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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/himachal-pradesh/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 13:09:38 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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				<item>
					<title>Free-ranging dogs, changing livelihoods reshape an agro-pastoral landscape</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/free-ranging-dogs-changing-livelihoods-reshape-an-agro-pastoral-landscape/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/free-ranging-dogs-changing-livelihoods-reshape-an-agro-pastoral-landscape/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2026 12:17:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Phalguni Ranjan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[feral dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free ranging dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stray dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanisation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/13102613/Image-3-garbage-dump-in-Kaza-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40090</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Conservation, Ecology, Encroachment, Environment, Grazing, Human Wildlife Conflict, Villages, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Free-ranging dogs are a growing threat to livestock in Himachal Pradesh’s Upper Spiti, with many herders now considering them a greater risk than traditional predators such as snow leopards and wolves, a new study finds. Communities in this region have long depended on a closely linked agro-pastoral system, where sheep, goats, cattle, yaks, and horses [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Free-ranging dogs are a growing threat to livestock in Himachal Pradesh’s Upper Spiti, with many herders now considering them a greater risk than traditional predators such as snow leopards and wolves, a new study finds. Communities in this region have long depended on a closely linked agro-pastoral system, where sheep, goats, cattle, yaks, and horses support livelihoods, while their manure nourishes farming in the cold desert landscape. However, over the past few decades, rapid socio-economic changes including tourism, market integration, government development schemes, and changing agricultural practices have transformed this traditional system, and subsequently, the landscape itself. More recently, the unexpected and growing rise of free-ranging domestic dogs is increasingly disrupting this delicate balance. The study examines how these interconnected changes have altered livestock populations, exploring what these shifts mean for agriculture, livelihoods, and the future of Spiti. It builds on an existing body of work that has documented socio-economic transitions in the region, notably, the role of changing human activities and the emerging influence exerted by dogs. Declining livestock numbers As part of the study, researchers conducted semi-structured interviews across 27 villages in eight panchayats in Upper Spiti in 2014-15, examining changes in livestock ownership, manure use, herding challenges, livestock losses, and future preferences. Around 72% of respondents reported a decline in livestock between 2003 and 2013, while only 10% reported an increase. Several villages had stopped rearing sheep and goats altogether, and in others, the number of households keeping them had fallen by 50-75%. Spiti’s traditional agro-pastoral system&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/free-ranging-dogs-changing-livelihoods-reshape-an-agro-pastoral-landscape/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/free-ranging-dogs-changing-livelihoods-reshape-an-agro-pastoral-landscape/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A machine learning-powered chatbot to guide tree plantation in the Himalayas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-machine-learning-powered-chatbot-to-guide-tree-plantation-in-the-himalayas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-machine-learning-powered-chatbot-to-guide-tree-plantation-in-the-himalayas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 13:26:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AI for Good]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/15222318/Rajiv-Gandhi-Van-Samvardhan-Yojana_Mahila-Mandal-e1784134737669-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39318</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh and Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Forests, Himalayas, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, Technology, Technology and Conservation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2022, Pushpendra Rana and his colleagues projected using a machine learning model that Himachal Pradesh would spend $100 million (approximately ₹95 crores) between 2020 and 2030 on planting trees that were unlikely to survive. They published the findings in the journal World Development. But Rana, a serving Indian Forest Officer, didn’t just stop at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2022, Pushpendra Rana and his colleagues projected using a machine learning model that Himachal Pradesh would spend $100 million (approximately ₹95 crores) between 2020 and 2030 on planting trees that were unlikely to survive. They published the findings in the journal World Development. But Rana, a serving Indian Forest Officer, didn’t just stop at drawing attention to the wasteful tree-planting practices in his state. Over the next four years, he focused on developing a restoration decision-support tool to aid in more successful tree planting in the country. Rana partnered with RootIQ Labs Pvt. Ltd., a New Delhi-based artificial intelligence company, to develop WhereToPlant Bot, a chatbot that can predict the survival probability of saplings in a given location based on different climatic and environmental parameters. This chatbot can be accessed by anyone with a Telegram account. Once they share their location pin, it uses machine-learning models to quickly respond with a survival probability score and a star rating for any and all plants for the particular planting site, ranging from ‘no chance’ to ‘high chance’. The chatbot is currently exclusive to Himachal Pradesh, where it has been functional for over a year. The state forest department, mahila mandals (women collectives), yuvak mandals (youth groups) and self-help groups have taken its guidance to plant saplings, Rana told Mongabay-India. More than 200 women&#8217;s groups and 50 youth clubs used the tool in the field. DFOs and restoration practitioners as part of the Rajiv Gandhi Van Samvardhan Yojana (US$10.14 million community-driven plantation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-machine-learning-powered-chatbot-to-guide-tree-plantation-in-the-himalayas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-machine-learning-powered-chatbot-to-guide-tree-plantation-in-the-himalayas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate resilience in Himachal begins with spatial planning [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/climate-resilience-in-himachal-begins-with-spatial-planning-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/climate-resilience-in-himachal-begins-with-spatial-planning-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2026 17:07:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Prateek Draik]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate resilience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/16161947/Image-1-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38680</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Science, Environment, Glacial Lake Outburst Flood, Glaciers, Himalayas, Impacts of Climate Change, Mountains, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Melting glaciers are one of the clearest signs of climate change. But for the people living downstream of them, close enough to touch this melted ice within hours, they are a sign of an impending disaster. The Himalayas have lost an average of 27 metres of ice