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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
		<atom:link href="https://india.mongabay.com/feed/?byline=robert-bociaga&#038;post_type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/by/robert-bociaga/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 08:22:37 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
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				<item>
					<title>The grass is greener only on paper</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/the-grass-is-greener-only-on-paper/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/the-grass-is-greener-only-on-paper/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Sep 2026 13:52:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shivam Bhardwaj]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fodder crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[green fodder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livestock]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/04094108/ramashankar-dodamafi--768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uttar Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Climate Change, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Villages, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It has been over three months since 65-year-old livestock farmer Faujdar Singh Yadav, has been missing. Yadav&#8217;s family, that lives in Doda Mafi village in Chitrakoot district of Bundelkhand, owns 14 cattle. &#8220;During the summer, there was not enough fodder at home, so he used to take the cattle into the forest to graze. In [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It has been over three months since 65-year-old livestock farmer Faujdar Singh Yadav, has been missing. Yadav&#8217;s family, that lives in Doda Mafi village in Chitrakoot district of Bundelkhand, owns 14 cattle. &#8220;During the summer, there was not enough fodder at home, so he used to take the cattle into the forest to graze. In the third week of April, he went out to graze the cattle. In search of fodder, the cattle went deeper into the forest and disappeared from his sight. While searching for the cattle, he probably got lost too,&#8221; narrates Yadav&#8217;s son Rama Shankar. &#8220;The cattle returned home by late evening, but my father hasn&#8217;t returned to this day. An FIR was registered, but there is still no information about my father.&#8221; Yadav’s story reflects a wider crisis in Bundelkhand, where recurring drought and fodder shortages are forcing livestock farmers to venture farther in search of food, sometimes putting both people and cattle at risk. Bundelkhand is a historically drought-prone region where droughts have become more frequent in recent decades. Recent studies find that the region now faces severe drought every 5-7 years which adversely affects the rural economy that depends on crop production and livestock rearing. The cattle economy bears the earliest and sharpest impact. In the peak summer of the 2016 drought, reports said thousands of cattle died from fodder and water shortages across the region. Many farmers still live with the aftermath of that crisis. In another part of Bundelkhand, near Pachara Panchayat&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/the-grass-is-greener-only-on-paper/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study links female legislators to faster forest-cover growth</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/study-links-female-legislators-to-faster-forest-cover-growth/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/study-links-female-legislators-to-faster-forest-cover-growth/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Sep 2026 10:25:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[women]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/04091503/AP20048475683707-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=40688</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas and Environment and Her]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change Mitigation, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, and Nature-based Climate Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The gender of elected representatives can influence forest-cover growth, indicates a study that examines the causal impact of female elected representatives on forest conservation in India. The study concludes that electing a female MLA increased annual forest-cover growth by about six percentage points in constituencies reserved for historically marginalised communities such as Scheduled Castes and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The gender of elected representatives can influence forest-cover growth, indicates a study that examines the causal impact of female elected representatives on forest conservation in India. The study concludes that electing a female MLA increased annual forest-cover growth by about six percentage points in constituencies reserved for historically marginalised communities such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The study titled Female legislators and forest conservation in India was published in the Journal of Economic Behavior &amp; Organization early this year. The authors adopted a regression discontinuity design (RDD) strategy, in which they compared forest-cover growth in constituencies where a female politician won with those where a male politician won in “close” mixed-gender electoral races. “Closely contested state assembly elections reveal a clear pattern: where women narrowly win against male candidates, forest cover grows faster in subsequent years,” write the authors in a related article published in The Policy Edge. “In extremely close mixed-gender elections, the outcome is often shaped by small, contingent factors rather than systematic differences between constituencies. Comparing such razor-thin contests allows a credible estimate of the effect of legislator gender,” the article elaborates. The researchers combined forest-cover data from 2000–2014, state assembly election data, information on the gender of the winning candidate, and details on whether the constituency was reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) or Scheduled Tribes (STs) to identify a pattern and arrive at this conclusion. The researchers explore several possible explanations for the outcome through existing literature. They suggest that, in many cases where women&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/study-links-female-legislators-to-faster-forest-cover-growth/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Crop-residue burning, a major contributor to black carbon pollution: Study</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/crop-residue-burning-a-major-contributor-to-black-carbon-pollution-study/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/crop-residue-burning-a-major-contributor-to-black-carbon-pollution-study/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 17:11:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crop residue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stubble burning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sustainable agriculture]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/03162644/AP21322310236130-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40673</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Air Pollution, Carbon emissions, Cities and Towns, Clean Energy, Coal, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Green Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health impacts, Industry, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Stubble