The morphological features of the jungle cat clearly indicate that it is a scrub-dwelling cat,” Mukherjee says, though the species is often described as a generalist in their habitat preference.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/not-jungles-jungle-cats-need-open-landscapes-says-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Three states to pilot community-led forest management</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/three-states-to-pilot-community-led-forest-management/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/three-states-to-pilot-community-led-forest-management/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2026 11:38:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Joydeep Gupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[access benefit sharing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community based conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Environment Facility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Biodiversity Authority]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Bank]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/10213838/Image-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nagaland, Tripura, and Uttarakhand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community based conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“We look after our forests, we save them, because they are our home,” Gaura Devi of the Chipko movement fame had once said. “We get fuel, fodder and some food from the forest, we get herbs when someone falls ill, but we don’t have any [legal] paper to save us if the forest department refuses [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“We look after our forests, we save them, because they are our home,” Gaura Devi of the Chipko movement fame had once said. “We get fuel, fodder and some food from the forest, we get herbs when someone falls ill, but we don’t have any [legal] paper to save us if the forest department refuses to let us in or complains to the police that we are stealing.” This is the problem the Global Environment Facility (GEF) aims to solve with its Conservation of Biodiversity, its Sustainable Use, Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits in India (CONSERVE) project in three states — Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Tripura. The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) will carry out the project that was approved at the May 30-June 6 GEF assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. GEF will give a $12.38 million grant for the project; the World Bank will lend $30 million. Speaking to Mongabay-India on the sidelines of the assembly, Benjamin Singer, senior biodiversity specialist, Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) and the GEF official looking after the project, said, “Community-managed forests have to be safeguarded. Communities around the world are doing it and have always done it. We want to design this better in full consultation with the communities themselves. And we want to give them an incentive to do what they are doing.” GBFF was set up to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD). The project plan states that in around 5,000 hectares spread across the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/three-states-to-pilot-community-led-forest-management/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Crime against caracal sparks a census project for the cat</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/crime-against-caracal-sparks-a-census-project-for-the-cat/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/crime-against-caracal-sparks-a-census-project-for-the-cat/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2026 16:21:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Madhav Sharma]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[caracal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livestock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small wild cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife crime]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/10142147/6-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38591</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Rajasthan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Human Wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Thar Desert, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In March this year, a video of a wild cat, a caracal, being burnt on a pile of wood in Rajasthan was widely shared. The Rajasthan police arrested three individuals identified from the video, and recovered the partially burnt remains of the caracal. Samples from the caracal’s remains were sent to the Wildlife Institute of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In March this year, a video of a wild cat, a caracal, being burnt on a pile of wood in Rajasthan was widely shared. The Rajasthan police arrested three individuals identified from the video, and recovered the partially burnt remains of the caracal. Samples from the caracal’s remains were sent to the Wildlife Institute of India for post mortem. Under wildlife protection laws, those arrested were sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand. &#8220;The wild animal had killed more than 50 of our livestock,&#8221; they said, indicating a case of retaliatory killing. However, neither the accused nor the village residents have applied to the forest department for compensation which is offered in cases where a wild animals kills livestock. Exactly a year before this incident, the rare and elusive member of the cat family, was recorded by a camera trap for the first time in Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan. On March 14, 2026, a video of three people burning a caracal to death in the Jaisalmer district of the Thar Desert. Two days later, Rajasthan police arrested the individuals and sent samples of the partially burnt remains to the Wildlife Institute of India. Representative image by Gobind Sagar Bharadwaj/WII. Caracals in India The caracal is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. There are varying estimates of its population. Historically, the caracal was reported in 13 Indian states in nine out of 26 biotic provinces. Since 