since 1975, while glacial loss has doubled since [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Melting glaciers are one of the clearest signs of climate change. But for the people living downstream of them, close enough to touch this melted ice within hours, they are a sign of an impending disaster. The Himalayas have lost an average of 27 metres of ice since 1975, while glacial loss has doubled since 2000, according to recent findings. There is a growing climate crisis in the world’s largest freshwater repository outside the poles, and for mountain states like Himachal Pradesh, this also means the emergence of new disaster risks. Towering high over the rugged landscape, these glaciers form the headwaters of rivers that sustain several towns and villages across the state. Global warming is the main reason glaciers are melting faster. The Himalayas are also warming faster than the global average. However, infrastructure development activities can have local effects too, especially through carbon and dust emissions. This is leading to the formation of new glacial lakes, and the expansion of existing ones. A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) occurs when such a lake releases a large volume of water suddenly, often triggered by landslides, avalanches, or even intense rainfall. The 2013 Kedarnath disaster that wiped out nearly 6,000 lives in Uttarakhand was a GLOF event triggered by heavy rain. With many roads, towns and tourism sites located in narrow river valleys across the western Himalayas, these fast-moving flows of water and debris can have devastating impacts. A 2025 study notes that GLOFs in the Himalayas have become more&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/climate-resilience-in-himachal-begins-with-spatial-planning-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change and tourism are reshaping farming in the Himalayas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/climate-change-and-tourism-are-reshaping-farming-in-the-himalayas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/climate-change-and-tourism-are-reshaping-farming-in-the-himalayas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 May 2026 12:20:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rozita Singh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[erratic weather]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weather]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weather patterns]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/05/14112402/AP19130602267775-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38167</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Himalayas, Impacts of Climate Change, Land Rights, Mountains, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[​For generations, farmers in Bir village in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district have relied on seasonal rhythms to guide when to sow and harvest crops. Today, many residents say those patterns no longer hold. ​“Earlier, the rains came at the right time. Now, when crops need sunshine, it rains instead. Summers have become hotter too,” says [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[​For generations, farmers in Bir village in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district have relied on seasonal rhythms to guide when to sow and harvest crops. Today, many residents say those patterns no longer hold. ​“Earlier, the rains came at the right time. Now, when crops need sunshine, it rains instead. Summers have become hotter too,” says Sarla Devi, 60, a farmer and cattle rearer from Bir. ​Situated in the mid-Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district, the Bir-Billing area has long supported small farms growing grains, vegetables, and fodder crops. Bir village lies at roughly 1,525 metres above sea level. But residents say erratic rainfall, warmer winters, and sudden weather shifts are affecting crop cycles and making agriculture less predictable. ​Scientific findings echo these concerns. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report notes that mountain regions, including the Hindu Kush Himalaya, are experiencing increasing temperatures and changing seasonal weather patterns, while shifts in temperature and precipitation are affecting the timing and availability of water for agricultural activities. ​At the same time, climate pressures are unfolding alongside rapid land-use change. Bir and nearby Billing, internationally known as a paragliding destination, have seen steady growth in guesthouses, cafés, and tourism infrastructure over the past decade. Residents say agricultural land is increasingly being sold or repurposed for construction. Rain clouds seen over Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh. Representative image. ​Residents say erratic rainfall, warmer winters, and sudden weather shifts are affecting crop cycles and making agriculture less predictable. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia) ​Older residents&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/climate-change-and-tourism-are-reshaping-farming-in-the-himalayas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/climate-change-and-tourism-are-reshaping-farming-in-the-himalayas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>The fading climate shields</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-fading-climate-shields/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-fading-climate-shields/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 13:38:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Amir Bin Rafi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[land use]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sacred groves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tradition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional Knowledge]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/05/05124934/Temple-Chachogi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38032</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community based conservation, Conservation, Forests, Himalayas, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Mountains, Tribes, and Villages]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Himachal Pradesh, the influence of traditional beliefs, religion and cultural practices continues to shape the conservation of forest land. Dev Vans, or sacred groves, are forest patches revered as the domain of local deities (devtas). Village customs strictly prohibit tree-felling, leaf collection, and the entry of alcohol or meat within its boundaries. Known as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Himachal Pradesh, the influence of traditional beliefs, religion and cultural practices continues to shape the conservation of forest land. Dev Vans, or sacred groves, are forest patches revered as the domain of local deities (devtas). Village customs strictly prohibit tree-felling, leaf collection, and the entry of alcohol or meat within its boundaries. Known as the “Land of Unknown Gods”, Himachal Pradesh spans 55,673 sq km and contains 514 documented sacred groves, often found across valleys and slopes, near settlements, temples and water sources. For generations, in Himachal Pradesh, it was faith, not legislation, that determined which forests would remain untouched. &#8220;Nobody wants to anger the god,&#8221; says Anurita Saxena, Principal at Rajkiya Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Shimla, who has spent decades researching the state&#8217;s cultural practices. &#8220;The customs allow certain forests to remain untouched, hence conserving nature.” The sacred groves continue to remain at the centre of community life, where rituals and festivals reinforce connections between people and nature, particularly in Himachal&#8217;s remote and elevated zones. Ceremonies unfold under their canopies, and community gatherings celebrate their presence tightening the bond between inhabitants and terrain. In numerous villages, sacred forests adjoin temples and fall under the watch of kardars or caretakers, governing access and rules. These belief-based practices have also helped preserve forest patches across generations, outside of formal conservation efforts. Sacred landscapes, not empty forests Cultural researcher Rahul Bhushan, who studies Himalayan communities, says sacred groves reflect an earlier worldview where forests were looked at as living, inhabited spaces rather than unclaimed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-fading-climate-shields/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Rising illegal wildlife trade across Himalayan countries threatens the mountain ecosystem</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rising-illegal-wildlife-trade-across-the-himalayan-countries-threatens-the-mountain-ecosystem/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rising-illegal-wildlife-trade-across-the-himalayan-countries-threatens-the-mountain-ecosystem/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Apr 2026 15:26:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vandana K.