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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/by/kumer-singh/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 09:42:02 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
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					<title>Night shifts help brick kiln workers avoid peak heat, not its consequences</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/night-shifts-help-brick-kiln-workers-avoid-peak-heat-not-its-consequences/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/night-shifts-help-brick-kiln-workers-avoid-peak-heat-not-its-consequences/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2026 15:12:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shivam Bhardwaj]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brick industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brick kiln]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[construction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heat]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/26113356/reena-working-at-site-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Decoding Heat]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uttar Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Extreme Weather Events, Health impacts, Human Rights, Impacts of Climate Change, and Industry]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It was 3:00 a.m. on May 22. Crickets chirped in an open field near Kurka village in Bareilly district, Uttar Pradesh. However, the workday had started two hours ago for Reena Kashyap, 30, and her husband, Jagdish Kashyap who were moulding bricks under a solar-powered light. &#8220;We are now working through the night because it [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It was 3:00 a.m. on May 22. Crickets chirped in an open field near Kurka village in Bareilly district, Uttar Pradesh. However, the workday had started two hours ago for Reena Kashyap, 30, and her husband, Jagdish Kashyap who were moulding bricks under a solar-powered light. &#8220;We are now working through the night because it is impossible to stay here in the scorching afternoon heat,” she said. The couple, who mould bricks for Adarsh Brick Industry, went to sleep at 9:00 p.m. and woke up at 12:30 a.m. They planned to continue working until 11:00 a.m. “After that, I have to bathe, wash clothes, cook, and feed the children. Then in the evening, we stack the bricks and prepare the mud for the next day; the entire day is gone,&#8221; she said. Jagdish added, &#8220;During summer, we barely manage four hours of sleep a day. It is so hot during the day that sleeping is impossible. We don&#8217;t have any facilities like fans, coolers, or electricity here ,at the kiln.&#8221; The couple migrated from the village of Bujhia Jagir to the brick kiln site in Kurka in the same tehsil, Meerganj, in January 2026. They live here with their four children in a temporary shelter built of bricks and raw mud with a tin roof. There is no ventilation or electricity. &#8220;We try to sleep for one to two hours during the day, but it bakes inside. It is impossible to sleep; the entire body feels restless,&#8221; said Reena, who&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/night-shifts-help-brick-kiln-workers-avoid-peak-heat-not-its-consequences/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A carbon garden reimagines urban greenery</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-carbon-garden-reimagines-urban-greenery/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-carbon-garden-reimagines-urban-greenery/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2026 12:17:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shweta Thakur Nanda]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban climate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urban forest]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/26093407/1-Delhi-University_s-carbon-garden-Pic-Prof.-Dinabandhu-Sahoo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38816</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conserving Agro-biodiversity]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Delhi and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon Offset, Carbon Sequestration, Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Forests, Plants, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ginkgo biloba, popularly known as a “living fossil”, is among the oldest living tree species on Earth, with a lineage that dates back nearly 290 million years. The sole surviving member of an ancient group of trees that existed long before dinosaurs roamed the planet, it now stands witness to a new initiative in a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ginkgo biloba, popularly known as a “living fossil”, is among the oldest living tree species on Earth, with a lineage that dates back nearly 290 million years. The sole surviving member of an ancient group of trees that existed long before dinosaurs roamed the planet, it now stands witness to a new initiative in a quiet corner of Delhi University’s North Campus: the Carbon Garden. The Carbon Garden is not an ornamental green space; it is designed as an ecological intervention — a living system engineered to filter pollutants, sequester carbon and restore ecological balance in urban landscapes. At a time when cities such as Delhi are grappling with worsening air quality, the garden aims to offer a nature-based approach to mitigating pollution. Developed over three years, it houses a mix of plant species, including hydrophytes that thrive in water, xerophytes adapted to arid conditions, mesophytes that flourish in moderate environments, and ancient plant groups such as pteridophytes and bryophytes. The Carbon Garden has a mix of tree types, ranging from fast growing trees such as casuarina to native canopy builders such as kadamba or burflower trees. They are complemented by ground cover plants and shrubs as well as micro-organisms such as algae, bacteria and fungi. “The careful selection of plant categories play a vital role in maximising carbon sequestration,” says Professor Dinabandhu Sahoo, Head of the Department, Botany, at the university. “Microorganisms living on plant surfaces help break down toxic gases such as methane and carbon monoxide, converting them&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-carbon-garden-reimagines-urban-greenery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rising temperatures, not just human activity, drives Himalayan forest fires</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rising-temperatures-not-just-human-activity-drives-himalayan-forest-fires/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rising-temperatures-not-just-human-activity-drives-himalayan-forest-fires/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2026 14:28:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[temperature rise]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/25132719/AP22143608738141-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38810</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Environment, Fires, Forest Fires, Forests, Himalayas, Impacts of Climate Change, and Mountains]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Forest fires in the Himalayas typically occur between November and June, during the drier months. However, out-of-season and higher elevation fires have sparked concerns about their effective management in a changing climate. A new study from the Western Himalayas provides more clues into the underlying factors driving forest fires in the region. A higher frequency [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Forest fires