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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
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					<title>Three states to pilot community-led forest management</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/three-states-to-pilot-community-led-forest-management/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/three-states-to-pilot-community-led-forest-management/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2026 11:38:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Joydeep Gupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[access benefit sharing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community based conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Environment Facility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Biodiversity Authority]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Bank]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38601</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nagaland, Tripura, and Uttarakhand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community based conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“We look after our forests, we save them, because they are our home,” Gaura Devi of the Chipko movement fame had once said. “We get fuel, fodder and some food from the forest, we get herbs when someone falls ill, but we don’t have any [legal] paper to save us if the forest department refuses [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“We look after our forests, we save them, because they are our home,” Gaura Devi of the Chipko movement fame had once said. “We get fuel, fodder and some food from the forest, we get herbs when someone falls ill, but we don’t have any [legal] paper to save us if the forest department refuses to let us in or complains to the police that we are stealing.” This is the problem the Global Environment Facility (GEF) aims to solve with its Conservation of Biodiversity, its Sustainable Use, Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits in India (CONSERVE) project in three states — Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Tripura. The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) will carry out the project that was approved at the May 30-June 6 GEF assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. GEF will give a $12.38 million grant for the project; the World Bank will lend $30 million. Speaking to Mongabay-India on the sidelines of the assembly, Benjamin Singer, senior biodiversity specialist, Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) and the GEF official looking after the project, said, “Community-managed forests have to be safeguarded. Communities around the world are doing it and have always done it. We want to design this better in full consultation with the communities themselves. And we want to give them an incentive to do what they are doing.” GBFF was set up to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD). The project plan states that in around 5,000 hectares spread across the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/three-states-to-pilot-community-led-forest-management/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>[Commentary] Community-based conservation can help achieve 30&#215;30 biodiversity target</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/12/commentary-community-based-conservation-can-help-achieve-30x30-biodiversity-target/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/12/commentary-community-based-conservation-can-help-achieve-30x30-biodiversity-target/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Dec 2024 17:30:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pijush Kumar Dutta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Constitution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UN CBD]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/12/20165326/4_CCA-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=30806</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, India, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community based conservation, Indigenous Peoples, and Indigenous Rights]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In recent times, both at national and international levels, there has been strong recognition of the role of local and indigenous communities in securing global biodiversity and the need for mechanisms to support them. Among all the international initiatives, the most significant ones are the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), aimed at conserving [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent times, both at national and international levels, there has been strong recognition of the role of local and indigenous communities in securing global biodiversity and the need for mechanisms to support them. Among all the international initiatives, the most significant ones are the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), aimed at conserving global biodiversity and first signed at the Earth Summit held in Brazil in 1992, and the targets of the biannual Conference of Parties (COP) to the CBD. In November 2018, the biodiversity conference COP14 adopted the category ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECMs) to incorporate all conservation efforts of local and indigenous communities. At COP10, held in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010, parties agreed, as part of Aichi Biodiversity Target 11, to secure (through effective conservation and sustainable management) 17 percent of territorial and inland water bodies between 2010 and 2020. The Protected Planet Report 2020 submitted to CBD noted that countries secured nearly 16.64 percent and the contribution of OECMs was seven percent. In the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) 2019 submitted to CBD, India has reported that it secured nearly 28 percent of the total area (0.93 million sq. km), which is much above the target. What is important to note is that the contribution of OECM to India’s achievement was around 17 percent (0.16 million sq. km). As part of Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) in the CBD COP15 held in 2022, global leaders agreed to conserve&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/12/commentary-community-based-conservation-can-help-achieve-30x30-biodiversity-target/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/12/commentary-community-based-conservation-can-help-achieve-30x30-biodiversity-target/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Western Himalayas more “risk prone” than the East, according to new