burning, or crop-residue burning, has been known to contribute to the seasonal smog across northern India, especially in the Indo-Gangetic Plain region. Despite directions issued by the National Green Tribunal in 2015 to prevent agricultural residue burning, biomass burning remains a seasonal activity in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Rajasthan, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Stubble burning, or crop-residue burning, has been known to contribute to the seasonal smog across northern India, especially in the Indo-Gangetic Plain region. Despite directions issued by the National Green Tribunal in 2015 to prevent agricultural residue burning, biomass burning remains a seasonal activity in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Rajasthan, contributing to the region’s air pollution. A new study by researchers from IIT, New Delhi, has quantified the impact of crop-residue burning on particulate air pollution, particularly black carbon, commonly known as soot, that is produced when carbon-containing fuels are not burned completely. The study found that emissions from crop-residue burning in rural Punjab deteriorate air quality across the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) and in downwind metropolitan cities such as Delhi, due to the transport of pollutants by prevailing winds. Results from real-time measurements at an agricultural-field site in Kheral village in rural Punjab showed that crop-residue burning contributed, on average, 48% to the total black carbon during the post-monsoon period, and periodically exceeded 90% during active burning hours. The study was conducted during October and November, the peak season for crop-residue burning in North India after rice harvest. A dominant source of black carbon “For the study, we mainly focused on black carbon levels and their dependence on stubble burning,” said Ajit Kumar, a Ph.D. researcher at IIT Delhi and one of the paper’s authors. Black carbon is a short-lived, carbon-rich component of PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres), Kumar said. A mobile monitoring&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/crop-residue-burning-a-major-contributor-to-black-carbon-pollution-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>El Niño brings drought declaration into sharper focus</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/el-nino-brings-drought-declaration-into-sharper-focus/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/el-nino-brings-drought-declaration-into-sharper-focus/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 15:43:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[El Niño]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural disaster]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/03104144/AP649388761550-scaled-e1788412383893-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40639</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Global Warming, Impacts of Climate Change, Villages, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Despite government assurances of adequate preparations, the looming El Niño has cast an uncertain shadow over crop productivity in India. So far, there has been a rainfall deficit of 14% over the country since the beginning of the monsoon season, according to the Crop Weather Watch Group under the Department of Agriculture. The El Niño [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Despite government assurances of adequate preparations, the looming El Niño has cast an uncertain shadow over crop productivity in India. So far, there has been a rainfall deficit of 14% over the country since the beginning of the monsoon season, according to the Crop Weather Watch Group under the Department of Agriculture. The El Niño is expected to gain strength over the second half of the monsoon season (August-September), the India Meteorological Department confirmed. The latest kharif crop sown area report shows a reduction of 13 lakh (1.3 million) hectares in the sown area of paddy, the dominant kharif crop, compared to last year. In anticipation of the El Niño’s impacts, the Indian Council on Agricultural Research (ICAR) put out an advisory instructing district-level farming research centres – Krishi Vigyan Kendras — to act opportunistically, distributing climate resilient seeds, disseminating advisories, and providing resources on fodder conservation. Even so, drought conditions have led to vocal demands for relief from several parts of the country, including Gujarat and Karnataka, putting the spotlight on the gaps between drought preparedness, detection and declaration. According to the India Drought Monitor, a tool developed by researchers from the Water and Climate Lab at IIT Gandhinagar, nearly 40% of the country is facing abnormal, moderate, or severe levels of dryness as of August 24, based on select hydrometeorological indicators alone. How droughts are declared India’s drought declaration process is dictated by the 2016 Manual for Drought Management, drafted by the Department of Agriculture under the Union&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/el-nino-brings-drought-declaration-into-sharper-focus/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Reduced exposure to nature is linked to immune system diseases [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/reduced-exposure-to-nature-is-linked-to-immune-system-diseases-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/reduced-exposure-to-nature-is-linked-to-immune-system-diseases-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 15:13:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ayisha FarseenaIrfan Shakeer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanisation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/03143959/Golpata_Forest_Taki_3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40655</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Ecosystem services, Environment, Forests, Health impacts, Human Rights, and People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Homo sapiens appeared roughly 300,000 years ago. As outlined in naturalist Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species, this long transition occurred through continuous evolutionary pressures, shaped by interactions with surrounding microbial communities and natural environments. As species struggled and evolved within their ecosystems over time, natural selection shaped not only their physical traits [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Homo sapiens appeared roughly 300,000 years ago. As outlined in naturalist Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species, this long transition occurred through continuous evolutionary pressures, shaped by interactions with surrounding microbial communities and natural environments. As species struggled and evolved within their ecosystems over time, natural selection shaped not only their physical traits but also their internal immune system. This evolutionary process equipped organisms with a sensitive and a complex system to combat pathogens and foreign agents encountered in their natural environments. Ultimately, it is fair to say that human existence is the direct product of nature shaping our biology. The long-standing relationship among humans, microbes, and their shared environment was double-edged, yet they complemented each other. However, driven by rapid urbanisation and shifting lifestyles, human populations are slowly becoming disconnected with nature. Extensive scientific research and data collection have demonstrated the adverse effects of this ecological