in the Himalayas typically occur between November and June, during the drier months. However, out-of-season and higher elevation fires have sparked concerns about their effective management in a changing climate. A new study from the Western Himalayas provides more clues into the underlying factors driving forest fires in the region. A higher frequency of forest fires was associated with a decline in floristic diversity and the promotion of fire-dominant plant species in Uttarakhand — the most fire-prone state in the Indian Western Himalayas, according to the Forest Survey of India. Fires in the Himalayas are also particularly worrisome because they threaten to erode carbon stocks. Including the Eastern Himalayas, the Himalayan forests are estimated to hold 3,273.1 million tonnes of carbon. For the Western Himalaya study, researchers from the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, and Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, considered a host of bioclimatic, anthropogenic, and topical variables that could influence forest fire dynamics in the region. “What we tried to do was study 10 years of past data to understand how these variables interact with each other.  Temperature had the biggest edge out of all of them,” said Amit Kumar Verma, a senior technical officer and faculty member with the Forest Research Institute (FRI) who authored the study. Adding fuel to fire The study’s findings add to a growing body of evidence of forests’ sensitivity to environmental fluctuations — and temperature in particular. Though most forest fires are triggered by human activity in India, every one degree&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rising-temperatures-not-just-human-activity-drives-himalayan-forest-fires/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rising-temperatures-not-just-human-activity-drives-himalayan-forest-fires/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Centre identifies over 300 vulnerable districts amid El Niño, weak monsoon fears</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/centre-identifies-315-vulnerable-districts-amid-el-nino-weak-monsoon-fears/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/centre-identifies-315-vulnerable-districts-amid-el-nino-weak-monsoon-fears/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2026 10:53:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agricultural drought]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[El Niño]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fodder crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indian monsoon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[irrigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rain fed irrigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/25102715/AP17211362241222-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=38804</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environomy and Flood and drought]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Drought, Extreme Weather Events, Impacts of Climate Change, and Monsoons]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Amid concerns over El Niño and a weak monsoon, the central government has identified 315 districts as vulnerable, which includes 111 highly vulnerable districts. Global meteorological agencies, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD), have confirmed a high likelihood of El Niño conditions. IMD has also forecast that southwest monsoon rainfall is likely to be 90% [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Amid concerns over El Niño and a weak monsoon, the central government has identified 315 districts as vulnerable, which includes 111 highly vulnerable districts. Global meteorological agencies, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD), have confirmed a high likelihood of El Niño conditions. IMD has also forecast that southwest monsoon rainfall is likely to be 90% of the long-period average, placing it in the below normal category, and its impact is already visible. On Tuesday, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, while speaking to the media, said, “The southwest monsoon is significantly delayed this year and rainfall so far has been around 43% below normal.” Chouhan said that around 315 districts have been identified as potentially affected by weak monsoon conditions. Of these, 111 districts have irrigation coverage below 25% and fall under the high-priority category. Another 76 districts with irrigation coverage between 25% and 50% are categorised as medium priority, while 128 districts are classified as low priority owing to relatively better irrigation facilities through dams and other sources. Most of the affected districts are located in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. “Changing crop strategy in rain-fed areas has become the need of the hour,” Chouhan said. The union government has advised states to promote short-duration crop varieties and those capable of delivering higher yields with lower water requirements and also to switch immediately to alternative crop options if there is a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/centre-identifies-315-vulnerable-districts-amid-el-nino-weak-monsoon-fears/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/centre-identifies-315-vulnerable-districts-amid-el-nino-weak-monsoon-fears/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Financing the green shift remains a hurdle for steel MSMEs</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/financing-the-green-shift-remains-a-hurdle-for-steel-msmes/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/financing-the-green-shift-remains-a-hurdle-for-steel-msmes/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2026 15:55:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rohini Krishnamurthy]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[metal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steel Industry]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/24140405/AP20270312356413-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38792</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon emissions, Carbon Finance, Climate Change, Environment, Green Business, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Industry]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nearly a decade after independence, one of India’s first public sector steel plants was established in Bhilai, Durg district, Chhattisgarh — a region rich in iron ore, coal and other natural resources. In the ensuing decades, several scattered steel units, dominated by micro, small, and medium-enterprises (MSMEs), began to mushroom some 40 km away in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nearly a decade after independence, one of India’s first public sector steel plants was established in Bhilai, Durg district, Chhattisgarh — a region rich in iron ore, coal and other natural resources. In the ensuing decades, several scattered steel units, dominated by micro, small, and medium-enterprises (MSMEs), began to mushroom some 40 km away in Raipur, helping Chhattisgarh become the third-largest producer of crude steel in the country. Meanwhile, about 1,100 km away, a slightly different story unfolded in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur during the 1960s — one where the region’s industrial journey was shaped by its agricultural roots. The demand for agricultural machinery paved the way for a local foundry industry. Foundries use metals like iron to produce castings that are used widely, from irrigation pumps to automobiles. Now, Kolhapur is one of the country’s largest foundry clusters, dominated by MSMEs, contributing 7-8% of India’s casting production. Together, Raipur