index</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/03/western-himalayas-more-risk-prone-than-the-east-according-to-new-index/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/03/western-himalayas-more-risk-prone-than-the-east-according-to-new-index/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2024 13:48:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Simrinsirur]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Himalayas]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/03/11120700/Shimla_49_Image8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=26890</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh, Himalayas, India, Manipur, and Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Himalayas, and Mountains]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Western Indian Himalayan Region is more prone to risks from climate change compared to the Eastern Himalayan ranges, a new climate risk index, designed by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), shows. The index is the first to use the latest framework from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Western Indian Himalayan Region is more prone to risks from climate change compared to the Eastern Himalayan ranges, a new climate risk index, designed by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), shows. The index is the first to use the latest framework from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to assess climate risk in the Himalayas, by combining both physical and socio-economic indicators, the researchers have said. The Himalayas, considered the “third pole” for the amount of ice and water they hold, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Some parts of the Himalayas, like the Hindu Kush Himalayan Range, are warming at a faster rate than the global average. Both snow cover and glacier mass in the Himalayas have been on the decline in recent decades. Though the likely effects of climate change over the Himalayas are well known, few studies have tried to map how these risks could manifest at a district level in the region. A 2020 study by researchers from the Forest Research Institute and others, aimed to carry out a similar risk assessment in the Himalayan region and found that the Eastern ranges were more risk prone. The IIT-M study uses an updated technique and publicly available data to find that, while both the Western and Eastern regions are vulnerable, the Western region is more prone to risks arising from climate change. The Western Himalayas are more &#8220;risk prone&#8221; compared to the East, according to a new index.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/03/western-himalayas-more-risk-prone-than-the-east-according-to-new-index/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Crafting a sustainable future for artisans using bamboo</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/02/crafting-a-sustainable-future-for-artisans-using-bamboo/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/02/crafting-a-sustainable-future-for-artisans-using-bamboo/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Feb 2024 15:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artisans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bamboo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bamboo mission]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate resilience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[value chain]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/02/27205313/Banner-image-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=26703</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Innovations, Eco Hope, and Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, People, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At a young age, Jyotsana Devnath embarked on a journey in Braj Nagar, West Tripura, where she was married and became a part of a family known for their livelihood in crafting bamboo products. Her husband, Rajkumar Devnath, trained her in the skills of the trade &#8211; from buying the bamboo to making and selling [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At a young age, Jyotsana Devnath embarked on a journey in Braj Nagar, West Tripura, where she was married and became a part of a family known for their livelihood in crafting bamboo products. Her husband, Rajkumar Devnath, trained her in the skills of the trade &#8211; from buying the bamboo to making and selling products in the local market. Bamboo is a prominent non-wood forest resource extensively used by tribal and rural communities in Tripura. Approximately 1.49 lakh artisans are actively involved in making several products of this unique grass. Jyotsana has been involved in crafting diverse bamboo products for the last 35 years. Over the last seven to eight years, she has witnessed that people beyond her home state also have a significant interest in bamboo products. The growing demand has increased her business. “I have increased the total staff from four to nine people who work daily at my place from 11 am to 4 pm. Earlier, we used hardly 150-200 bamboos in a month as a raw material. Now, we use around 300 bamboos and make products such as mats and jewellery boxes.” She credits the increase in orders to bulk buyers based outside of Tripura, such as the New Delhi-based Silpakarman, owned by Tad Udyog Pvt Ltd, a business-to-consumer organisation that works directly with artisans. An innovative value chain Silpakarman, a bamboo craft brand, has created a value chain in Tripura where it works with artisans to design and market bamboo-based products, removing the role&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/02/crafting-a-sustainable-future-for-artisans-using-bamboo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>India’s climate mitigation potential in forests overestimated, finds study</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2022/02/indias-climate-mitigation-potential-in-forests-overestimated-finds-study/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2022/02/indias-climate-mitigation-potential-in-forests-overestimated-finds-study/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Feb 2022 09:57:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sahana Ghosh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northeast India]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2022/02/15124703/Train_through_Lataguri_Forest_West_Bengal_India-e1644936158495-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=17132</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, and Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Climate Change Mitigation, Forests, Nature-based Climate Solutions, Trees, and