disconnect on the human immune system, particularly among recent generations of children, in the form of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). Multiple factors impact inflammatory diseases Over the past two decades, the rising incidence (new patients) of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) has drawn increasing attention from global researchers and policymakers. These are heterogeneous groups of inflammatory pathologies of multifactorial etiology (conditions caused by multiple factors) and involve either simultaneously or sequentially more organs. Some of the common examples are Crohn&#8217;s disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and asthma. Unlike diseases caused by infectious&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/reduced-exposure-to-nature-is-linked-to-immune-system-diseases-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>How Maldharis find freshwater using ancient knowledge in arid Banni</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/09/how-maldharis-find-freshwater-using-ancient-knowledge-in-arid-banni/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/09/how-maldharis-find-freshwater-using-ancient-knowledge-in-arid-banni/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 18:05:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Marhaba Hilali]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kartik Chandramouli]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[extreme heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freshwater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[indigenous knowledge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nature-based climate solutions]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/02162949/signal-2026-09-02-15-44-19-145_005-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Knowledge and Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Gujarat and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For Nabudo Halepotra, life in Banni means knowing how to live with extremes. In this arid landscape of Kachchh,​ Gujarat, summer temperatures can touch 50°C, while much of the groundwater is too saline to drink. Yet Nabudo and other Maldhari pastoralists know where to look for freshwater. Beneath the dry beds of seasonal ponds known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For Nabudo Halepotra, life in Banni means knowing how to live with extremes. In this arid landscape of Kachchh,​ Gujarat, summer temperatures can touch 50°C, while much of the groundwater is too saline to drink. Yet Nabudo and other Maldhari pastoralists know where to look for freshwater. Beneath the dry beds of seasonal ponds known as jheels, they dig shallow wells called virdas, drawing on generations of knowledge to find freshwater in one of India’s hottest and most saline landscapes. But these wells are much more than water harvesting structures. They are dug collectively, maintained across generations and woven into pastoral life. A Maldhari woman from Berdo, where piped water supply is unreliable, says, “If there is no virda, our existence will be threatened. Our cattle will perish.” But how long can this system last? Unpredictable rainfall, rising temperatures, the spread of the invasive Prosopis juliflora, and the decline of traditional practices are putting pressure on a system built on intimate knowledge of the land. Despite these challenges, some communities continue to use and maintain virdas through long summers and piped-water supply disruptions. &nbsp; This film was produced under Mongabay-India and ALT EFF’s Video Reporting Opportunity programme.This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/video/2026/09/how-maldharis-find-freshwater-using-ancient-knowledge-in-arid-banni/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>The largest land mammal in the country</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-largest-land-mammal-in-the-country/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-largest-land-mammal-in-the-country/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 15:52:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Team Mongabay-India]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Divya Kilikar]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/02124057/elephant-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=40622</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Species File]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystem services, Elephants, Environment, Forests, Human Wildlife Conflict, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. A recent report from Arunachal Pradesh noted the surprising presence of an animal at the high altitude of 3,266 metres — the Indian elephant. This is possibly the highest confirmed presence of Asian elephants anywhere in the world. The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. A recent report from Arunachal Pradesh noted the surprising presence of an animal at the high altitude of 3,266 metres — the Indian elephant. This is possibly the highest confirmed presence of Asian elephants anywhere in the world. The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), a subspecies of the Asian elephant, is the largest land mammal in the country. Compared to their African cousins, Asian elephants are smaller, with smaller ears and rounded backs, and typically only the males have prominent tusks. Highly intelligent and social, elephants live in matriarchal herds where the oldest females often lead the way. They communicate through rumbles, roars, chirps and infrasonic calls that can travel for kilometres. The Indian elephants typically live in tropical and subtropical forests, grasslands and scrublands. They need large, contiguous landscapes to roam, feed and breed. They disperse seeds, dig for water and clear vegetation, making them crucial ecosystem engineers. Roughly 50,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild in 13 countries, including Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and parts of Southeast Asia, with India holding almost half, at an estimated 22,446, of the subspecies. They occupy fragmented forests across the northeastern, northern, central and southern regions of the country, with the Western Ghats holding the largest populations. The IUCN Red List classifies the Asian elephant as endangered due to declining populations. In India, it receives the highest legal protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and is listed in Appendix&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-largest-land-mammal-in-the-country/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Kharif sowing deficit narrows, but El Niño remains a risk</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/kharif-sowing-deficit-narrows-but-el-nino-remains-a-risk/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/kharif-sowing-deficit-narrows-but-el-nino-remains-a-risk/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 15:03:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[El Niño]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/02123259/IMG_20260724_082122378_HDR-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=40624</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environomy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Given the sowing data and the possibility of persistent El Niño conditions, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), in its monthly economic review released on August 31, said particular attention may be required for pulses, oilseeds, rice and other rainfall-sensitive crops in the months ahead. As per the review, kharif sowing stood