and Kolhapur, along with other MSME clusters across India, drive India’s secondary steel production — where steel is made by melting scrap metal and other processed forms of iron in electric furnaces, rather than producing iron from iron ore first. The secondary steel sector, which contributes 30-35% of the country’s crude steel capacity, is dominated by MSMEs and relies on coal and inefficient technologies. In contrast, the primary production route is also energy-intensive but dominated by large players with higher capital investment. Notably, the secondary route of steel production accounts for more than 50 million tonnes (MT) of greenhouse gas emissions annually, according&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/financing-the-green-shift-remains-a-hurdle-for-steel-msmes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>The goat-antelope of the high Himalayas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-goat-antelope-of-the-high-himalayas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-goat-antelope-of-the-high-himalayas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2026 15:47:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Team Mongabay-India]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[herbivores]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northeast India]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/24153854/mishmi-takin-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=38791</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Species File]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Endangered species, Himalayas, Mammals, Mountains, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A few days ago, footage of a rare goat-antelope native to the eastern Himalayas, was captured in Tingda Reserve Forest, Sikkim. Often described as a cross between a goat and an ox, this ungulate is called the Mishmi takin. Forest department officials recorded the video during a routine patrolling exercise. Comprising eight individuals, this was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A few days ago, footage of a rare goat-antelope native to the eastern Himalayas, was captured in Tingda Reserve Forest, Sikkim. Often described as a cross between a goat and an ox, this ungulate is called the Mishmi takin. Forest department officials recorded the video during a routine patrolling exercise. Comprising eight individuals, this was also the largest herd recorded from the locality. Known for its robust build, thick shaggy coat and large curved horns, the Mishmi takin (Budorcas taxicolor) is one of four subspecies of the takin. It is a large herbivorous ungulate native to the Eastern Himalaya. It feeds on grasses, leaves, bamboo shoots, and bark from alpine and deciduous plants such as rhododendrons, oaks, and willows, thus shaping vegetation and aiding seed dispersal.  The Mishmi takin thrives in dense forests and subalpine meadows, at elevations between 1,800 and 4,500 metres depending on the season. In India, it is found primarily in the Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh — home of the Idu Mishmi, an indigenous community that has long coexisted with the takin — and parts of Sikkim. The species also occurs in southeastern Tibet, northwestern Yunnan, and northern Myanmar.  Population estimates based on anecdotal reports suggest only 220–300 individuals remain in India, while China hosts an estimated 3,500 individuals. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the Mishmi takin as vulnerable due to declining populations. In India, it is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.  Highly sensitive and elusive, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-goat-antelope-of-the-high-himalayas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>New sand boa species calls for attention</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-sand-boa-species-calls-for-attention/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-sand-boa-species-calls-for-attention/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2026 12:48:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Divya Kilikar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[desert]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dryland conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grassland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Snakes]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/24001323/sistanensis-adult-5-of-6-Copy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=38787</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Rajasthan and Thar Desert]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Human Wildlife Conflict, New species, Reptiles, Thar Desert, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study reports the first confirmed record in India of the Sistan sand boa (Eryx sistanensis), a species formally described only in 2020 and previously known from Iran and Pakistan. Researchers documented three live individuals from the northern Thar Desert in Rajasthan. The discovery effectively adds a fourth species of sand boa to India, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study reports the first confirmed record in India of the Sistan sand boa (Eryx sistanensis), a species formally described only in 2020 and previously known from Iran and Pakistan. Researchers documented three live individuals from the northern Thar Desert in Rajasthan. The discovery effectively adds a fourth species of sand boa to India, alongside the red sand boa (Eryx johnii), rough-scaled sand boa (Eryx conicus) and Whitaker&#8217;s boa (Eryx whitakeri). The study also suggests that the species may have been present in northwestern India for decades but remained overlooked because of its close resemblance to the red sand boa. The study found that the Sistan sand boa can be distinguished from the red sand boa by its persistent dark bands and a tail that gradually tapers towards the tip. While red sand boas lose their body bands as they mature, the Sistan sand boa retains its sooty bands throughout life. Juveniles are buff-coloured, while subadults and adults are tan to tan-brown. According to the study&#8217;s lead author and conservation biologist Vivek Sharma, the species may face many of the same threats as the better-known red sand boa, which is heavily targeted in India&#8217;s illegal wildlife trade. &nbsp; “All sand boas are traded widely,” Sharma says. Used by snake charmers, they are traded across the country and often transported far beyond their natural range. Some of the earliest observations of what is now recognised as the Sistan sand boa came from snakes found with charmers in Punjab, West Bengal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-sand-boa-species-calls-for-attention/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Rethinking India’s climate plan through equity, delivery and intent [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-indias-climate-plan-through-equity-delivery-and-intent-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-indias-climate-plan-through-equity-delivery-and-intent-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2026 14:15:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mohana ManimaranRavi Shankar Prasad]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate justice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solar Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wind Energy]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/23131848/AP24052670530069-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38776</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon emissions, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The concept of &#8216;ratcheting ambition&#8217; now shapes global climate action. However, ambition is often measured using a single, uniform metric: comparing all countries against a common temperature goal. This approach overlooks countries&#8217; unique circumstances, development needs, shortage of climate finance, and historical responsibility. India released its third nationally determined contribution (NDC 3.0) in March. It [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The concept of &#8216;ratcheting ambition&#8217; now shapes global climate action. However, ambition is often measured using a single, uniform metric: comparing all countries against a common temperature goal. This approach overlooks countries&#8217; unique circumstances, development needs, shortage of climate finance, and historical responsibility. India released its third nationally determined contribution (NDC 3.0) in March. It is the climate pledge each country under the Paris Agreement files and is expected to ratchet up with every cycle. The latest NDC is for 2031-2035 and has been subject to a convoluted reading. A set of forward-looking commitments, with deliverable outcomes, and aligned with the long-term vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, has been characterised as moderate by many observers. Applying one standard to measure ambition contradicts the Paris Agreement’s principle of equity. Article 2.2 emphasises common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, meaning all nations must act, but those with the most historical emissions and greatest means should do more. Criticism of India’s new plan as &#8216;moderate&#8217; overlooks this principle and ignores India&#8217;s record of delivering on commitments. As the second Global Stocktake (GST2) is set to commence later this year, it is important to assess ambition in its broader context — taking into account equity, historical responsibility, the delivery of past commitments, and the overarching, holistic long-term vision to combat climate change. Viewed through this lens, India&#8217;s NDC 3.0 signals stronger ambition than many assessments suggest. Taking into account legacy emissions Cumulative CO₂ emissions data from the Global Carbon Project reveals a stark&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-indias-climate-plan-through-equity-delivery-and-intent-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Snake sightings rise even when snakebite deaths fall</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/snake-sightings-rise-even-when-snakebite-deaths-fall/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/snake-sightings-rise-even-when-snakebite-deaths-fall/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jun 2026 13:59:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi M.R.]]>
						</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>
		<category><![CDATA[snakebites]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Snakes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanisation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/22103156/3-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38767</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Human Wildlife Conflict, Impacts of Climate Change, Reptiles, Villages, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Panic struck Kerala this year when eight snakebite deaths were reported from six districts across the state within a span of two months this summer. Six of the eight deaths were reported between April 20 and 26. A constant stream of fear-inducing reports in both the mainstream and social media intensified public anxiety around snakebites. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Panic struck Kerala this year when eight snakebite deaths were reported from six districts across the state within a span of two months this summer. Six of the eight deaths were reported between April 20 and 26. A constant stream of fear-inducing reports in both the mainstream and social media intensified public anxiety around snakebites. The heightened concern was reflected in the number of calls received by Team SARPA (Snake Awareness, Rescue, Protection App), a network of trained snake rescuers and forest officials. In August 2020, Kerala introduced guidelines for the rescue and release of snakes from human-dominated areas by certified snake rescuers, leading to the formation of the SARPA team and a mobile application. The platform allows residents to report snake sightings and alert nearby rescuers, enabling rapid responses to snake-related incidents, improving documentation, and promoting public awareness of snake safety and conservation. “There are around 3,500 active licensed snake rescuers in the state. But with the intense media attention this year, we started receiving more than 100 calls a day for volunteers, and most of them were panic calls,” says Sandeep Das, research associate at the University of Calicut and SARPA master trainer. “When media focus shifted to election coverage and political developments in the state, the number of calls gradually came down.” “A combination of factors such as the unusually high atmospheric temperatures triggered by the heatwave, the egg-hatching season of venomous snakes such as the Indian cobra, Russell’s viper, and saw-scaled viper led to more human-snake&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/snake-sightings-rise-even-when-snakebite-deaths-fall/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Village documents 600 species through a community-led survey</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/village-documents-600-species-through-a-community-led-survey/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/village-documents-600-species-through-a-community-led-survey/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jun 2026 11:35:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vinaya Kurtkoti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[documentation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grassland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/22081709/Indian-Wolf-in-the-grasslands-of-Kiraksal-Photo-Credit-Himesh-Gahir-GreenHub-Fellow-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38758</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas and Eco Hope]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community based conservation, Conservation, Grasslands, Human Wildlife Conflict, and Mammals]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Kiraksal, a small village in Maan taluka, Satara district of Maharashtra, is known for its dense scrublands. According to the village elders, this area was once a thriving grasslands ecosystem, home to blackbucks and chinkaras. After the 1950s, ungulate species gradually became locally extinct in this area; the Indian grey wolves, striped hyena, golden jackals, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Kiraksal, a small village in Maan taluka, Satara district of Maharashtra, is known for its dense scrublands. According to the village elders, this area was once a thriving grasslands ecosystem, home to blackbucks and chinkaras. After the 1950s, ungulate species gradually became locally extinct in this area; the Indian grey wolves, striped hyena, golden jackals, and Bengal foxes survived, but the biodiversity in the village remained undocumented. Chinmay Sawant, a wildlife biologist from Mumbai whose grandparents live in Kiraksal, decided to change this by scientifically documenting the species in this ecosystem. Sawant spent the COVID-19 lockdown period in Kiraksal for this purpose, and worked on putting together the village’s People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR). “Kiraksal is connected to hilly areas