2001, their presence has shrunk to only three&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/crime-against-caracal-sparks-a-census-project-for-the-cat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>A long-distance ocean traveller</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/a-long-distance-ocean-traveller/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/a-long-distance-ocean-traveller/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2026 13:49:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Team Mongabay-India]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[beaches]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine ecosystem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marine wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[olive ridleys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[turtle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[turtles]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/10132640/olive-ridley-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Species File]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coast, Ecology, Oceans, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Olive ridley turtles are travelling farther than previously known. Early tracking data from tagged turtles in Tamil Nadu shows that some have already reached the Sri Lanka Dome, a little-known region in the Indian Ocean. Turtles from Odisha are also expected to arrive in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Olive ridley turtles are travelling farther than previously known. Early tracking data from tagged turtles in Tamil Nadu shows that some have already reached the Sri Lanka Dome, a little-known region in the Indian Ocean. Turtles from Odisha are also expected to arrive in the same waters, pointing to a shared ocean hotspot. The olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley, is the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles. Found in warm tropical waters across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, they are named for their olive-green shell or carapace. Olive ridleys use both coastal waters and the open ocean, travelling long distances in search of food. They feed on jellyfish, shrimp, snails, crabs and fish eggs. In India, Odisha’s Gahirmatha, Rushikulya, and the mouths of the Devi river are the primary nesting grounds. In 2025, over 650,000 olive ridley turtles arrived at Rushikulya for a synchronised mass nesting event, where thousands of female turtles come ashore simultaneously to lay eggs. Despite their numbers, olive ridleys are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Species, with continuing decline of mature individuals. In India, they are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which offers the highest level of legal protection. Survival remains a challenge. Only one in 1,000 hatchlings reaches adulthood, with the rest falling prey to predators. Olive ridleys face growing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/a-long-distance-ocean-traveller/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Researchers describe a new fanged frog species that builds mud nests on the forest floor</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/researchers-describe-a-new-fanged-frog-species-that-builds-mud-nests-on-the-forest-floor/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/researchers-describe-a-new-fanged-frog-species-that-builds-mud-nests-on-the-forest-floor/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2026 15:07:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ananya Singh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[frog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[namdapha]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/09141315/17473eff-f87c-46cc-a59b-a51c2b8ba454-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38578</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arunachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Biodiversity, Conservation, Forests, Frogs, New species, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In April 2022, as pre-monsoon darkness descended over Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh, a team of researchers winding their way along a forest trail heard an unusual call. “Quaaak&#8230;” To Abhijit Das, scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), it sounded like a frog calling from underground. He and his team began searching beneath [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In April 2022, as pre-monsoon darkness descended over Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh, a team of researchers winding their way along a forest trail heard an unusual call. “Quaaak&#8230;” To Abhijit Das, scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), it sounded like a frog calling from underground. He and his team began searching beneath the thick layer of leaves covering the forest floor. “We are exactly on the call. But when we start moving the leaf litter, we don’t find it,” said Das. “The frog stops calling.” A year later, two of Das’ students, N.V. Rajiv and Sourav Dutta, lay on the ground deep within the rainforest, slowly picking up one leaf at a time as they followed the frog’s distinctive sound. Finally, they spotted the calling male hidden in a depression in the mud under leaf litter. The team would later describe this as a new species of fanged frog, Limnonectes motijheel, in their paper published in Zootaxa in April 2026. An adult male specimen of the newly-described species, Limnonectes motijheel, collected from Kamala Valley in Namdapha Tiger Reserve in May 2022. The males of this species are larger than the females and are named for the tooth-like projections on their lower jaw. Image by Abhijit Das. Detailed morphological and genetic analysis of specimens collected during surveys showed that this small, brown frog belongs to the Limnonectes genus, a group of fanged frogs whose males possess tooth-like projections on their lower jaw, giving them their name. “This is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/researchers-describe-a-new-fanged-frog-species-that-builds-mud-nests-on-the-forest-floor/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Climate-driven glacier melt could reshape water quality