at 105.67 million [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Given the sowing data and the possibility of persistent El Niño conditions, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), in its monthly economic review released on August 31, said particular attention may be required for pulses, oilseeds, rice and other rainfall-sensitive crops in the months ahead. As per the review, kharif sowing stood at 105.67 million hectares as on August 21, around 1.5% below the corresponding period of last year. The decline was concentrated particularly in paddy, maize and soybean, while pulses acreage was marginally higher than a year earlier. The gap in sowing has narrowed since August 7, when kharif sowing stood at 96.79 million hectares, 1.8% below the corresponding period of last year. Paddy acreage then stood at 34.48 million hectares, compared with 36.07 million hectares a year earlier. Although the deficit had narrowed from the much larger shortfall observed earlier in the season, India Meteorological Department&#8217;s assessment indicates that the all-India cumulative rainfall deficit remained at 13% as of August 19. Persistent regional deficits remain relevant for crop prospects and rural incomes, the review added. Although the report said the relationship between El Niño and agricultural outcomes is not one-to-one, it identified the evolution of El Niño as an important emerging risk. The latest INCOIS Special El Niño Outlook Bulletin confirms that El Niño conditions had developed over the central Pacific by July 2026 and assigns an 80-98% probability that El Niño will remain the dominant ENSO phase from August 2026 through March 2027. The persistence of El&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/kharif-sowing-deficit-narrows-but-el-nino-remains-a-risk/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>A world of bristles beneath the waves</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-world-of-bristles-beneath-the-waves/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-world-of-bristles-beneath-the-waves/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 17:06:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine ecosystem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine Fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marine wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shrimp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shrimp farming]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/01143225/Amphinomids-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40603</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indian Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coast, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Oceans, Overfishing, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Polychaete worms are among the most diverse groups of marine invertebrates on Earth. According to the World Register of Marine Species, approximately 13,148 valid polychaete species are currently recognised. Some researchers even estimate that this number could rise to 16,700 by the end of the century. “They (polychaete worms) occur in almost all marine habitats, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Polychaete worms are among the most diverse groups of marine invertebrates on Earth. According to the World Register of Marine Species, approximately 13,148 valid polychaete species are currently recognised. Some researchers even estimate that this number could rise to 16,700 by the end of the century. “They (polychaete worms) occur in almost all marine habitats, from estuaries, mangroves, sandy shores, coral reefs, and seagrass beds to the continental shelf and deeper waters,” said Sanitha Sivadas, a marine benthic ecology expert and Scientist E at the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), Visakhapatnam. “A small percentage of polychaete species have even adapted to low-salinity and inland water environments,” Sivadas added. Polychaeta, Greek for “having much hair”, refers to the bristles on the fleshy, leg-like protrusions on their body, which also lends them their other name, bristle worms. These worms range in size from a few millimetres to more than a metre long and come in colours ranging from dull brown to neon yellow and orange-red. In India, despite their vast diversity, polychaete worms remain understudied. Mongabay-India spoke to polychaete experts and taxonomists to learn more about the bright, bristly worms of our seas. India’s underexplored diversity With its extensive coastline and diverse coastal and marine habitats, India is home to a huge diversity of polychaete worms, said Sivadas. “[But] the current recorded [polychaete] diversity represents only a part of the actual diversity in Indian waters,” she added. Pierre Fauvel laid the foundation for documenting India’s polychaete fauna. The well-known French polychaetologist’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-world-of-bristles-beneath-the-waves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Sacred groves show that size isn’t everything when it comes to ecological benefits</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/sacred-groves-show-that-size-isnt-everything-when-it-comes-to-ecological-benefits/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/sacred-groves-show-that-size-isnt-everything-when-it-comes-to-ecological-benefits/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 13:00:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sneha Mahale]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sacred groves]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/01113806/sacred-grove-collage-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40586</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Encroachment, Environment, Forests, Habitat Fragmentation, and Insects]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scattered across India, sacred groves are often celebrated as relics of ancient forests. Protected for generations through cultural and religious traditions, these patches of native vegetation often serve as refuges for native plants, birds and insects. Now, a new study finds that instances of predators eating caterpillars was consistently higher in Kerala’s sacred groves than [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scattered across India, sacred groves are often celebrated as relics of ancient forests. Protected for generations through cultural and religious traditions, these patches of native vegetation often serve as refuges for native plants, birds and insects. Now, a new study finds that instances of predators eating caterpillars was consistently higher in Kerala’s sacred groves than in nearby multi-storied home gardens, indicating that this ecological process that helps regulate populations of herbivorous insects, was stronger in sacred groves. “Predation is a fundamental ecological process that shapes community structure and ecosystem functioning,&#8221; says Gopika Viswan, a researcher at the Ecology Lab, Central University of Kerala and the study’s co-author, adding that &#8220;Changes in predation can trigger strong ecological consequences, including trophic cascades and altered ecosystem stability.” “Species richness or abundance studies capture only the structure of ecosystems, not how they function. Ecosystems are sustained not merely by the presence of species, but by interactions among them, such as prey-predator interactions,” she explains. Testing fragmentation The study was conducted in the northern Malabar region of Kerala’s Kasaragod district, where at least 117 sacred groves are scattered across a mosaic of agricultural areas and home gardens, stretching from the Western Ghats to the Arabian Sea. Researchers selected 12 sites located between 8 kilometres and 44 km from the Western Ghats. At each site, they paired one sacred grove with one multi-storied home garden close by, located 1-2 km apart, to compare predator-prey interactions across habitats and varying levels of isolation from the biodiversity hotspot.