and table mountains but we did not know which animals live there. I was curious to find out and scientifically study this area, so I spent the entire lockdown period here. Amol Katkar, who was a member of the gram panchayat during this time, entrusted me with the task of making the PBR, so I formed a team of likeminded young people interested in conserving nature,” he shares. The Kiraksal Conservation Project was thus started, and this team continued their efforts to document the biodiversity, later supported by a WWF grant from 2023 to 2025. The WWF-supported project had three objectives: local community engagement and youth training, biodiversity documentation and research, habitat protection and restoration. The first phase of the project (May 2023 to October 2024) involved developing surveys with the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/village-documents-600-species-through-a-community-led-survey/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>The changing gourd behind Indian classical music</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/06/the-changing-gourd-behind-indian-classical-music/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/06/the-changing-gourd-behind-indian-classical-music/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jun 2026 20:34:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mahima JainMegha Acharya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kartik Chandramouli]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/19153555/tanpura-banner-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&#038;p=38755</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Conserving Agro-biodiversity]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India, Maharashtra, and West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture and Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The tanpura&#8217;s steady drone is the foundation on which Indian classical music’s ragas are built. But an often unrecognisable part of this instrument is a humble ingredient: a large dried gourd, grown by a small number of farmers and shaped by generations of instrument makers. Across a few farms in West Bengal and Maharashtra, this [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The tanpura&#8217;s steady drone is the foundation on which Indian classical music’s ragas are built. But an often unrecognisable part of this instrument is a humble ingredient: a large dried gourd, grown by a small number of farmers and shaped by generations of instrument makers. Across a few farms in West Bengal and Maharashtra, this film traces the journey of the gourd that gives the tanpura its voice. Farmers inspect fruits by size, touch and sound. Artisans shave and shape them with extraordinary precision. Musicians depend on the resonance they produce. But the lingering resonance of a tanpura note depends not only on the musician, but also on the thickness of a gourd grown months earlier in a field hundreds of kilometres away. But the tanpura&#8217;s tunes are changing. Farmers, instrument makers and musicians say that the gourds are becoming smaller and more fragile due to environmental conditions. Excessive heat, unseasonal rain, pests and disease are damaging crops. As harvests become more uncertain, so does the future of a craft sustained by specialised knowledge, fragile supply chains and deep emotional ties. Watch this Mongabay-India news documentary exploring the environmental story hidden within one of Indian classical music&#8217;s most essential sounds.This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/06/the-changing-gourd-behind-indian-classical-music/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Forest clearance for dam puts white-bellied herons at risk</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/forest-clearance-for-dam-puts-white-bellied-herons-at-risk/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/forest-clearance-for-dam-puts-white-bellied-herons-at-risk/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jun 2026 13:54:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hydroelectric Power]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/19110747/WHITE-BELLIED-HERON-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38747</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Hewing The Regulatory Tree]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arunachal Pradesh and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Fish, Hydroelectric power, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The  Forest Advisory Committee has granted “in principle” approval to a hydropower project in a region of Arunachal Pradesh that is inhabited by the white bellied heron, a critically endangered bird whose species number was estimated to be less than 60, globally, in 2015. To compensate for the forest loss resulting from the project, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The  Forest Advisory Committee has granted “in principle” approval to a hydropower project in a region of Arunachal Pradesh that is inhabited by the white bellied heron, a critically endangered bird whose species number was estimated to be less than 60, globally, in 2015. To compensate for the forest loss resulting from the project, the FAC approved afforestation thousands of kilometres away, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, a decision experts termed futile for the bird’s conservation. The FAC, a statutory body under the environment ministry which evaluates project proposals on forest land, gave its approval to the Kalai II hydroelectric power plant (HEP) in a meeting on May 8. The 1200-megawatt run-of-the river dam is planned on the Lohit river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, in the border district of Anjaw. The river’s catchment area is flanked by tropical wet and dense mixed forest types and sits in the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot. A total of 33,338 trees are proposed to be felled within this landscape for the dam. In its meeting, the FAC noted that the white-bellied heron was absent in the list of important species that could be impacted by the project, and granted its approval on the condition that the Wildlife Institute of India vet the project’s Wildlife Management Plan. The FAC insisted that the assessment put a special emphasis on conserving the bird’s habitat. However, conservation experts say that the hydropower project is likely to cause major disruptions to the species’ survival in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/forest-clearance-for-dam-puts-white-bellied-herons-at-risk/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Bonn talks signal a new energy transition narrative, even as old divides persist</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/bonn-talks-signal-a-new-energy-transition-narrative-even-as-old-divides-persist/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/bonn-talks-signal-a-new-energy-transition-narrative-even-as-old-divides-persist/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jun 2026 12:30:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate Finance]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/19113743/Raichur-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38743</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy and Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy, Energy, Green Energy, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The annual two-week Bonn climate conference ended on June 18, exposing familiar fault lines over climate finance, trade and ambition while also highlighting a new push to accelerate the energy transition through electrification. The mid-year meeting is an annual affair under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where parties negotiate the technical [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The annual two-week Bonn climate conference ended on June 18, exposing familiar fault lines over climate finance, trade and ambition while also highlighting a new push to accelerate the energy transition through electrification. The mid-year meeting is an annual affair under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where parties negotiate the technical and scientific aspects of climate negotiations. It helps shape the agenda of the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC. At the beginning of the conference, the host of the next climate summit proposed increasing the global electrification target to 35% by 2035, up from the current target of just over 20%. COP31 President-Designate Murat Kurum called it a flagship initiative of the COP31 Presidency&#8217;s Action Agenda, &#8220;calling for a major acceleration in the shift from direct fossil fuel use to clean electricity across buildings, transport and industry.