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hindu Kush Himalaya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poaching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife crime]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/28120331/Jiten_170719_MG_6031-scaled-e1777358299720-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37911</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh and Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Endangered species, Environmental Crime, Himalayas, Pet Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In February this year, 45 people headed towards jewellery shops in Rohru, a town in Himachal Pradesh. But shopping was not their agenda. The group was a squad of forest rangers, guards and van mitras, on a mission, Operation Clawing Back, to raid shops to seize jewellery allegedly made from claws and teeth of leopards [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In February this year, 45 people headed towards jewellery shops in Rohru, a town in Himachal Pradesh. But shopping was not their agenda. The group was a squad of forest rangers, guards and van mitras, on a mission, Operation Clawing Back, to raid shops to seize jewellery allegedly made from claws and teeth of leopards and feathers of protected birds. This raid illustrates a wider phenomenon in the Himalayas. Illegal wildlife trade is happening across eight countries in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region and has doubled from 2019 onwards compared to 2018 and previous years, found a study published in January 2026. The research was conducted by Babar Khan and Kesang Wangchuk at the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu, Nepal. India and China recorded thousands of seizure incidents, with carnivores, elephants, pangolins, and various endangered animals trafficked for live trade, body parts, and traditional medicine, according to the research. Illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest illicit transnational activity in the world. It remains an attractive business for poachers and smugglers, with Southeast Asia at the epicentre of much of this crime. Over 12,000 species of animals and plants have been traded internationally in recent years. A threat to biodiversity and the mountain ecosystem The HKH stretches over 3,500 kilometres from west to east, spanning either all or part of these eight countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. The region hosts four global biodiversity hotspots — Himalaya, Indo-Burma, and the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rising-illegal-wildlife-trade-across-the-himalayan-countries-threatens-the-mountain-ecosystem/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>The driest spring in four centuries in the Western Himalayas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-driest-spring-in-four-centuries-in-the-western-himalayas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-driest-spring-in-four-centuries-in-the-western-himalayas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Mar 2026 16:24:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vandana K.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme weather]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[floods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weather]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/03/16105001/ss1-e1773642993931-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37278</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Forests, Himalayas, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Climate science researcher Pushphendra Pandey recounts how a day in the field looked like in Lahaul in Himachal Pradesh between September and October 2023. The team of nine including other students, professors, a driver and a local guide, would rise at six each morning at their homestay, eat breakfast, and trek for at least an [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Climate science researcher Pushphendra Pandey recounts how a day in the field looked like in Lahaul in Himachal Pradesh between September and October 2023. The team of nine including other students, professors, a driver and a local guide, would rise at six each morning at their homestay, eat breakfast, and trek for at least an hour to reach the old-growth cedar forests of Lahaul, spending the full day, perched on steep slopes and extracting tree cores. Each night, the team sat stapling plastic straws together to create packaging for the cores they planned to collect the next day. &#8220;The cores are delicate but hard to get. All trees do not get cored easily,” said Pandey, who is a research scholar at Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP) in Lucknow. Lahaul is a dry region in the Himalayas with forests, making it an ideal location to study water-sensitive trees. The team chose old deodar trees, also known as Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara) in undisturbed areas away from villages, in stable terrain free from landslides and avalanches. They were trying to find rainfall history from tree rings, the bands inside a trunk that represent a year’s growth. These widen when rainfall is plenty and narrow when water is scarce. Temperature matters too. But in Lahaul, water availability is the dominant signal the trees respond to. The year 2022 was the driest spring season in the Western Himalayas in nearly four centuries, making it the driest on record across a 396-year climate reconstruction,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-driest-spring-in-four-centuries-in-the-western-himalayas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-driest-spring-in-four-centuries-in-the-western-himalayas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Birds are declining even in undisturbed grasslands, raising climate concerns</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/birds-are-declining-even-in-undisturbed-grasslands-raising-climate-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/birds-are-declining-even-in-undisturbed-grasslands-raising-climate-concerns/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Feb 2026 15:44:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manish Chandra Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[critical habitat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grazing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat degradation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livestock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow leopard]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/06135906/Himalayan-Snowcock_Kalzang-Gurmet-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36771</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Birds, Climate Change, Ecology, Grasslands, Habitat Loss, Himalayas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Before the sun rises over the jagged ridgelines around Kibber village in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul-Spiti district, 43-year-old Kalzang Gurmet is already on the move. On days when the monitoring site lies far from home, he leaves around five in the morning, walking across open steppe