downstream</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/climate-driven-glacier-melt-could-reshape-water-quality-downstream/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/climate-driven-glacier-melt-could-reshape-water-quality-downstream/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2026 14:01:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hirra Azmat]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[glacial melt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[temperature rise]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/09094152/WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-20-at-9.58.00-AM-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38571</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Decoding Heat]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ladakh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Science, Ecology, Environment, Glaciers, Himalayas, Impacts of Climate Change, and Mountains]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Glaciers are often seen as frozen reservoirs of clean and fresh water, but new research shows they are also active chemical systems and climate warming may be altering not just how much water they release, but also its quality. A new study on Rulung Glacier in Ladakh region found that rising temperatures and faster glacier [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Glaciers are often seen as frozen reservoirs of clean and fresh water, but new research shows they are also active chemical systems and climate warming may be altering not just how much water they release, but also its quality. A new study on Rulung Glacier in Ladakh region found that rising temperatures and faster glacier melt are intensifying interactions between meltwater and the rocks beneath the ice, altering the chemistry of water flowing into the Indus river basin. Researchers say these changes could affect river ecosystems, agriculture, and drinking water supplies downstream. The Himalayas, often called the “Water Tower of Asia”, store vast freshwater reserves in glaciers and snowfields that sustain major river systems supporting over a billion people. Glaciers act as natural water reservoirs, releasing meltwater during dry seasons and regulating water availability for agriculture, hydropower, and daily use. In cold-arid regions like Ladakh, where rainfall is scarce, communities depend heavily on glacier-fed streams, making any changes in the hydrochemistry of meltwater especially critical. Water chemistry in the glacial meltwater Whether it is rainwater, river water or groundwater, every type of water carries a distinct chemical signature acquired from its interaction with rocks, soils, gases, biological activity, and sometimes human pollution. By examining these dissolved chemicals, hydrochemists can determine where the water came from, how it evolved, whether it is safe for drinking or agriculture, and what it reveals about environmental and climatic conditions. Riyaz Mir, a scientist at the National Institute of Hydrology, Western Himalayan Regional Centre, Jammu&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/climate-driven-glacier-melt-could-reshape-water-quality-downstream/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>New scheme incentivises trucks, buses for meeting emissions standards</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-scheme-incentivises-trucks-and-buses-for-meeting-new-emissions-standards/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-scheme-incentivises-trucks-and-buses-for-meeting-new-emissions-standards/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 16:24:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[electric vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public transport]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transport]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vehicles]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/08160805/pexels-shantumsingh-29057949-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=38567</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Delhi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon emissions, Cities and Towns, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Industry]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Union Cabinet has approved a two-year scheme that incentivises truck and bus owners in the National Capital Region to turn electric or upgrade to BS-VI compliant vehicles. BS-VI is the latest emissions standard which includes stricter curbs on pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide. The government approved the scheme on June 3, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Union Cabinet has approved a two-year scheme that incentivises truck and bus owners in the National Capital Region to turn electric or upgrade to BS-VI compliant vehicles. BS-VI is the latest emissions standard which includes stricter curbs on pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide. The government approved the scheme on June 3, saying it was “aimed at reducing air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region and promoting cleaner mobility.” Emissions from transport have long been shown to be the biggest year-round contributors to air pollution in NCR — up to 30% by some estimates. Trucks and buses were found to account for 36% of vehicular PM 2.5 emissions, despite being only 3% of the total fleet, according to a 2018 study by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The BS-VI standards include reductions between 25% and 80% in tailpipe emissions of sulphur, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and hydrocarbons for petrol and diesel vehicles compared to BS-IV norms. Owners of BS-III vehicles will have to mandatorily scrap the vehicles, while owners of BS-IV vehicles have the option of scrapping or selling them in non-polluted areas outside NCR. Owners will then have to purchase either electric vehicles or BS-VI compliant ones. To motivate owners, the government has offered a 5% interest subsidy on loans for five years, monthly fuel vouchers worth up to ₹4,800, and lump‑sum benefits for EV purchases, depending on the vehicle category. States will also waive registration fees