United Nations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Climate mitigation, by creating additional carbon sinks through forest restoration and agroforestry, would meet less than a quarter of India&#8217;s Paris Agreement 2015 goals in the land-use, land-use change and forestry category (LULUCF), says a new study. India&#8217;s Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement targets creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Climate mitigation, by creating additional carbon sinks through forest restoration and agroforestry, would meet less than a quarter of India&#8217;s Paris Agreement 2015 goals in the land-use, land-use change and forestry category (LULUCF), says a new study. India&#8217;s Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement targets creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover. India aims to bring 33% of its geographical area under forest cover by 2030 to fulfill its international commitments. Scientists at the University of Oxford, University of Exeter, University of Hyderabad and Jawaharlal Nehru University used a machine learning framework with over 11,000 GPS points of forests across India, to map where natural forests can be sustained based on climate, soil and topographic factors (bioclimatic envelope) to avoid identifying areas that do not support the growth of natural forests, such as grasslands, savannahs and woodlands. “This area mapped also includes current forest cover. After mapping this suitable area, we excluded all current natural forest areas (and other exclusions like wetlands, grasslands, savannahs etc.) and the remaining area which exists outside the current forest area is the opportunity that can act as carbon sinks if allowed to naturally regenerate,” study co-author Trisha Gopalakrishna, a D.Phil. candidate at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, told Mongabay-India. India&#8217;s commitments &#8220;overestimate the area available and the mitigation potential of forest restoration&#8221; and that forest restoration and agroforestry can only be &#8220;one of many strategies&#8221; fundamental&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2022/02/indias-climate-mitigation-potential-in-forests-overestimated-finds-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Integrated farming systems emerge as possible climate adaptation solution</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2021/11/integrated-farming-systems-emerge-as-possible-climate-adaptation-solution/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2021/11/integrated-farming-systems-emerge-as-possible-climate-adaptation-solution/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Nov 2021 10:24:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[T. V. Padma]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sahana]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate change impact]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate resilience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nature]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2021/11/11213256/%E9%AD%9A%E7%A8%BB%E5%85%B1%E7%94%9F_Rice-Fish_Symbiosis_-_panoramio-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=16144</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Eco Hope]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Meghalaya, Tripura, and West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A &#8220;whole-farm&#8221; approach or integrated farming systems that supplement traditional crops with farming vegetables, fruits, poultry or fish is re-emerging as a nature-based solution to boosting productivity in climate-stressed regions. New research from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in India’s eastern Himalayas, where farming is turning increasingly risky due to climatic uncertainty, has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A &#8220;whole-farm&#8221; approach or integrated farming systems that supplement traditional crops with farming vegetables, fruits, poultry or fish is re-emerging as a nature-based solution to boosting productivity in climate-stressed regions. New research from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in India’s eastern Himalayas, where farming is turning increasingly risky due to climatic uncertainty, has shown that productivity and income of farmers “improved substantially” when they adopted a pond-based integrated farming system (IFS). Small and marginal farmers in the area lack resources and are unable to adopt new, improved technologies, the report by a team of ICAR scientists says. A whole-farm approach or pond-based IFS, however, helped increase production, employment and income by generating a mix of enterprises based on rice, vegetables, fruits, fish, pigs and poultry. The ICAR study, conducted on 11 farm pond-based IFS models, covering 22.5 hectares of 150 farmers&#8217; fields in the South Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, from 2009 to 2014, showed a substantial improvement in the farmer’s livelihoods. The integrated farming system adopted, tapped into on-farm resources and reduced dependence on external inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides. The study found that the net returns under an integrated system that included ponds, rice, vegetables and pigs were eight times higher than the normal farmer practice of growing a single crop. Agronomist Anup Das, principal scientist at the ICAR research complex for the northeast hill region in Agartala, and of the authors of the study, told Mongabay-India that earlier, farmers had a small farm pond in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2021/11/integrated-farming-systems-emerge-as-possible-climate-adaptation-solution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Harnessing the unrealised potential of agroforestry in curbing climate change in India</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2021/07/harnessing-the-unrealized-potential-of-agroforestry-in-curbing-climate-change-in-india/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2021/07/harnessing-the-unrealized-potential-of-agroforestry-in-curbing-climate-change-in-india/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jul 2021 15:19:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Neha Jain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sahana]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kerala]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northeast India]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2021/07/06124024/Pineapple-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=14763</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Kerala, Tripura, and West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Forests, and Nature-based Climate Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Expanding the land area under agroforestry systems, which integrate trees alongside crops, is a promising strategy to offset greenhouse gas emissions and could help achieve India’s Nationally Determined Contributions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, reveals a study.  