&#8221; The proposal comes alongside the COP30 Presidency&#8217;s work on a roadmap for transitioning away from fossil fuels (TAFF) in energy systems. On June 12, the COP30 Presidency presented progress on the roadmap, which is expected to be shared ahead of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye. Together, the electrification initiative and the TAFF roadmap suggest an emerging effort to frame energy transition discussions around deployment of clean energy systems rather than explicit fossil fuel reduction targets. The proposal has particular significance for India. According to a recent International Energy Agency (IEA) report, the country&#8217;s electrification rate stands at around 19%, slightly below the global average of 21%. At&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/bonn-talks-signal-a-new-energy-transition-narrative-even-as-old-divides-persist/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>India’s native dwarf honey bee faces a quiet urban crisis</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/indias-native-dwarf-honey-bee-faces-a-quiet-urban-crisis/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/indias-native-dwarf-honey-bee-faces-a-quiet-urban-crisis/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jun 2026 11:12:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nivedhika Krishnan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[honeybees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollination]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollinators]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/18183622/A_florea_colony-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38733</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Ecology, Impacts of Climate Change, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As Bengaluru’s temperatures peaked at 38.5°C in April this year, natural landscape architect Akshay Vidhate stood in his terrace garden among 30 varieties of flowering plants. The air was eerily quiet. He noticed the absence of the familiar buzz of wild honey bees in his garden. Vidhate turned an empty bottle into a makeshift feeder, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As Bengaluru’s temperatures peaked at 38.5°C in April this year, natural landscape architect Akshay Vidhate stood in his terrace garden among 30 varieties of flowering plants. The air was eerily quiet. He noticed the absence of the familiar buzz of wild honey bees in his garden. Vidhate turned an empty bottle into a makeshift feeder, filled it with a light sugar-water mixture, and hung it in the shade. “For the first few days, nothing happened,” he recalls. “Then, suddenly, there were bees everywhere. Now they arrive every morning, almost on schedule.” Vidhate’s experience reflects a slow shift unfolding across India’s urban landscapes — the transition from environments that naturally sustain wild, open-air bees to ones that increasingly require human intervention to keep ecosystem functions alive. Native bees face challenges in cities Global pollinator research has focused heavily on the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera), a cavity-dwelling species managed in commercial hives. However, pollination in India’s agricultural and urban ecosystems depend largely on free-living wild bee populations such as the dwarf honey bee (Apis florea) and giant honey bee (Apis dorsata). A dwarf honey bee collects pollen from a eucalyptus flower in Bengaluru. India’s agricultural and urban ecosystems depend on wild bee populations such as the dwarf honey bee and giant honey bee. Image by Bharath Kumar A.K. Between these two species, the native dwarf honey bee serves as a foundational ecological safety net. “The size of a pollinator is often proportional to the size of the flower it pollinates,” explains&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/indias-native-dwarf-honey-bee-faces-a-quiet-urban-crisis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Study finds urbanisation is reshaping frog communities in the Western Ghats</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/study-finds-urbanisation-is-reshaping-frog-communities-in-the-western-ghats/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/study-finds-urbanisation-is-reshaping-frog-communities-in-the-western-ghats/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2026 15:14:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ananya Singh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanisation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/18134838/IMG_6079-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38724</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Biodiversity, Frogs, Western Ghats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In India, urbanisation and land-use changes are driving forest loss across biodiversity hotspots, including the Western Ghats which support over 250 amphibian species. A new study based in Udupi, a Tier-2 city at the foothills of the Western Ghats, suggests that urbanisation may not necessarily lead to species loss, but may be reshaping frog communities. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In India, urbanisation and land-use changes are driving forest loss across biodiversity hotspots, including the Western Ghats which support over 250 amphibian species. A new study based in Udupi, a Tier-2 city at the foothills of the Western Ghats, suggests that urbanisation may not necessarily lead to species loss, but may be reshaping frog communities. The study, published in Urban Ecosystems, suggests that urbanisation is altering amphibian communities by filtering out species according to certain traits such as body size, reproduction and habitat use. Species with specialised traits — such as arboreal (tree-dwelling) or fossorial (burrowing) frogs, direct-developing species (that hatch directly as frogs, bypassing the tadpole stage) or those with a larger body size — were associated with less-urbanised habitats farther from the city centre. In contrast, generalist species with more adaptable traits showed greater urban tolerance. “The study’s most novel finding is that urbanisation acts as a trait filter rather than simply a diversity filter,” said Aravind N.A., Senior Fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and the study’s supervising author. While traditional biodiversity assessments may conclude that urbanisation has either little or drastic impact based on species counts, trait-based analyses can reveal how landscape changes restructure amphibian communities, Aravind explained. “This finding is particularly important because it