and rocky slopes for three to four hours. The early [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Before the sun rises over the jagged ridgelines around Kibber village in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul-Spiti district, 43-year-old Kalzang Gurmet is already on the move. On days when the monitoring site lies far from home, he leaves around five in the morning, walking across open steppe and rocky slopes for three to four hours. The early start matters. As the sun grows harsher, bird activity drops and sightings become fewer. “Subah ka time sabse achha rehta hai,” he says in Hindi. (“Morning is the best time.”) Kalzang Gurmet grew up in Kibber, studied history, completed a Master’s degree, and returned to the village. Since 2007, he has worked with the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), helping scientists document birdlife across one of the highest inhabited mountain landscapes in the world. Over the past two decades, Gurmet has played a key role in data collection and fieldwork. Along with Tanzin Thinley and other local field staff, he has walked the same transects summer after summer, counting birds in terrain where elevations exceed 4,000 metres and the growing season lasts only a few months. That continuity, the same places, the same methods, year after year, now tells a troubling story. The insights are documented in a study published in Ecological Applications in which the NCF researchers reports that bird densities declined across habitats, but the only statistically significant decadal decline was in the ungrazed steppe, the habitat facing the least direct human disturbance. Ungrazed steppe refers to high-altitude grassland kept free from livestock grazing,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/birds-are-declining-even-in-undisturbed-grasslands-raising-climate-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/birds-are-declining-even-in-undisturbed-grasslands-raising-climate-concerns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Planning gaps and modern construction keep vulnerabilities alive</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/planning-gaps-and-modern-construction-keep-vulnerabilities-alive/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/planning-gaps-and-modern-construction-keep-vulnerabilities-alive/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Dec 2025 14:05:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mansi Rathee]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Architect]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[architecture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flash flood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flood in Himachal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional buildings]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/12/05110344/IMG_9539-scaled-e1764912852513-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35905</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Flood and drought]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change Adaptation, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Himachal Pradesh, people are increasingly adopting new architectural practices, with cement and baked bricks as the primary construction materials. While the new architecture is often seen as a marker of modernity and social mobility, architects and planners say that it’s the vernacular practices, adapted over centuries to local terrain, climate, and hazards, that can [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Himachal Pradesh, people are increasingly adopting new architectural practices, with cement and baked bricks as the primary construction materials. While the new architecture is often seen as a marker of modernity and social mobility, architects and planners say that it’s the vernacular practices, adapted over centuries to local terrain, climate, and hazards, that can hold this Himalayan region together. Himachal Pradesh has been hit by back-to-back extreme weather events that have changed daily life for thousands of families. The state witnessed 68% above-normal rainfall in August 2025, making it the 9th-highest August rainfall since 1901 and the highest since 1949. The monsoon season left a trail of devastation in the state, with 320 lives lost and total damage estimated at over ₹3 trillion. Approximately 1,280 houses were fully damaged, while 27,640 houses were partially damaged. The state also witnessed intense rainfall in 2023, when it recorded 436% more rainfall in just three days (July 7-10), triggering landslides, flash floods, and significant socio-economic losses. These incidents had a profound impact on local communities. A study conducted by Jagori, an NGO working on women’s empowerment and disaster management, documented the extent of the impact of the 2023 disaster. Conducted in Kangra district, the study found that over 63% of households suffered property damage, while 55% lost their homes. Yet, around 40% households reported receiving no government relief, and many families continue to live under temporary arrangements even in 2025. The study, conducted in response to the Himachal Pradesh National Law University’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/planning-gaps-and-modern-construction-keep-vulnerabilities-alive/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/planning-gaps-and-modern-construction-keep-vulnerabilities-alive/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Snow droughts intensify across the Hindu Kush Himalayas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/snow-droughts-intensify-across-the-hindu-kush-himalayas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/snow-droughts-intensify-across-the-hindu-kush-himalayas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Dec 2025 13:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hirra Azmat]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drought]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[droughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ecological droughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/12/02193259/WhatsApp-Image-2025-11-11-at-10.32.35-PM-scaled-e1764684240167-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35868</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Science, Ecology, Environment, Himalayas, Impacts of Climate Change, and Mountains]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a cold January morning in the high-altitude region of Spiti in the Indian Himalayas, a team of researchers set out to study the disappearing snow in the mountains. Along the trail, they stopped to talk with yak herders who had spent their lives watching the snow come and go. The herders spoke of winters [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a cold January morning in the high-altitude region of Spiti in the Indian Himalayas, a team of researchers set out to study the disappearing snow in the mountains. Along the trail, they stopped to talk with yak herders who had spent their lives watching the snow come and go. The herders spoke of winters growing shorter and warmer. Their yaks had even begun breeding earlier, a change they had never seen before. When the researchers collected snow observation details in the Dundhi area and the Bathad village of the Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh, the local residents told them that the region used to receive more than five metres of snow each winter. Now, snowfall had drastically reduced to just a few centimetres or around one metre, which affected agriculture yields. Here, they recorded snow depths of only 40-50 cm in the month of January. The team observed that the lower layer of the snowpack (snow on the ground in mountainous areas that persists until the arrival of warmer weather) was already wet, indicating early snowmelt that would normally occur in spring. “These local accounts mirror what we describe as a transition from snow-rich winters to snow-deficient ones, a clear sign of evolving snow drought conditions in the Himalayas,” Hemant Singh, a researcher at Department of Civil Engineering