The study authors recommend that agroforestry should be included as a mitigation strategy in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Expanding the land area under agroforestry systems, which integrate trees alongside crops, is a promising strategy to offset greenhouse gas emissions and could help achieve India’s Nationally Determined Contributions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, reveals a study.  The study authors recommend that agroforestry should be included as a mitigation strategy in India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Boosting the area under agroforestry can also contribute to the National Mission for a Green India under the National Action Plan on Climate Change 2011 and the National Forest Policy 2018, stress the authors.  In 2019, India ranked third in greenhouse gas emissions after China and the United States. The largest contributors to India’s emissions have historically been energy, agriculture, industry and municipal waste. Under the Paris Agreement, India pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 33 to 35 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. To achieve this, India aims to increase the share of non-fossil fuel-based power and create an additional carbon sink through afforestation.  Agroforestry systems, which integrate trees in agricultural landscapes, have been recognised by scientists for their role in mitigating climate change by acting as a carbon sink: trees sequester atmospheric carbon in their biomass. Agroforestry practices can also enhance soil organic carbon, which is a component of soil organic matter and is the largest carbon stock in terrestrial ecosystems. What’s more, these systems provide additional benefits such as improving soil health, advancing food security,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2021/07/harnessing-the-unrealized-potential-of-agroforestry-in-curbing-climate-change-in-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2021/07/harnessing-the-unrealized-potential-of-agroforestry-in-curbing-climate-change-in-india/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Perils of the Phayre’s leaf monkey</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2021/02/perils-of-the-phayres-leaf-monkey/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2021/02/perils-of-the-phayres-leaf-monkey/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Feb 2021 13:53:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shatabdi Chakrabarti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sahana]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2021/02/07232836/spectacled-leaf-monkey-banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=13125</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[South Asia and Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, and Habitat Loss]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Phayre’s leaf monkey (Trachypithecus phayrei), an endangered goggle-eyed primate species once widely distributed across many forests in northeast India, is now confined to small fragmented patches in the states of Assam, Mizoram, and Tripura in the region. Tripura’s Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the few places where these monkeys can be spotted. But the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Phayre’s leaf monkey (Trachypithecus phayrei), an endangered goggle-eyed primate species once widely distributed across many forests in northeast India, is now confined to small fragmented patches in the states of Assam, Mizoram, and Tripura in the region. Tripura’s Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the few places where these monkeys can be spotted. But the monkeys, that feast on leaves of a wide variety of plant leaves (folivores), have developed an affinity for rubber in the mushrooming commercial plantations in and around the protected area. In Bangladesh, which abuts Tripura, and is home to the species, the monkeys have taken a liking to the non-native invasive Acacia plants. The species (T. phayrei) is one of the most widely distributed of the broader group or genus (Trachypithecus) but one of the least studied in ecology, behaviour, genetics, and systematics. Experts are concerned about the nutritional implications of the animals’ altering feeding patterns. “The species is adapting to life in rubber plantations in Tripura. There is a high dependence on rubber leaves,” confirmed primatologist Joydeep Bose. In a study, Bose and Bhattacharjee (2004) reported that plants like Hevea brasiliensis (67.4 percent), Delonix regia (5.8 percent), and Acacia auriculiformis (4.3 percent) make up more than 75 percent of the annual diet of the species in Tripura; their diet includes twigs and leaves of the rubber tree. Tripura is the second-largest producer of natural rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) in India after Kerala, as per area under cultivation and quantity of produce. This commercial monoculture product’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2021/02/perils-of-the-phayres-leaf-monkey/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Precarious lives of the wild inside home gardens in northeast India</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2021/01/precarious-lives-of-the-wild-inside-home-gardens-in-northeast-india/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2021/01/precarious-lives-of-the-wild-inside-home-gardens-in-northeast-india/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jan 2021 14:59:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rini BarmanSahana Ghosh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sahana]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2021/01/24193137/Baya_Weaver_with_nest_male_and_female-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=12990</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam and Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, and Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Canadian Booker-prize winning author Margaret Atwood had once said that “Gardening is not a rational act” because as one immerses into the garden ecosystem, layers of life forms that work together reveal themselves. One of the ways by