and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-scheme-incentivises-trucks-and-buses-for-meeting-new-emissions-standards/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rethinking forest restoration beyond tree cover [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-forest-restoration-beyond-tree-cover-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-forest-restoration-beyond-tree-cover-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 12:19:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dhanapal GovindarajuluJohan Oldekop]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[afforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dryland conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat degradation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tree plantation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/08095349/AP21185326184454-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38560</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Ecology, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Global Forest Watch, Habitat Loss, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Since its launch in 2011, the Bonn Challenge has mobilised commitments to restore more than 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030, including India’s pledge to restore 26 million hectares. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) as a process that seeks to regain ecological integrity [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since its launch in 2011, the Bonn Challenge has mobilised commitments to restore more than 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030, including India’s pledge to restore 26 million hectares. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) as a process that seeks to regain ecological integrity while enhancing human well-being. In practice, this means that ecosystem restoration should improve biodiversity, wildlife habitats and corridors, watersheds, and other ecosystem services. It should also strengthen local livelihoods, particularly through the provision of non-timber forest products and support for pastoral communities. Yet in practice, restoration is often narrowly equated with tree planting. This is partly because plantations can sequester large amounts of carbon, making them attractive for climate mitigation targets. India, for example, has committed under the Paris Agreement to create an additional carbon sink of 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes through afforestation and the expansion of tree cover. Many tropical countries use globally available forest-cover products to monitor and report restoration progress. However, these global products come with limitations because they are generated using different satellite imagery, training data, classification algorithms, and forest definitions. For example, the Global Forest Watch dataset, derived primarily from Landsat imagery, can produce substantially different estimates of forest extent and change compared with GlobeLand30, which is generated using Landsat and China’s HJ-1 satellite imagery. A recent global study comparing ten global forest datasets found that these maps agreed on only 26% of the globally mapped forest area. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-forest-restoration-beyond-tree-cover-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study reveals how air pollution disrupts foetal growth</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/study-reveals-how-air-pollution-disrupts-foetal-growth/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/study-reveals-how-air-pollution-disrupts-foetal-growth/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 16:32:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Delhi air pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment and health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PM2.5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/05162507/AP25042707098970-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=38555</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environment And Health]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Cities and Towns, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health impacts, Human Rights, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A recent study has found that air pollution exposure could impair foetal growth, with a potential to cause neurological defects. The study, from the All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, sheds light on the molecular pathways through which pollution disrupts early child development, and reinforces existing evidence of the wide-ranging health impacts of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A recent study has found that air pollution exposure could impair foetal growth, with a potential to cause neurological defects. The study, from the All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, sheds light on the molecular pathways through which pollution disrupts early child development, and reinforces existing evidence of the wide-ranging health impacts of air pollution. Exposure to PM2.5 particles are known to cause respiratory disease, worsen hypertension and diabetes, and exacerbate cardiovascular illnesses. Emerging evidence has suggested that prolonged exposure to air pollution can cause low birthweight, stillbirth, and preterm births. The AIIMS study, however, demonstrates how air pollution disrupts cellular activity to curb healthy foetal development. “The missing link we presented in this research was how air pollution causes the reduction in a protein that’s very important for foetal development,” explained Dr. Subhradip Karmakar, an author of the study and a professor of biochemistry at AIIMS. In pregnant mothers, inhaling ultrafine, PM2.5 and PM10 particles can cause oxidative stress which triggers an inflammatory response that activates cytokines – proteins which act on immune threats. This surge in inflammatory response can pass through the placenta, as do ultrafine particles and environmental pollutants such as heavy metals, which cause a reduction in the IGFBP3 protein, a critical regulator of cell growth, in foetuses. &#8220;This isn&#8217;t the only significant protein for foetal development. There might be other significant proteins that are also