in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jammu says, who is currently pursuing Ph.D. on snow and glacier hydrology and associated hazards. A recent study published by Singh and his colleagues&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/snow-droughts-intensify-across-the-hindu-kush-himalayas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/snow-droughts-intensify-across-the-hindu-kush-himalayas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>In the high Himalayas, women and communities build a shared future for the snow leopard</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-the-high-himalayas-women-and-communities-build-a-shared-future-for-the-snow-leopard/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-the-high-himalayas-women-and-communities-build-a-shared-future-for-the-snow-leopard/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2025 13:35:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manish Chandra Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community based conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow leopard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow leopards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife monitoring]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/10/14230151/103f25d9-a516-41bb-a6ca-68bc1139e9a5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35045</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Himalayas, Human Wildlife Conflict, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Lobzang Yangchen first joined a wildlife monitoring team in her village two years ago, she had never touched a computer. Today, the 31-year-old mother of two daughters leads an 11-member women’s team from Kibber that has become central to Himachal Pradesh’s efforts to conserve the snow leopard. Born in Losar, a village about fifty [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Lobzang Yangchen first joined a wildlife monitoring team in her village two years ago, she had never touched a computer. Today, the 31-year-old mother of two daughters leads an 11-member women’s team from Kibber that has become central to Himachal Pradesh’s efforts to conserve the snow leopard. Born in Losar, a village about fifty kilometres from Kibber, Lobzang remembers hearing stories as a child about snow leopards attacking goats and sheep. “I never saw one,” she recalled. “We only heard that they came at night, silently, and that herders had to guard their livestock.” After she married and moved to Kibber, those stories became real. “Here, losing four or five goats in one night was common,” she said. “People saw snow leopards as a problem, not something to protect.” When the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department and the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) began involving local people in snow leopard surveys, Lobzang decided to volunteer. “People asked why we should protect them if they cause harm,” she said. “Now they understand that our goats are food for them, and they are also living beings who need food.” Two snow leopards cubs captured on a camera trap during the state-wide population assessment in Himachal Pradesh. Image courtesy of Wildlife Wing- Himachal Pradesh Forest Department and the Nature Conservation Foundation Women from Kibber village process and tag camera trap photographs as part of the snow leopard survey in Spiti Valley. Image courtesy of Wildlife Wing- Himachal Pradesh Forest Department and the Nature Conservation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-the-high-himalayas-women-and-communities-build-a-shared-future-for-the-snow-leopard/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Flood control plans could open doors to unregulated mining</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/himachal-considers-dredging-policy-amid-warnings-of-uttarakhand-experience/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/himachal-considers-dredging-policy-amid-warnings-of-uttarakhand-experience/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Sep 2025 10:43:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Meenakshi Kapoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dredging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Clearance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flood in Himachal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Himalayan region]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sand mining]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/09/05093252/Dredging-activity-on-the-Beas-River-near-Aaloo-Ground-Kalath-Kullu-district-Himachal-Pradesh.-Photo-Credit_-Sumit-Mahar-Himdhara-Collective-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34484</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environomy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Mining and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On August 2, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, met with Union Minister of Environment Bhupender Singh Yadav. He sought two relaxations in the current environmental laws so that the state can take action without having to approach the Centre. First, for the state government to be able to release forest land [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On August 2, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, met with Union Minister of Environment Bhupender Singh Yadav. He sought two relaxations in the current environmental laws so that the state can take action without having to approach the Centre. First, for the state government to be able to release forest land for the rehabilitation of those displaced by floods, and second, to be able to dredge and dispose of the dredged material for disaster prevention. According to the Indian Forest (Conservation) Act, for the diversion of forest land for any use, a state government must approach the central forest clearance system. Himachal Pradesh has 68% of its land demarcated as forests, which means additional time to initiate community welfare and small-scale infrastructure development and rehabilitation projects in the state. The exemption from forest clearance may make flood rehabilitation work faster, Sukhu proposed. The second request needs to be viewed in the context of examples from the neighbouring state, Uttarakhand, where the dredging/river training policy has reportedly opened floodgates for rampant and illegal mining, according to several past investigations and media reports. Following the footsteps of the neighbour ‘Monsoon fury’ is a term often used to describe the year-on-year floods and consequent damage in the hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. However, mass-scale construction, road widening projects, and indiscriminate mining — often without regard for the socio-ecological balance of the hills — have been highlighted as factors exacerbating natural disasters in these hilly states. Infrastructural development&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/himachal-considers-dredging-policy-amid-warnings-of-uttarakhand-experience/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>The hidden menstrual waste crisis in the hills</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/the-hidden-menstrual-waste-crisis-in-the-hills/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/the-hidden-menstrual-waste-crisis-in-the-hills/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Aug 2025 13:15:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Amir Bin RafiMansi Rathee]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[biomedical waste]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[waste]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[waste management]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/01220808/03-banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=33964</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environment And Health]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Waste management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A growing environmental and public health concern is emerging across Himachal Pradesh’s towns, where the open burning