which ecological balance inside gardens can be maintained is to make allies with the animal, bird, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Canadian Booker-prize winning author Margaret Atwood had once said that “Gardening is not a rational act” because as one immerses into the garden ecosystem, layers of life forms that work together reveal themselves. One of the ways by which ecological balance inside gardens can be maintained is to make allies with the animal, bird, and insect kingdom. They too are at a continuous struggle ever since industrial agriculture innovations have taken over. More recently, the pandemic has been a reminder of how gardening can be therapeutic for human recovery and can help with crop sustenance. From a conservation perspective, with limitations in protected areas in providing habitats for many wildlife species, managed and human-dominated landscapes, such as homestead gardens or home gardens, have drawn attention in the last few decades. According to the British Trust of Ornithology, a garden that is good for wildlife is likely to be a “stable ecosystem in its own right, integrated with the landscape around it and providing a diversity of micro-habitats within its boundaries.” This stability means fewer problems with pest or weed species and reduced vulnerability to outbreaks of disease among the plants that you grow. And because home gardens are an integrated way of managing land and other sustainable resources, these traditional agroforestry oases have been tremendously valued in northeast India. But as a NITI Aayog report states, home gardens presently do not figure as a land use category. Therefore, there are no specific schemes/programs to promote them, unlike neighbour Sri Lanka&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2021/01/precarious-lives-of-the-wild-inside-home-gardens-in-northeast-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Why do indigenous communities persist with practising shifting cultivation?</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2020/06/why-do-indigenous-communities-persist-with-practising-shifting-cultivation/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2020/06/why-do-indigenous-communities-persist-with-practising-shifting-cultivation/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jun 2020 13:35:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sahana]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2019/06/30004843/DSCN0078-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=10299</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conserving Agro-biodiversity]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Deforestation, and People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Shifting cultivation continues to be a predominant agricultural practice in many parts of India, despite state discouragement and multipronged efforts to wean indigenous communities away from it. Their land, due to remoteness, poor access to markets and undulating terrain, leaves them with few alternatives. In northeast India, a 2018 report released by the Indian government [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Shifting cultivation continues to be a predominant agricultural practice in many parts of India, despite state discouragement and multipronged efforts to wean indigenous communities away from it. Their land, due to remoteness, poor access to markets and undulating terrain, leaves them with few alternatives. In northeast India, a 2018 report released by the Indian government revealed that an area of 8500 square kilometers is still being used to practice shifting cultivation (SC) &#8211; an agricultural system practiced for centuries. The process consists of cultivating land temporarily and then abandoning it &#8211; usually for a period of one to two decades so the soil recuperates its fertility and reverts to its natural state. Because it involves the felling of trees for temporary cultivation, it is blamed for deforestation, soil erosion and loss of biodiversity, all contributors to global climate change. However, contrary to this popular notion held by state officials and other agencies, the practice does provide a sustainable means of livelihood and food security to the communities that practice it. The problem lies in both its commercialisation and production pressures arising from a human-population increase, leading to a reduction in fallow length &#8211; the period between two cultivation phases. In a book called Shifting cultivation policies: Balancing environmental and social sustainability (2017), an outline of the role of government and local institutions in regulating shifting cultivation over time has been described. Interventions aimed at stopping shifting cultivation go as far back as pre-British rule when the Ahoms from upper Burma&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2020/06/why-do-indigenous-communities-persist-with-practising-shifting-cultivation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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					<title>[Commentary] Crackdown on wet markets and illegal wildlife trade could prevent the next pandemic</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2020/03/commentary-crackdown-on-wet-markets-and-illegal-wildlife-trade-could-prevent-the-next-pandemic/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2020/03/commentary-crackdown-on-wet-markets-and-illegal-wildlife-trade-could-prevent-the-next-pandemic/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Mar 2020 13:11:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Prerna Singh Bindra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife trafficking]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2020/03/25005909/prerna_onetimeuse_Peacock-Marked-Soft-shelled-Turtle-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=9134</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environment And Health]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coronavirus, COVID-19, Poaching, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Leaving his stall at the Golbazar Maharajganj Fish Market in Agartala, the vendor headed out toward another shop, a hovel really, tucked between the market’s boundary wall and a stack of Styrofoam boxes. He opened one, hauling out a mutilated carcass of a peacock marked softshelled turtle (Nilssonia hurum) and chopped it into pieces for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Leaving his stall at the Golbazar Maharajganj Fish Market in Agartala, the vendor headed out toward another shop, a hovel really, tucked between the market’s boundary wall and a stack of Styrofoam boxes. He opened