affected,&#8221; said Karmakar. The study observed this mechanism in pregnant rats exposed to air pollution, and tracked postnatal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/study-reveals-how-air-pollution-disrupts-foetal-growth/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Communities rally to conserve marbled cat</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/communities-rally-to-conserve-marbled-cat/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/communities-rally-to-conserve-marbled-cat/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 13:34:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Barasha Das]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eastern himalayas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marbled cat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marbled cat and leopard cat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northeast India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small wild cats]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/05121551/1.-Marbled-cat-captured-on-camera-trap-in-Nagaland.-PC-Giridhar-Malla-e1780642216526-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38542</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Community based conservation, Conservation, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Tribes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists and several communities in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland gathered on March 1 to mark the first-ever International Marbled Cat Day, drawing attention to one of Asia’s most elusive and least understood wild felids. Conceptualised by the Eastern Himalayas Marbled Cat Project (EHMCP), in collaboration with state forest departments, the Day focused on engaging local [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists and several communities in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland gathered on March 1 to mark the first-ever International Marbled Cat Day, drawing attention to one of Asia’s most elusive and least understood wild felids. Conceptualised by the Eastern Himalayas Marbled Cat Project (EHMCP), in collaboration with state forest departments, the Day focused on engaging local communities and creating spaces for shared learning. “This timing was chosen deliberately,” says Giridhar Malla, conservationist and founder of the EHMCP. “It marks a seasonal transition. When forests begin to shift with the onset of spring, there is renewed growth, and communities also start preparing for sowing. We saw this as a meaningful moment for people to reflect on ecological change and connect that sense of renewal with the importance of remembering and conserving the marbled cat across Northeast India.” Community-led conservation Following a camera-trap survey conducted between 2022 and 2025 by the EHMCP, which confirmed the scattered presence of the marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) in parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya, residents of the villages where the species was captured on camera decided to take up conservation measures. These villages include Lokpeng in Siang district and Nyorok in West Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh; Riangmaw in West Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya; and Khonoma in Kohima district and Choklangan in Noklak district in Nagaland. In October 2025, the Hii:ung Hii:eng community forest in Siang district, Arunachal Pradesh, was formally declared India’s first community-conserved area dedicated to the marbled cat by the Lokpeng Welfare&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/communities-rally-to-conserve-marbled-cat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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														</item>
						<item>
					<title>India’s waste-climate opportunity begins before disposal [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/indias-waste-climate-opportunity-begins-before-disposal-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/indias-waste-climate-opportunity-begins-before-disposal-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 11:26:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Balakrishna PisupatiKaushik Chandrasekhar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dry waste]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solid waste]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[waste]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wet waste]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/05103039/AP25216574260707-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Environment, Technology, and Waste management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Waste is often seen as a local service issue. It is collected by municipalities, handled by sanitation workers, discussed in ward meetings, and noticed most visibly when drains clog, bins overflow, or dumpsites catch fire. Yet this everyday urban challenge is also a climate challenge. For India, the waste sector offers one of the most [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Waste is often seen as a local service issue. It is collected by municipalities, handled by sanitation workers, discussed in ward meetings, and noticed most visibly when drains clog, bins overflow, or dumpsites catch fire. Yet this everyday urban challenge is also a climate challenge. For India, the waste sector offers one of the most practical city level pathways for climate compatible development. Globally, solid waste management contributes around 5% of greenhouse gas emissions. In India, the waste sector accounted for 75.64 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020, or 2.56% of the country’s total emissions. This may appear modest when compared with energy, industry, or transport, but the direction of travel matters. India’s waste sector emissions have increased more than three times between 1994 and 2020. As cities grow, consumption rises, municipal solid waste volumes expand, this share will become harder to ignore. The climate relevance of waste lies in how everyday sanitation and waste-management systems influence greenhouse gas emissions. Methane is central to this connection. It has a much stronger warming effect than