of used sanitary pads has become a routine method of menstrual waste disposal. Yet, this issue is largely unaddressed. In the absence of safe disposal systems of menstrual waste and amid persistent social taboos, many women, especially urban [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A growing environmental and public health concern is emerging across Himachal Pradesh’s towns, where the open burning of used sanitary pads has become a routine method of menstrual waste disposal. Yet, this issue is largely unaddressed. In the absence of safe disposal systems of menstrual waste and amid persistent social taboos, many women, especially urban city migrants living in rented accommodations, are left with no choice but to burn this waste in their backyards. In the Yol area of Dharamshala — one of the most visited tourist destinations in the state — 25-year-old Ruchika, who moved from Delhi, says the first instruction her landlady gave her was to not dispose of used sanitary pads in the dustbin, and instead burn them in a pit in the backyard. The fumes that arise due to this burning often makes her uneasy. On an average, Ruchika uses 3-4 sanitary pads in a day for the period of the menstrual cycle. Ruchika’s landlady, Mamta, 40, says that all houses in the area have a pit marked for burning used sanitary napkins. But burning used sanitary napkins produces toxic fumes and leaves the air filled with an unpleasant, lingering stench, they say. However, they don’t have an alternative. “The waste collectors refuse to take them,” they say. In rural areas of Himachal, particularly the parts that come under the Panchayat, the government waste collectors are male and the women feel uncomfortable giving their sanitary waste. The waste collectors also say they don’t collect sanitary waste&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/the-hidden-menstrual-waste-crisis-in-the-hills/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Studies question effectiveness of forest plantations</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/studies-question-effectiveness-of-forest-plantations/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/studies-question-effectiveness-of-forest-plantations/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2025 12:52:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Seema Sharma]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[afforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plantations]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/06/10121139/5-Ongoing-plantation-work-with-local-people-in-forest-near-Thala-village-in-Kangra-district.-Photo-credit-Pushpendra-Rana-e1749537722234-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=33000</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[The Indian Forest Story]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Forests and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation and forest restoration have been projected as viable methods of increasing carbon storage, protecting biodiversity, mitigating the impacts of climate change, and preserving ecosystem services to aid rural livelihoods. Keeping with this vision, the forest department has undertaken plantation drives in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh since the 1970s. However, the results of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation and forest restoration have been projected as viable methods of increasing carbon storage, protecting biodiversity, mitigating the impacts of climate change, and preserving ecosystem services to aid rural livelihoods. Keeping with this vision, the forest department has undertaken plantation drives in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh since the 1970s. However, the results of these drives have been underwhelming. A study based on government plantation records for Himachal Pradesh using a dataset comprising 36 years’ (1979–2015) worth of information on planting activities shows that some practices originally developed for production forestry remain widespread. These methods, which involve high-density plantings of small numbers of easily propagated species, usually without local consultation, are unfortunately, central to what India now considers its restoration practices. The work was funded by the U.S. National Aeronautical and Space Administration Land Cover and Land Use Change program, and the Swedish Research Council. Disappointing ecological and social outcomes “Our new paper shows that the trees planted by the government in Himachal Pradesh since 1979 have been dominated by pine, and to a lesser extent, deodar. This is consistent with findings from our prior work which shows that these planted forest areas have not seen a net increase in forest cover but have seen a net shift towards needle-leaf trees. It is also consistent with our published research about neighbouring Himalayan states,” says Forrest Fleischman, an associate professor at the Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, who co-authored this paper. “So, the net result of this government&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/studies-question-effectiveness-of-forest-plantations/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Meet DiCaprio&#8217;s Himalayan serpent</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/an-instagram-photo-led-researchers-to-a-snake-discovery/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/an-instagram-photo-led-researchers-to-a-snake-discovery/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jan 2025 16:04:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Neha Jain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[endemic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[endemic species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Himalayas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reptiles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Snakes]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/01/03113148/Banner-Image-of-the-new-snake-species-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=30925</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh and Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Endemic species, New species, Reptiles, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In June 2020, during the pandemic, Virender Bhardwaj, currently a doctoral student at Mizoram University, was exploring his backyard at his home in Himachal Pradesh in the western Himalayas, when he encountered an intriguing snake. He uploaded its photos on the social media app Instagram, and the images popped up on the feed of his [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In June 2020, during the pandemic, Virender Bhardwaj, currently a doctoral student at Mizoram University, was exploring his backyard at his home in Himachal Pradesh in the western Himalayas, when he encountered an intriguing snake. He uploaded its photos on the social media app Instagram, and the images popped up on the feed of his colleague, Zeeshan Mirza. This led to three years of detailed investigations to identify the snake. The team recently published a paper revealing the discovery of an entirely new snake genus and species. The snake resembled Liopeltis rappii, a species known to be distributed in the eastern Himalayas. However, the researchers noted that the population from Himachal Pradesh differed from the true Liopeltis rappii found in Sikkim with differences observed in the scales on the head and general colouration. The team confirmed this after examining specimens from natural history museums across Europe, the USA and India. After comparing the DNA sequences generated from this snake with those of known species from across Asia, the researchers concluded that the snake from Himachal Pradesh is related to Liopeltis rappii but differs in several aspects to be called a new species. Both species belong to a new genus, Anguiculus, endemic to the Himalayas. Anguiculus refers to a ‘small snake’ in Latin. In honour of American actor and environmentalist, Leonardo DiCaprio’s work in creating awareness about increased biodiversity loss and climate change, the