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/sacred-groves-show-that-size-isnt-everything-when-it-comes-to-ecological-benefits/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Groundwater study flags localised heavy metal concerns in a coastal district</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/groundwater-study-flags-localised-heavy-metal-concerns-in-a-coastal-district/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/groundwater-study-flags-localised-heavy-metal-concerns-in-a-coastal-district/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 16:37:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anjana V.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heavy metals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[saline water]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water consumption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water scarcity]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/31142205/bad-water-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40567</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Coast, Groundwater, Health impacts, Human Rights, Pollution, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the seafront, roughly 50 metres from Thottappally Harbour at Purakkad in Kerala’s Alappuzha district, 58-year-old Sainabha Zakkir relies on the shallow well beside her kitchen for her water needs. A recurring plumbing issue has recently cut the piped water supply to six panchayats including her household, forcing her family back to the 32-year-old household [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the seafront, roughly 50 metres from Thottappally Harbour at Purakkad in Kerala’s Alappuzha district, 58-year-old Sainabha Zakkir relies on the shallow well beside her kitchen for her water needs. A recurring plumbing issue has recently cut the piped water supply to six panchayats including her household, forcing her family back to the 32-year-old household well. While there is substantial tap-water coverage in her village, many households remain outside the network and still rely on groundwater sources like wells. Although Zakkir’s well is close to the Arabian Sea, its water has fortunately not become saline like many others in the neighbourhood, making it a community lifeline. &#8220;This well supports all my neighbours too,&#8221; Zakkir explains as she fills vessels. &#8220;Many old wells in this area have become unusable. During water shortages, people come here.&#8221; But salinity is not the only issue with the groundwater in the area. A new study published in Scientific Reports examined groundwater quality in Alappuzha&#8217;s coastal aquifers, focusing on heavy metal concentrations before and after the monsoon. It found that 32% of pre-monsoon and 34% of post-monsoon samples exhibited medium to high pollution levels with the critical hotspots at Ambalapuzha, Anandheswaram, and Thottapally for arsenic; Alappuzha, Kanjikuzhi and Paravoor for aluminium; and Paravoor, Alappuzha, Chennakari, and Ambalapuzha for iron. Sainabha Zakkir, a resident near Thottapally Harbour, Alappuzha, operates a 35-year-old well that provides salinity-free water despite the proximity to the sea. However, groundwater samples in the region may be containing heavy metal pollutants, finds a new&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/groundwater-study-flags-localised-heavy-metal-concerns-in-a-coastal-district/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Genetic blueprint of four Asian hornbills offers new tool for hornbill research</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/genetic-blueprint-of-four-asian-hornbills-offer-new-tool-for-hornbill-research/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/genetic-blueprint-of-four-asian-hornbills-offer-new-tool-for-hornbill-research/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 11:40:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gene]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genetics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genome]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/31102922/Great_Hornbill_Flock_Valparai_Tamil_Nadu_Western_Ghats_DSCN3369-scaled-e1788152726315-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40557</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Endangered species, Evolution, Technology, Technology and Conservation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have generated a reference genome, a genetic structure model, for four threatened Asian hornbill species. The high-quality genome assemblies were generated for the great hornbill, rufous-necked hornbill, Malabar-pied hornbill and wreathed hornbill by researchers from the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore and CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad. “My research interest is [in] [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have generated a reference genome, a genetic structure model, for four threatened Asian hornbill species. The high-quality genome assemblies were generated for the great hornbill, rufous-necked hornbill, Malabar-pied hornbill and wreathed hornbill by researchers from the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore and CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad. “My research interest is [in] understanding how wildlife responds to their changing environment,” says corresponding author of the research paper Pooja Pawar, who has studied great hornbills (Buceros bicornis) in both protected areas and in coffee plantations. For her master’s dissertation, Pawar compared the behaviour and breeding biology of these large, majestic birds in protected areas in the Anamalai Hills and the human-modified landscape of Valparai, Tamil Nadu. Then, for her Ph.D. at the Nature Conservation Foundation and Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Pawar expanded the scope of her research to investigate how climatic, geographic, and anthropogenic factors have influenced hornbill populations across regions and geological epochs. To help answer these questions, the behavioural biologist turned to genomics, the study of an organism’s complete genetic structure. “Genomics allowed me to ask these questions at much larger temporal and geographic scales,” Pawar says. “I could go back in time, to when the species originated or diverged from its sister species, and not restrict [my research] to the Western Ghats or northeast India.” But before she could do that, Pawar first had to create baseline genomic data for Asian hornbill species, which was largely missing despite their flagship conservation status. Whole-genome information&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/genetic-blueprint-of-four-asian-hornbills-offer-new-tool-for-hornbill-research/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Court orders survey of elephant corridors, seeks ban on fireball use</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/court-orders-survey-of-elephant-corridors-seeks-ban-on-fireball-use/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/court-orders-survey-of-elephant-corridors-seeks-ban-on-fireball-use/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2026 