carbon dioxide in the near term and has about 28 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period. Because methane is also shorter-lived in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, reducing methane emissions can deliver relatively fast climate benefits. In India’s waste sector, methane is the dominant greenhouse gas, accounting for more than 75% of the waste sector’s emissions in 2020. NITI Aayog’s assessment suggests that solid waste management contributed around 26%&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/indias-waste-climate-opportunity-begins-before-disposal-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Bengal tigers from India to be introduced in Cambodia</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/bengal-tigers-from-india-to-be-introduced-in-cambodia/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/bengal-tigers-from-india-to-be-introduced-in-cambodia/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 16:29:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy BallArathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tiger conservation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/04153406/Tigers-Cambodia_Mongabay_Andy-Ball-12-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38518</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Cats, Mammals, Tigers, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sat Born, 56, recalls freezing at the forest’s entrance when he first saw it. “Its head was this big,” he says, wide-eyed, spreading his hands to show the animal’s size. Recollecting that eventful morning in 2001, Born, who now farms bananas and durians, retraces his steps from his home in Trapeang Chheu Trav village in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sat Born, 56, recalls freezing at the forest’s entrance when he first saw it. “Its head was this big,” he says, wide-eyed, spreading his hands to show the animal’s size. Recollecting that eventful morning in 2001, Born, who now farms bananas and durians, retraces his steps from his home in Trapeang Chheu Trav village in the rainforests of the Cardamom Mountains in southwestern Cambodia. As he walks up a hill rising above the forest canopy, he points to a spot on the road. “It’s over here. When I saw the tiger, it was 9 a.m.,” he says. “I was really shocked… I couldn’t tell if the tiger was coming towards me.” In 2007, just six years after this fleeting encounter, Cambodia’s last confirmed tiger sighting was logged by a camera trap. In the 1990s, the country was estimated to host hundreds of wild Indochinese tigers, but decades of poaching pressure took a heavy toll. In 2016, tigers (Panthera tigris) were formally declared extinct in Cambodia. That may be set to change with the imminent translocation of a small population of Bengal tigers from India. Sat Born, 56, points to the spot where he claims to have seen a tiger (Panthera tigris) on a morning in 2001 while on his way to the forest to collect ratan. Image by Andy Ball/Mongabay. Although many reintroductions are success stories, this one raises some serious concerns. Why would Cambodia bring in a non-native tiger? Have the people living in these areas been adequately consulted?&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/bengal-tigers-from-india-to-be-introduced-in-cambodia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Unseasonal snowfall blocks the path for migratory pastoralists</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/unseasonal-snowfall-blocks-the-path-for-migratory-pastoralists/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/unseasonal-snowfall-blocks-the-path-for-migratory-pastoralists/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 14:22:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Farzana Nisar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[erratic weather]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grazing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[migration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/04114910/Nomadic-shepherds-guide-their-flock-across-the-rugged-Himalayan-terrain-along-the-Mughal-Road-near-Pir-Panjal-Pass.-Credit_-Faisal-Bashir1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38508</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change and Climate Change Adaptation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last month, a Gujjar family from Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir had been on the move for days with their flock, heading towards Kashmir’s high-altitude pastures. When they reached Peer Ki Gali, about 50 kilometres from their destination Shopian, fresh snowfall brought their journey to a halt. Authorities suspended traffic on the Mughal Road, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last month, a Gujjar family from Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir had been on the move for days with their flock, heading towards Kashmir’s high-altitude pastures. When they reached Peer Ki Gali, about 50 kilometres from their destination Shopian, fresh snowfall brought their journey to a halt. Authorities suspended traffic on the Mughal Road, which connects Shopian with the relatively lower-altitude districts of Rajouri and Poonch, leaving the family stranded along the roadside. They waited in the cold weather without shelter, uncertain about when they could resume their journey. Snowfall this deep into May was something they had never encountered along this route. For communities whose lives depend on migration, the challenge is no longer just harsh weather, but increasing uncertainty in weather conditions. Every spring, Gujjars and Bakarwals, semi-nomadic tribes, undertake this seasonal migration with their livestock towards the upper reaches of Kashmir and the Chenab Valley. The journey, which can take over a month, follows routes shaped over generations by snow patterns, pasture cycles and traditional ecological knowledge. However, that rhythm is beginning to break. A Gujjar family makes their way towards Kashmir’s upper reaches during the annual seasonal migration. Last month, a Gujjar family encountered unseasonal snowfall that suspended their long journey and left them stranded. Image by Fasil Raza. “It takes nearly a month for us to complete the journey,” said