one, hauling out a mutilated carcass of a peacock marked softshelled turtle (Nilssonia hurum) and chopped it into pieces for a waiting customer. Money exchanged hands. It is not kosher to quote rates of wildlife as it encourages trade and though the prices are somewhat higher than, say goat meat, by putting a price on the priceless — a rare protected Schedule I species with the level of protection accorded to a tiger — he had sold the turtle cheap. Also visible were hollowed-out shells of the soft-shelled turtle, the Indian flapshell (Lissemys punctata), another Schedule I freshwater species. Information gleaned from the traders indicated that about 4,000 turtles are sold annually in Golbazar, and they assure that any quantity required can be made available. The quantities could be higher in Battala, another fish market in the capital of the northeast Indian state of Tripura. Here, turtle meat is sold openly and business is brisk with a stream of customers. Carcasses, mainly of the peacock marked soft-shelled turtles are chopped and sold, while a few flap about haplessly in a bit of murky water in buckets and boxes — some 100 feet away from a forest department signboard extolling saving turtles and warning about the illegal sale of its meat. Tracing illegal turtle trade in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2020/03/commentary-crackdown-on-wet-markets-and-illegal-wildlife-trade-could-prevent-the-next-pandemic/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2020/03/commentary-crackdown-on-wet-markets-and-illegal-wildlife-trade-could-prevent-the-next-pandemic/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>[Commentary] Feni river agreement offers hope, but water sharing remains contentious</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/11/commentary-feni-river-agreement-offers-hope-but-water-sharing-remains-contentious/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/11/commentary-feni-river-agreement-offers-hope-but-water-sharing-remains-contentious/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2019 09:40:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Soumya Sarkar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northeast India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2019/11/04122734/Feni01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=7461</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Connected Environments and Transboundary Infrastructure]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Rivers and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the first transboundary river water sharing agreement in decades in South Asia, Bangladesh allowed India to withdraw 1.82 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from the Feni river. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on October 5 in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the first transboundary river water sharing agreement in decades in South Asia, Bangladesh allowed India to withdraw 1.82 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from the Feni river. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on October 5 in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina when the latter was on a visit to India. This not only comes as a relief to the people of Sabroom in southern Tripura because it will ease a severe drinking water scarcity in the border town, but also for the fact that two countries amicably reached an understanding to share water of a transboundary river in a region where allocation of this scarce resource has typically been bitterly contentious. India and Bangladesh share as many as 54 rivers and there’s only one agreement between them — to share the waters of the Ganga river that was signed in December 1996. There have been discussions over the sharing of the waters of Feni river, which forms the border between India’s northeastern Tripura state and Khagrachari district in Bangladesh, for more than 50 years. It is expected that the 2019 water-sharing agreement will lead to closer ties between India and Bangladesh at a time when neighbourly relation amongst countries in South Asia is less than cordial. Bangladesh and India also agreed to exchange data and prepare the frameworks for interim water-sharing agreements of six more transboundary rivers — Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla, and Dudhkumar.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2019/11/commentary-feni-river-agreement-offers-hope-but-water-sharing-remains-contentious/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Are changing agricultural practices responsible for vanishing happiness in remote Tripura hamlets?</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/09/are-changing-agricultural-practices-responsible-for-vanishing-happiness-in-remote-tripura-hamlets/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/09/are-changing-agricultural-practices-responsible-for-vanishing-happiness-in-remote-tripura-hamlets/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Sep 2019 14:48:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sahana Ghosh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sahana]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/02/16104648/1024px-Jhum-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=6923</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conserving Agro-biodiversity]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Caught in the transition from shifting cultivation (jhum) to rubber monocropping, members of indigenous communities in a remote district in Tripura &#8211; India’s second rubber capital &#8211; are “struggling” or “just getting by”, a forthcoming study has claimed. The study from one of India’s smallest states comes amidst a growing body of research linking biodiversity [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Caught in the transition from shifting cultivation (jhum) to rubber monocropping, members of indigenous communities in a remote district in Tripura &#8211; India’s second rubber capital &#8211; are “struggling” or “just getting by”, a forthcoming study has claimed. The study from one of India’s smallest states comes amidst a growing body of research linking biodiversity and mental well-being. It suggests that declining food and dietary diversity due to rubber monocropping is affecting the health and happiness of the indigenous communities in 18 villages of Tripura’s Dhalai district, bordering Bangladesh. Researchers who assessed the status of agro-biodiversity and “subjective well-being” of the indigenous communities in the study said not only was there an observed drop in agro-biodiversity due to the transition, but the change also