14:45:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Simrinsirur]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[elephants]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/28132118/1280px-Pachyderms-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=40546</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Elephants, and Environment]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Supreme Court ordered the Union Environment Ministry to conduct a fresh survey of India’s elephant corridors and report the reasons for obstructions within them by October 14. The Court made its order on August 17 while hearing a petition against the practice of using fireballs and other harmful methods to deter elephants from entering [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Supreme Court ordered the Union Environment Ministry to conduct a fresh survey of India’s elephant corridors and report the reasons for obstructions within them by October 14. The Court made its order on August 17 while hearing a petition against the practice of using fireballs and other harmful methods to deter elephants from entering human dominated landscapes. The Court observed that though guidelines existed to ensure the smooth passage of elephants, “owing to certain local factors, the elephant corridors have been impeded/blocked/obstructed.” Elephant corridors are strips of land that facilitate the movement of elephants between two or more viable habitat patches. In his oral remarks, Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly said that no state could obstruct such corridors. “Construction of any kind of obstacle or creating blockades in elephant corridors is not acceptable. We are very clear that there cannot be obstacles in the way of wildlife,” the three-judge Bench stated, as per media reports. The Wildlife Institute of India identified 150 elephant corridors in the country in 2023. Most of these corridors fall outside protected areas and national parks, and are encroached by settlements, agriculture, fences, and other infrastructure projects. Out of the 150 corridors identified, 15 were found to be impaired, 29 were found to be used in decreasing frequency, and no information was available for another 18. The Supreme Court instructed the Ministry to conduct a fresh survey and submit a comprehensive report “including the necessary steps taken by them to prevent such obstruction.” It also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/court-orders-survey-of-elephant-corridors-seeks-ban-on-fireball-use/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Western Ghats frogs sort by size to coexist, study finds</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/western-ghats-frogs-sort-by-size-to-coexist-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/western-ghats-frogs-sort-by-size-to-coexist-study-finds/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2026 14:07:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/28133509/Micrixalus-kottigeharensis_Dhritiman-Mukherjee_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=40549</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Evolution, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study finds that closely-related Western Ghats frogs living together tend to differ in body size, suggesting that competition and species sorting help determine which species can coexist. Scientists at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, examined body-size differences among species belonging to three frog genera in the Western Ghats: [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study finds that closely-related Western Ghats frogs living together tend to differ in body size, suggesting that competition and species sorting help determine which species can coexist. Scientists at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, examined body-size differences among species belonging to three frog genera in the Western Ghats: Nyctibatrachus and Micrixalus, which are endemic to the region, and Hylarana, which is more widely distributed. They also examined the frogs’ phylogenetic relationships, distribution and microhabitat use. The scientists found that stream-dwelling frogs showed patterns of body-size assortment. This was especially evident in the endemic Nyctibatrachus and Micrixalus, where species occurring together were significantly more different in body size than would be expected by chance. For example, among 27 three-species Nyctibatrachus assemblages, 23 contained species belonging to different body-size classes. Among the 19 two-species Micrixalus assemblages, every pair belonged to different size classes. The paper’s first author, Kartik Shanker, says the pattern appears to have resulted from competition and “species sorting”, an ecological process in which competition can exclude species with similar traits from local communities while allowing more dissimilar species to coexist. This pattern, however, was missing in Hylarana. “The two clades (Nyctibatrachus and Micrixalus) appear to have adapted early on in their evolution to streams and ponds, creating a separation,” Shanker says. The size differences were particularly pronounced among species living in the same habitat. The study found that body-size differences between sympatric Nyctibatrachus species were greater than between species occurring in adjacent&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/western-ghats-frogs-sort-by-size-to-coexist-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Nepal disaster reinforces the need for regional preparedness</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepal-disaster-reinforces-the-need-for-regional-preparedness/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepal-disaster-reinforces-the-need-for-regional-preparedness/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2026 12:49:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Joydeep Gupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[S. Gopikrishna Warrier]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disaster management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural disaster]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/28115415/AP26239217635788-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40534</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Floods, Glaciers, and Impacts of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An entire mountainside of ice and rock fell into the Lhende Khola river on the Tibet-Nepal border, on the morning of August 26, triggering an earthquake and a flood that rose nine metres, killing hundreds, sweeping away at least six dams and hydropower stations, over a dozen crucial bridges, homes, roads and even a herd [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An entire mountainside of ice and rock fell into the Lhende Khola river on the Tibet-Nepal border, on the morning of August 26, triggering an earthquake and a flood that rose nine metres, killing hundreds, sweeping away at least six dams and hydropower stations, over a dozen crucial bridges, homes, roads and even a herd of elephants all the way downriver to India. There was no rain, just the excessive heat caused by climate change that loosened the ice from the side of the 7,245-metre-high Langtang Lirung peak, till the entire mountainside, including a glacier clinging to it, collapsed into the river flowing below. There was no time for any “early” warning as the resultant wall of water, boulders and mud swept away within a minute the large three-storeyed Chinese government building that used to house the border land port at Jilong, facing Rasuwagadhi on the Nepal side. A similar hillside collapse had triggered a devastating flood in the Chamoli region of Uttarakhand in February 2021. And the danger is not over. A day later, debris was still blocking a part of the Lhende Khola, and water was accumulating behind the impromptu dam. More water, and that blockage is likely to give way, leading to a second flood. Authorities have already warned of fresh risk of flooding. Regional strategy Glaciologists have known for decades that a warming world is leading to faster glacier melting, formation of ever-larger lakes at their snouts, then the lakes bursting out of their unstable moraine&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepal-disaster-reinforces-the-need-for-regional-preparedness/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Crime content on social media threatens wildlife safety</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/crime-content-on-social-media-threatens-wildlife-safety/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/crime-content-on-social-media-threatens-wildlife-safety/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Aug 2026 17:58:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vandana K.