highlights hidden biodiversity changes that may precede measurable species losses,” he added. Although around 40% of amphibian species are threatened with extinction globally, little is known about how amphibian communities respond to urban pressures,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/study-finds-urbanisation-is-reshaping-frog-communities-in-the-western-ghats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The chinkara&#8217;s future may be less secure than its conservation status suggests</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-chinkaras-future-may-be-less-secure-than-its-conservation-status-suggests/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-chinkaras-future-may-be-less-secure-than-its-conservation-status-suggests/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2026 14:37:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manjeera Gowravaram]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dryland conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[herbivores]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solar Energy]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/18125106/10840549853_e252fdecb6_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38716</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecology, Grasslands, Mammals, Renewable Energy, Thar Desert, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Indian gazelle, also known as chinkara, found across the subcontinent&#8217;s drylands, carries a quiet sense of security. Protected under Schedule I of India&#8217;s Wildlife Protection Act and listed under the least concern category by the IUCN, it is not an obvious candidate for a conservation crisis. However, a new study published in the Journal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Indian gazelle, also known as chinkara, found across the subcontinent&#8217;s drylands, carries a quiet sense of security. Protected under Schedule I of India&#8217;s Wildlife Protection Act and listed under the least concern category by the IUCN, it is not an obvious candidate for a conservation crisis. However, a new study published in the Journal of Wildlife Management by researchers from the Zoological Survey of India, challenges that assumption. The study projects that under the worst-case emissions pathway, RCP 8.5, where temperatures rise by 4°C or more by 2100, the chinkara could lose nearly 89% of its suitable habitat by 2070. When climate alone is isolated as a driver, projected habitat loss climbs to almost 96.5%. Under RCP 2.6, which aligns with the Paris Agreement&#8217;s 2°C target, habitat losses were lower, but still severe. &#8220;A loss of 89-96% of habitat within roughly 50 years represents a biodiversity emergency for this species in India,&#8221; said lead author of the study Amar Paul Singh. The study is among the first to examine these risks at a national scale for a dryland ungulate. Mapping a shrinking future The researchers compiled more than 200 verified chinkara records from field surveys, published literature and biodiversity databases spanning between 2000 and 2022. They layered those records against climate, land-cover, topographic and human-disturbance data, then ran them through an ensemble of seven different species-distribution models to reduce the bias any single model might introduce into the final projection. Under current conditions, the models identified a little over&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-chinkaras-future-may-be-less-secure-than-its-conservation-status-suggests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>El Niño forecast increases likelihood of weak monsoon and water stress</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/el-nino-forecast-increases-likelihood-of-weak-monsoon-and-water-stress/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/el-nino-forecast-increases-likelihood-of-weak-monsoon-and-water-stress/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2026 11:50:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Phalguni Ranjan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/18104433/AP721800276528-e1781759817344-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38707</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Science, Drought, and Extreme Weather Events]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Global meteorological agencies have confirmed El Niño is here. In India, El Niño conditions in the equatorial Pacific Ocean are expected to intensify as the southwest monsoon progresses, confirms the India Meteorological Department’s June bulletin. Experts say the developing El Niño should be treated as a serious climate risk and an early warning, urging timely [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Global meteorological agencies have confirmed El Niño is here. In India, El Niño conditions in the equatorial Pacific Ocean are expected to intensify as the southwest monsoon progresses, confirms the India Meteorological Department’s June bulletin. Experts say the developing El Niño should be treated as a serious climate risk and an early warning, urging timely planning and preparedness rather than alarm. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Copernicus Climate Change Service, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and are converging on the increasing likelihood of the El Niño event developing to a moderate to strong event in the next few months. “There was a high likelihood of El Niño developing during June-August 2026, with probabilities around 80%. The probability of El Niño conditions continuing through August to November is near or above 90%,” says Barbara Tapia Cortes, WMO Technical Coordinator (Services). Recent updates about a developing El Niño have triggered a wave of headlines warning of droughts, heatwaves and monsoon disruptions, sparking concerns globally. However, while El Niño has been confirmed and is likely to strengthen further, there is still considerable uncertainty about its intensity and impacts on India. Cortes explains, “The impacts depend on the event’s intensity, duration, timing and interaction with other climate drivers.” For India, where agriculture, water resources, and urban water supplies remain closely tied to monsoon performance, even a moderate El Niño could have significant consequences. “The emerging 2026-27 El Niño should be treated as a serious climate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/el-nino-forecast-increases-likelihood-of-weak-monsoon-and-water-stress/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Landslide survivors wait for a place to call home</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/landslide-survivors-wait-for-a-place-to-call-home/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/landslide-survivors-wait-for-a-place-to-call-home/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2026 17:42:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disaster management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[landslide]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[landslides]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relocation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/17143127/DSC4519-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38614</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Politics, Human Rights, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Almost two years after a massive landslide ripped through her home, Bushara Mujeeb still feels at sea. Between the grief of losing two dozen family members in the disaster and the struggle of supporting those of them who survived, she knows that things will never quite be the same again. But there is something