Talib Hussain, a Gujjar nomad, travelling from Sunderbani (south) towards Shopian (north) with his livestock. “The journey itself has become increasingly uncertain. Even this&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/unseasonal-snowfall-blocks-the-path-for-migratory-pastoralists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Science confirms what Indians experience: nights are now warmer</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/science-confirms-what-indians-experience-nights-are-now-warmer/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/science-confirms-what-indians-experience-nights-are-now-warmer/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 13:23:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mahima Jain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heat impacts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heat wave]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heatwave]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/04104357/AP24166173832672-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38501</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Decoding Heat]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, and Extreme Weather Events]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indians are increasingly experiencing nights differently in summers. Nights have become warmer than before, something even the India Meteorological Department is increasingly mentioning in its bulletins. Minimum temperatures, recorded late night or early morning when the sun’s down, have risen. The IMD’s seasonal outlook for April to June 2026 predicted that maximum temperatures are likely [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indians are increasingly experiencing nights differently in summers. Nights have become warmer than before, something even the India Meteorological Department is increasingly mentioning in its bulletins. Minimum temperatures, recorded late night or early morning when the sun’s down, have risen. The IMD’s seasonal outlook for April to June 2026 predicted that maximum temperatures are likely to be normal to below normal in this period in many parts of the country. However, minimum temperatures, or the lowest temperatures in a 24-hour cycle, are expected to remain above normal over most parts of India. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), on the other hand, noted recently that an El Niño is likely to develop in 2026 — an 80% chance of it forming in the June-August period and a high chance of it persisting into late 2026. This could result in above average temperatures and a greater risk of heatwaves, droughts, floods, and other weather extremes worldwide. Many parts of India are witnessing unusually high minimum temperatures, with several locations recording minimum temperatures close to 30°C. In the last week of May, IMD observations indicated that minimum night temperatures were warmer than normal by 3.1°C to 5.0°C. A warm night, as per IMD&#8217;s definitions, is when the night-time temperature is at least 4.5-6.4°C above normal and when maximum temperatures are or more than 40°C. “A very warm night is when the departure (of minimum temperature from normal) is over 6.4°C,” S.D. Sanap, a scientist at Climate Research Services, IMD Pune, explains. This threshold&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/science-confirms-what-indians-experience-nights-are-now-warmer/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>A strong El Niño demands planning, not panic [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-strong-el-nino-demands-planning-not-panic-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-strong-el-nino-demands-planning-not-panic-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2026 17:27:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Madhavan Nair Rajeevan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[El Niño]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/03163434/AP25240537416263-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38495</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Science, Drought, Extreme Weather Events, Monsoons, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Several global climate agencies have recently indicated the possible development of a very severe El Niño by the end of this year, along with concerns regarding its potential global impacts, including on the Indian monsoon. El Niño is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon characterised by sustained warming of sea surface temperatures over the central and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Several global climate agencies have recently indicated the possible development of a very severe El Niño by the end of this year, along with concerns regarding its potential global impacts, including on the Indian monsoon. El Niño is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon characterised by sustained warming of sea surface temperatures over the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean for several consecutive months. It represents the warm phase of the broader El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, which also includes its opposite phase, La Niña, and a neutral phase. Variations in tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures associated with El Niño alter global atmospheric circulation patterns and influence rainfall, droughts, storms, agriculture, water resources, marine ecosystems, and economies across many regions of the world, including India. The intensity of El Niño is commonly monitored using sea surface temperature anomalies over the Niño 3.4 region of the equatorial central Pacific Ocean. An El Niño event is declared when the three-month running mean sea surface temperature anomaly in the Niño 3.4 region remains at least +0.5°C above normal for five consecutive overlapping three-month seasons. El Niño events are further classified based on the magnitude of these temperature anomalies. When the Niño 3.4 anomaly exceeds +2.0°C, the event is generally categorised as a very strong El Niño (informally a “super” El Niño). Since 1951, 28 El Niño events of varying intensity have occurred, most of them weak. The most recent El Niño developed in 2023. The current outlook Recent