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife crime]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/27174553/crime-reels-collage-Edited-1-scaled-e1787832976456-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40507</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Archives, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered species, Environmental Crime, Poaching, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, P.M. Muthanna came across an Instagram reel that showed someone demonstrating how to capture wild animals. This was an activity that could not only harm wildlife but also violate wildlife protection laws. Muthanna, who heads field conservation at Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS), a wildlife organisation based in Karnataka, couldn’t ignore the reel [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, P.M. Muthanna came across an Instagram reel that showed someone demonstrating how to capture wild animals. This was an activity that could not only harm wildlife but also violate wildlife protection laws. Muthanna, who heads field conservation at Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS), a wildlife organisation based in Karnataka, couldn’t ignore the reel that seemed to normalise illegal handling of animals. “My co-workers and I started checking and compiling such videos being circulated on social media, particularly Instagram,” he says. Among the reels he stumbled upon were those showing a civet cat stuck in a jaw trap, which had over 25,000 likes; people hunting monitor lizards; a jaw trap manufacturing workshop, and more. In February 2026, he sent a letter to the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), a government body that combats organised wildlife crime, urging it to take action against eight Instagram accounts that show and sell jaw traps, devices that injure or harm animals, and demonstrate the illegal hunting of monitor lizards, which are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. These kinds of reels are playing on phone screens across India. Showcased as ordinary moments from the creators’ lives, the content ranges from what an illegally-kept pet Indian star tortoise eats to going on a hunting trip. Cyber-enabled wildlife crime in India is a rapidly emerging threat which is subtle, sophisticated, and sometimes hard to identify, says Pradipty Bhardwaj, a Ph.D. scholar researching the adequacy of Indian law to combat such crimes.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/crime-content-on-social-media-threatens-wildlife-safety/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Going beyond the annual flood response with district level plans [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/district-level-planning-for-assams-flood-crisis-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/district-level-planning-for-assams-flood-crisis-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Aug 2026 14:37:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Promit Mookherjee]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disaster management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster risk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural disaster]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/27130726/AP25153469734760-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40491</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Floods, Governance, and Human Rights]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than 2.5 million hectares of cropland affected, over ₹400 billion in damages, and 1,215 lives lost. This is the cost of floods in Assam over a decade, between 2012-2022, and these are simply the quantifiable impacts from available official data. These numbers indicate a crisis that should be a national priority. Yet, every year, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than 2.5 million hectares of cropland affected, over ₹400 billion in damages, and 1,215 lives lost. This is the cost of floods in Assam over a decade, between 2012-2022, and these are simply the quantifiable impacts from available official data. These numbers indicate a crisis that should be a national priority. Yet, every year, the response to the Assam floods follows a predictable pattern — brief outcry on social media, civil society-led relief efforts, hasty explanations on the causes of the flood, and promises of improved embankment repairs. There is little discussion about the systemic governance gaps that perpetuates this cycle of devastation. As per the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the risk of damage from floods for a particular region can be seen as a function of three factors. First is the hazard or the potential for occurrence of a flood determined by climatic factors like rainfall intensity and physical factors such as drainage density. Second is exposure or the number of people and assets that lie directly in the path of the flood. Finally, there is vulnerability which represents how badly a region’s population is likely to be impacted when a flood does occur. This depends on socio-economic conditions that determine how easily people are harmed (sensitivity) and how well they can recover (adaptive capacity). In Assam, the primary flood management strategy has been to build embankments and other river control structures. The state has built around 423 embankments covering more than 4,800 kilometres. The focus, therefore,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/district-level-planning-for-assams-flood-crisis-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>When farm ponds fail to hold water</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/when-farm-ponds-fail-to-hold-water/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/when-farm-ponds-fail-to-hold-water/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 13:50:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shivam Bhardwaj]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[irrigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water crisis]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/26122217/keshav-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40466</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uttar Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Drought, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Groundwater, Impacts of Climate Change, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Very low rain this year; only one rain in this season till now,” said 