to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Almost two years after a massive landslide ripped through her home, Bushara Mujeeb still feels at sea. Between the grief of losing two dozen family members in the disaster and the struggle of supporting those of them who survived, she knows that things will never quite be the same again. But there is something to look forward to. She’s been counting down the days till she moves into her new home, built specifically for survivors of the 2024 Wayanad landslide in Kerala. “Since the landslide, organising food, shelter, and clothing has been my biggest preoccupation. We’ve just been living moment to moment, trying to get past that trauma,” she told Mongabay-India in April, sitting in the district headquarters&#8217; community centre. On July 30, 2024, the three wards of Chooralmala, Punchirimattam, and Mundakkai were washed away within minutes when, upstream of the Punnapuzha river, a cascade of rocks and soil came crashing down after days of relentlessly heavy rain. The landslide destroyed 1,500 homes and killed 266 people. It also wiped away 25 hectares of forest and 600 hectares of agricultural land with coffee, tea, and cardamom plantations, destroying a major source of livelihood for affected families. Soon after the disaster struck, the erstwhile Left Democratic Front government-led by Pinarayi Vijayan made plans to build a state-of-the-art township to rehabilitate survivors who lost their homes. More than 100 families were handed keys and titles to their new homes in early April this year. “Moving into the new home will be a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/landslide-survivors-wait-for-a-place-to-call-home/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The world’s largest fish</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-worlds-largest-fish/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-worlds-largest-fish/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2026 15:26:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Team Mongabay-India]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Marine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine ecosystem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine Fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marine wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shark]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/17145635/whale-shark-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=38613</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Species File]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Fish, Oceans, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Imagine five cars parked behind one another. That&#8217;s approximately how long this fish is. Growing up to 18 metres in length, it is considered as the world&#8217;s largest fish. It has a distinctive pattern of white spots which are unique to each individual, much like [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Imagine five cars parked behind one another. That&#8217;s approximately how long this fish is. Growing up to 18 metres in length, it is considered as the world&#8217;s largest fish. It has a distinctive pattern of white spots which are unique to each individual, much like a human fingerprint. The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving filter feeder found along India’s entire coastline, with the largest aggregation off Gujarat&#8217;s coast. It plays a role in maintaining the marine food chain by regulating plankton and small fish populations. Whale sharks are present worldwide in tropical and warm-temperate waters. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the whale shark is listed as endangered due to global population decline. In India, it has the highest legal protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It faces multiple pressures, including lethal ship collisions, bycatch in fishing gear, and, in the past, targeted hunting for meat and fins. Warming oceans due to climate change, offshore drilling and coastal construction are also shifting their food sources and altering habitats. These pressures have led to its population shrinking by half in the last 75 years. In recent years, however, community-driven conservation efforts along India’s west coast have helped reduce bycatch-related deaths, though other threats still loom. In an earlier story that Mongabay-India published in 2025, Sajan John, the head of marine projects at Wildlife Trust of India, said, “Earlier, the whale sharks&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-worlds-largest-fish/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>A social worker&#8217;s solo endeavour to track fluorosis and groundwater contamination</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/06/a-social-workers-solo-endeavour-to-track-fluorosis-and-groundwater-contamination/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/06/a-social-workers-solo-endeavour-to-track-fluorosis-and-groundwater-contamination/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2026 18:11:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Biswajit DasNabarun Guha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kartik Chandramouli]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[drinking water]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[piped water]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water consumption]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/16155239/banner-fluorosis-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&#038;p=38674</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ecology, Environment, Governance, Groundwater, Human Rights, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Fifty-year-old Sadhani Kalita who resides in Nagaon district of Assam, says, “I face constant pain in my body, and my feet get swollen. I also have fever, high pressure, and diabetes, for which I have to take medicines.” Kalita lives with skeletal fluorosis, caused by prolonged consumption of water that has high fluoride content, above [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Fifty-year-old Sadhani Kalita who resides in Nagaon district of Assam, says, “I face constant pain in my body, and my feet get swollen. I also have fever, high pressure, and diabetes, for which I have to take medicines.” Kalita lives with skeletal fluorosis, caused by prolonged consumption of water that has high fluoride content, above the prescribed safe level. Fluoride enters the state&#8217;s groundwater through mineral-rich rocks, at levels that are dangerously high for consumption. Its presence in Assam&#8217;s water was first detected in 1999. As a result, citizens who consume the water for long durations develop irreversible dental and skeletal fluorosis, which have no known cure. Surface water, on the other hand, is safe from the contamination. While many tubewells and borewells have been abandoned across the state, unreliable piped water supply often leaves residents with little choice but to revert back to groundwater usage. Dharani Saikia is a 62-year-old social worker who has been gathering evidence of fluorosis cases in Assam — largely in Nagaon, Hojai and Karbi Anglong districts — for over two decades. He meets with children and adults who have developed fluorosis in its many forms, documenting their symptoms and how the condition affects their daily lives. Read the full story: In rural Assam, fluoride in groundwater is bending bonesThis article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/06/a-social-workers-solo-endeavour-to-track-fluorosis-and-groundwater-contamination/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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