observations indicate rapid warming of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-strong-el-nino-demands-planning-not-panic-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The whistling pack hunter</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-whistling-pack-hunter/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-whistling-pack-hunter/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2026 15:34:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Team Mongabay-India]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Divya Kilikar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[carnivores]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dhole]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wild dog]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/03151857/dhole-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=38491</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Species File]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Mammals, Wildlife, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Over the last few years, dholes are slowly returning to several landscapes from which they had virtually disappeared — most recently in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha. The dhole (Cuon alpinus) is one of India&#8217;s most adaptable apex predators — and one of its least known. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Over the last few years, dholes are slowly returning to several landscapes from which they had virtually disappeared — most recently in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha. The dhole (Cuon alpinus) is one of India&#8217;s most adaptable apex predators — and one of its least known. Also called the Asiatic wild dog, this social canid is recognised by its reddish-brown coat, bushy black-tipped tail, and distinctive high-pitched whistles. Living in packs of two to 24 individuals, it hunts cooperatively, taking down prey such as sambar, chital, and gaur, all several times its own size. Once found in the alpine, temperate, tropical, and subtropical forests across Asia, the dhole, or Asiatic wild dog, has now disappeared from much of its former range. Currently, it is confined to central and eastern Asia, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. In India, key populations are found in the Western Ghats, Central India and Northeast India, with smaller populations in the Eastern Ghats and the Western Himalayas of Uttarakhand. With only an estimated 4,500-10,500 individuals remaining worldwide, the species is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. It is also a Schedule II species in the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which prohibits hunting or trade. As a predator that requires connected, healthy forested areas, the dhole faces significant pressure from fragmented and shrinking forests, prey depletion, conflict with humans and livestock, and the risk of disease transmission from domestic dogs.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-whistling-pack-hunter/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Why India&#8217;s tree-planting programmes are falling short</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/why-indias-tree-planting-programmes-are-falling-short/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/why-indias-tree-planting-programmes-are-falling-short/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2026 15:06:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aisiri Amin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agroforestry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tree plantation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/02181943/AP24202402198176-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38482</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroecology, Forestry, Forests, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For many countries, including India, increasing tree cover has become a core part of climate mitigation plans to improve biodiversity and ecosystems. ​From tree planting drives and festivals such as the annual Van Mahotsav, where India pledges to plant millions of tree saplings, to tree plantation programmes such as the Green India Mission (GIM), National [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For many countries, including India, increasing tree cover has become a core part of climate mitigation plans to improve biodiversity and ecosystems. ​From tree planting drives and festivals such as the annual Van Mahotsav, where India pledges to plant millions of tree saplings, to tree plantation programmes such as the Green India Mission (GIM), National Afforestation Programme (NAP), and Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF), afforestation is high on the priority list of solutions. However, a question that often arises is: how effective are these initiatives? A new study, published in the journal Environmental Research Communications, attempts to answer this question by examining eight major government policies and programmes and their impact on tree cover, focusing on trees outside forests (ToF). Many of these programmes operate with state funding, which means citizens’ tax money supports various initiatives. Therefore, it’s important to understand how this funding is actually being used, says Pooja Choksi, researcher and founder of Ficus Research Consulting, and co-author of the study. Moreover, India has one of the largest land and forestry-based Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — a country&#8217;s plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “This creates enormous pressure: achieving these targets requires significant behavioural and land-use changes from citizens, because only limited land is government-owned, and primarily forests,” she explains. This also leads to a critical question. “How will we realistically meet these NDCs using current (tree planting) programmes, especially when new programmes are introduced every few years?&#8221; Choksi asks. A plant nursery nurtured by the Forest Department in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/why-indias-tree-planting-programmes-are-falling-short/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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