35-year-old farmer Vipin Kumar Yadav from Manipur village in Mahua block of Uttar Pradesh&#8217;s Banda district, this July, as the agriculture-dependent region waited for rains. Pointing to the farm pond, or khet talab, dug on his land, Yadav said the difference [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Very low rain this year; only one rain in this season till now,” said 35-year-old farmer Vipin Kumar Yadav from Manipur village in Mahua block of Uttar Pradesh&#8217;s Banda district, this July, as the agriculture-dependent region waited for rains. Pointing to the farm pond, or khet talab, dug on his land, Yadav said the difference from last year was stark. “Look at this, how little water is in my pond this time. Last year around this time, the entire pond was full. I used that water in October-November to irrigate my wheat crop. This year the water is low; the 10-foot-deep pond couldn&#8217;t even fill up to five feet. I am worried: how will the wheat and mustard crops get water this year?” The concern is significant in a region where much of agriculture remains dependent on rainfall. By August 1, rainfall in Banda was 26% below normal for the monsoon season. The pond was dug in Yadav&#8217;s field in May 2024. Last year, he used the stored water to irrigate four acres of wheat twice, more than doubling his wheat yield from about 3.5-4.5 quintals per acre to 9-10 quintals per acre. This year, however, the pond has received much less water. The concern over rainfall comes as forecasts point to a strengthening El Niño. On July 30, the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences said in a press release that El Niño had intensified from weak conditions in June to moderate levels in July and could strengthen further to the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/when-farm-ponds-fail-to-hold-water/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The largest living sea turtle</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/the-largest-living-sea-turtle/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/the-largest-living-sea-turtle/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 13:23:23 +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[turtle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[turtles]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/26115753/turtle-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=40292</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Species File]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Oceans, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Every winter, hundreds of colossal, leathery-shelled reptiles arrive at Galathea Bay on Great Nicobar Island. They dig deep trenches, lay their eggs, and cover them with sand before heading back into the waters. In around two months, the eggs begin to hatch, and baby turtles [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Every winter, hundreds of colossal, leathery-shelled reptiles arrive at Galathea Bay on Great Nicobar Island. They dig deep trenches, lay their eggs, and cover them with sand before heading back into the waters. In around two months, the eggs begin to hatch, and baby turtles take their first steps and head into the ocean, as their ancestors have for millions of years. But now, a large trans-shipment port, planned as part of the Great Nicobar Island project, could threaten the turtle’s survival on this beach. The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is the largest of all living sea turtles and is the only one without a hard shell. It instead has a leather-like, flexible carapace that allows it to dive deeper (up to 1,000 metres) than other turtles. Adults can grow nearly two metres long and weigh as much as a compact car (1,000 kilograms). The turtles feeds almost entirely on jellyfish, helping keep their populations in check and maintaining ecosystem balance. Leatherbacks are found in every ocean except the Arctic and Antarctic and spend most of their lives in open waters. The females of the species migrate thousands of kilometres from foraging grounds to nest on open sandy beaches in tropical and subtropical countries. In India, they nest almost exclusively in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with Galathea Bay being the largest nesting ground in the northern Indian Ocean. Other major global nesting spots are located in Gabon, Trinidad and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/the-largest-living-sea-turtle/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Kerala’s Onam festival marred by a weaker monsoon and subsequent crop loss</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/keralas-onam-festival-marred-by-a-weaker-monsoon-and-subsequent-crop-loss/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/keralas-onam-festival-marred-by-a-weaker-monsoon-and-subsequent-crop-loss/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2026 17:12:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[K. Rajendran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Divya Kilikar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[traditional farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional Knowledge]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/25152633/Photo-2Onam-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40443</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Impacts of Climate Change, and Plantations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On August 16 this year, the first day of the ten-day harvest festival of Onam in Kerala, P. Vijayalakshmi made her way to a restaurant in Thiruvananthapuram. For the first time in her life, the 72-year-old has purchased a ready-to-eat “packet Onam sadhya” or Onam feast rather than preparing it herself. “Every Onam, I would [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On August 16 this year, the first day of the ten-day harvest festival of Onam in Kerala, P. Vijayalakshmi made her way to a restaurant in Thiruvananthapuram. For the first time in her life, the 72-year-old has purchased a ready-to-eat “packet Onam sadhya” or Onam feast rather than preparing it herself. “Every Onam, I would make at least twenty dishes for the Onasadhya with vegetables I grew on my own land. But this time, the crops perished in the torrential rain, leaving me to fall behind the popular trend [of packet feasts],” Vijayalakshmi says. Onam celebrates the prosperity that traditionally arrives with the end of the southwest monsoon in Kerala, when the annual paddy is harvested, along with a diversity of tubers and local vegetables. The start of the festival is generally marked by the predictable frenzy of temporary stalls being erected selling a diversity of agricultural products that feature in the Onam feast. Instead, this time, hotels and restaurants were selling packet feasts for ₹250-1000. The traditional Onam feast, featuring several dishes prepared from the diversity of crops generally harvested during this time. Image by Shrutinair86 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). What the rise of a “packet feast” indicates Vinu A. Muthukuzhi points to the remnants of his plantain farm that has been impacted by strong winds and torrential rainfall on August 2. The farmer who lives in Kalliyoor gram panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram district, asks, “How do I celebrate Onam? Half my plantains were destroyed, costing me a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/keralas-onam-festival-marred-by-a-weaker-monsoon-and-subsequent-crop-loss/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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