team named the snake Anguiculus dicaprioi with the suggested common name, ‘DiCaprio’s Himalayan snake’. Compared to other members of its family,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/an-instagram-photo-led-researchers-to-a-snake-discovery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Solar power looms large over the snow leopards of Spiti</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/12/solar-power-looms-large-over-the-snow-leopards-of-spiti/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/12/solar-power-looms-large-over-the-snow-leopards-of-spiti/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Dec 2024 15:44:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environmental impact assessment (EIA)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Conservation Foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NCF]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Project Snow Leopard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solar Energy]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/12/09110552/IMG_5472-min-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=30619</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In October, India surpassed 200 GW of renewable energy capacity, accounting for 46.3% of the country’s electricity generation. It marks a significant milestone, which pushes the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter closer to its commitment to generate 500 GW from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. Solar energy is central to the country’s renewable energy transition, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In October, India surpassed 200 GW of renewable energy capacity, accounting for 46.3% of the country’s electricity generation. It marks a significant milestone, which pushes the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter closer to its commitment to generate 500 GW from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. Solar energy is central to the country’s renewable energy transition, which has grown from 0.5 GW in 2011 to more than 90 GW in 2024. This growth is attributable to India’s continuous push for renewable energy, which includes relaxing critical due diligence processes like environmental impact assessment (EIA) for green energy projects. While the rising numbers underscore the country’s growing commitment to non-renewable energy, there is more at stake in this race towards a so-called “clean” and “green” future. Renewable energy boasts low carbon emissions but is often very land-use intensive. This need for large geographical spaces is one of the reasons green energy conflicts with conservation goals. A new research paper published in Biological Conservation, a peer-reviewed journal, uses a case study of the proposed 880 MW solar park in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, to highlight why it is important to align green energy development with biodiversity conservation goals. Researchers from the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), an independent research organisation, showcase that development activities for the proposed solar project will harm snow leopard habitats in the region. The survey team in Lingti Valley, Spiti. The Upper Spiti Landscape is one of the 20 landscapes delimited by the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP)&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/12/solar-power-looms-large-over-the-snow-leopards-of-spiti/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>[Book Review] Didi Contractor&#8217;s journey through ecologically-sensitive architecture</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/07/book-review-didi-contractors-journey-through-ecologically-sensitive-architecture/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/07/book-review-didi-contractors-journey-through-ecologically-sensitive-architecture/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2024 13:04:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nandita Jayaraj]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[architecture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[buildings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[design]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/07/30114259/IMAGE-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=28764</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environment and Her]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ecology, Mountains, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Having made the long journey from Chennai to Kangra, architect Lakshmi Swaminathan stepped through a porch made of stacked river stones and entered architect Didi Contractor&#8217;s humble mud-brick home. Armed with just five sets of clothes and the guileless confidence that comes with being 26, Swaminathan was eager to spend the day with the octogenarian [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Having made the long journey from Chennai to Kangra, architect Lakshmi Swaminathan stepped through a porch made of stacked river stones and entered architect Didi Contractor&#8217;s humble mud-brick home. Armed with just five sets of clothes and the guileless confidence that comes with being 26, Swaminathan was eager to spend the day with the octogenarian Contractor, who was renowned for her mud, bamboo and stone-based architecture. As it turned out, she would end up spending the next four years living with and learning from Contractor, up until the latter passed away in July 2021, aged 92. In the final years of her life, Contractor was assisted by some of her students to organise hundreds of notes and hours of audio recordings, in an attempt to document her work and philosophies. Since her death, Swaminathan continued this work and now her book, A Call to Return: A Journey with Didi Contractor, has been published. The book is 168 pages long and organised into four parts, which makes it an easy read. The first part traces Contractor’s journey to India and the turning points that led her to sustainable construction; the second part captures a glimpse of her core philosophies regarding tradition, sustainability and aesthetics. In the next part, Swaminathan compiles stories about and quotes from Contractor that depicts the latter’s approach to architecture. The final part of the book comprises snippets from the numerous lectures and interactive sessions that Contractor had delivered over her career. The cover of &#8216;A Call to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/07/book-review-didi-contractors-journey-through-ecologically-sensitive-architecture/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Flood risk study of Himalayan valley highlights unregulated tourism as a cause</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/07/flood-risk-study-of-himalayan-valley-highlights-unregulated-tourism-as-a-cause/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/07/flood-risk-study-of-himalayan-valley-highlights-unregulated-tourism-as-a-cause/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2024 11:10:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hazards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[risks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vulerability]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/07/28085906/Bhandak_Thaatch-_Camping_I_IMG_7385-e1722139298162-768x471.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=28759</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Flood and drought]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh, Himalayas, and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Science, Extreme Weather Events, Floods, Mountains, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Kullu valley is an ideal holiday destination for many Indians; a place that offers temperate weather, stunning landscapes, and the warmth of its hardworking communities, all of which provide a welcome break from the everyday mundaneness of city life. At the same time, the escalating impacts of climate change in the region, especially in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Kullu valley is an ideal holiday destination for many Indians; a place that offers temperate weather, stunning landscapes, and the warmth of its hardworking communities, all of which provide a welcome break from the everyday mundaneness of city life. At the same time, the escalating impacts of climate change in the region, especially in the form of flash floods, is becoming too apparent to ignore. In 2018, heavy rains led to severe flooding in Himachal Pradesh, including in the Kullu valley, as the Beas and Parbati rivers overflowed, causing widespread devastation. The situation repeated in 2023, when flash floods and heavy rains in July and August resulted in the destruction of homes and properties, with the state government estimating losses of over Rs. 10,000 crores (Rs. 100 billion). Understanding flood vulnerability In this context, a new study examines the flood vulnerability of Kullu valley by integrating both geoenvironmental and socioenvironmental analyses. The research used satellite imagery, Geographic Information System (GIS), and field surveys to assess the region&#8217;s topographical and hydrological attributes alongside land-use patterns, aiming to understand the extent of flood risk. The study notes that the concept of vulnerability has “evolved through interdisciplinary contributions” and cites the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to define vulnerability as encompassing three primary dimensions: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. “Exposure refers to the presence of environmental hazards, sensitivity denotes the susceptibility of a system to such hazards, and adaptive capacity represents the system&#8217;s ability to adapt and respond to potential impacts.” Severe&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/07/flood-risk-study-of-himalayan-valley-highlights-unregulated-tourism-as-a-cause/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Study finds leopard cats and red foxes cohabit regions in the Western Himalayas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/06/study-finds-leopard-cats-and-red-foxes-cohabit-regions-in-the-western-himalaya/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/06/study-finds-leopard-cats-and-red-foxes-cohabit-regions-in-the-western-himalaya/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jun 2024 13:40:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leopard cat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Red fox]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/06/27125802/2048px-Leopard_cat_India-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=28318</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh, Himalayas, and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Animals, Cats, and Habitat Loss]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study by researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has found that the elusive leopard cat and more dominant red fox co-occur in certain parts of Himachal Pradesh, even though leopard cats generally avoid habitats with a high red fox abundance. The research points to changes in habitat use and occupancy, spurred [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study by researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has found that the elusive leopard cat and more dominant red fox co-occur in certain parts of Himachal Pradesh, even though leopard cats generally avoid habitats with a high red fox abundance. The research points to changes in habitat use and occupancy, spurred by human interventions and other factors. The intraguild relationships between small carnivores – particularly the leopard cat and red fox – are not very well understood. Small carnivores play important roles in regulating prey populations and seed dispersal. “We chose to study the intraguild dynamics between red foxes and leopard cats due to their different ecological roles, with red foxes displaying omnivorous behaviour and leopard cats being obligate carnivores,” said Salvador Lyngdoh, a scientist with the WII and co-author of the paper. The researchers studied the interactions among leopard cats, red foxes, and the omnivorous yellow throated martens in Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh. “Although they have diverse dietary preferences, both the leopard cat and red fox depend on common prey items, such as small animals and birds. This dietary overlap surely results in direct competition, particularly in conditions with limited resources,” said Lyngdoh. Intraguild relationships between small carnivores, particularly the leopard cat and red fox, are not very well understood. Long term research may provide more insights into their use of resources, behaviour and impacts on predator-prey relationships. Image by Alberto Peracchio via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Modeling population estimates The researchers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/06/study-finds-leopard-cats-and-red-foxes-cohabit-regions-in-the-western-himalaya/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Modelling study finds rural employment scheme plays an important role in forest cover</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/06/modelling-study-finds-rural-employment-scheme-plays-an-important-role-in-forest-cover/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/06/modelling-study-finds-rural-employment-scheme-plays-an-important-role-in-forest-cover/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2024 13:12:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MGNREGA]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/06/17125054/MGNREGA_Labour_at_work-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=28168</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community based conservation and Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Social welfare schemes such as the one under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) could have a positive impact on forest cover, apart from providing income and employment, a new research paper studying the relationship between tree plantations and livelihood benefits has suggested. Researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Social welfare schemes such as the one under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) could have a positive impact on forest cover, apart from providing income and employment, a new research paper studying the relationship between tree plantations and livelihood benefits has suggested. Researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala, Florida State University, University of Minnesota and the Forest Department in Himachal Pradesh sought to understand what conditions helped improve both forest and livelihood outcomes in Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh, where tree plantation drives are common. They found that joint positive outcomes were more likely in areas where marginalised groups had histories in engaging with collective action, of mutually exchanging labour for ​​the purposes of forestry, agriculture, construction and cultural activities. They also found that, after a certain threshold, employment generation schemes like the MGNREGA scheme led to big gains for both livelihood and forest cover in areas with plantations. The researchers used interpretable machine learning to create predictive insights into which variables produced win-win outcomes for both livelihood and forest cover. Image by Pradeep Kumbhashi via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). The MGNREGA scheme is a government scheme implemented in 2006 which ensures livelihood security in rural India by providing guaranteed employment for 100 days a year for at least one adult of every household. MGNREGA as a social safety net Though changes in forest cover and poverty have been studied before, the interrelationships between the two in forested areas is less understood.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/06/modelling-study-finds-rural-employment-scheme-plays-an-important-role-in-forest-cover/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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