impacted their cultural practices linked to shifting cultivation, which in turn has left them feeling discontent. “Rubber plantations have encroached upon the shifting cultivation landscape of the study area in Dhalai replacing the cultivated crop species and livestock breeds,” D.K. Pandey, Department of Social Sciences, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh, told Mongabay-India. Rubber plantations were introduced in Tripura in 1963 by the forest department, as a means to manage and stabilise shifting cultivation (locally known as ‘jhum’), rehabilitate shifting cultivators and to restore degraded land affected by repeated shifting. The study states &#8220;since 1976, there was an emphasis on rubber production in Tripura with the establishment of Tripura Forest Development and Plantation Corporation Limited which took up the issue of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2019/09/are-changing-agricultural-practices-responsible-for-vanishing-happiness-in-remote-tripura-hamlets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>[Video] Youth of northeast India use films to tell stories about their environment and communities</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/07/video-youth-of-northeast-india-use-films-to-tell-stories-about-their-environment-and-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/07/video-youth-of-northeast-india-use-films-to-tell-stories-about-their-environment-and-communities/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jul 2019 12:07:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pooja Gupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2019/07/17175644/GreenHub-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=6022</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Citizen science, Community based conservation, Conservation, and Environment]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Through the use of the visual medium, the Green Hub Project in northeast India engages and empowers youth across eight states in the region, especially from remote tribal areas and marginalised communities, in undertaking conservation action in the region. The video fellowship programme, based in Tezpur, Assam, was started in India by wildlife and environmental [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Through the use of the visual medium, the Green Hub Project in northeast India engages and empowers youth across eight states in the region, especially from remote tribal areas and marginalised communities, in undertaking conservation action in the region. The video fellowship programme, based in Tezpur, Assam, was started in India by wildlife and environmental filmmaker, Rita Banerji and set up in 2014 as an initiative of North East Network and Dusty Foot Productions. In the training period, followed by a 10-month internship, the 20 fellows chosen each year, develop skills in video documentation and gain an understanding of how to apply these skills to tell stories in a manner that matters. By building a deepened link to nature and conservation amidst the youth, Banerji hopes to ignite a spark in them to take this learning back to their communities and work towards protecting and preserving their environments. The use of a visual medium also helps transcend the differences in language and political ideologies across the northeast region and the project doubles up as a platform for social and cultural exchanges. At the beginning of the programme, the fellows are immersed in intensive training for a period of three months, tailored to equip them with varied skills in video documentation. It comprises a series of workshops which are led by industry experts from across the country. This is combined with lectures from people working in the field on a diverse range of topics from human-animal conflict, natural history, social change&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2019/07/video-youth-of-northeast-india-use-films-to-tell-stories-about-their-environment-and-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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					<title>As fall armyworm invades northeast India, scientists scratch the surface of a tree-killing beetle</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/05/as-fall-armyworm-invades-northeast-india-scientists-scratch-the-surface-of-the-trunk-borer/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/05/as-fall-armyworm-invades-northeast-india-scientists-scratch-the-surface-of-the-trunk-borer/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2019 14:49:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sahana Ghosh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sahana]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2019/05/27093742/DSC01930_rev-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=5362</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, and Insects]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As India battles invasion of the cereal-eating moth, fall armyworm (FAW), which is now chomping its way into northeastern states, scientists have turned their attention to another incursion, from the East. A trunk borer, suspected to have sneaked in from India&#8217;s eastern neighbours, has been quietly gnawing away at guava and litchi trees in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As India battles invasion of the cereal-eating moth, fall armyworm (FAW), which is now chomping its way into northeastern states, scientists have turned their attention to another incursion, from the East. A trunk borer, suspected to have sneaked in from India&#8217;s eastern neighbours, has been quietly gnawing away at guava and litchi trees in the northeast region that shares borders with Myanmar, China, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The guava and litchi-trunk borer or litchi longhorn beetle (Aristobia reticulator), is an important pest of guava and now litchi in India. It has been reported in guava trees in Meghalaya and Tripura in recent years and in litchi trees in Arunachal Pradesh, where it has caused heavy damage. And as the first step towards genetic characterisation, that will inform further studies and pest management, researchers have decoded its mitochondrial genome. “We have just started scratching the surface in terms of understanding the stem borer. It is a longhorn beetle and it is suspected to have come in from neighbouring countries that share international borders with northeastern region of the country,&#8221; said Ganesh Behere, Principal Scientist at ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region in Meghalaya. &#8220;Despite its significance in the way it economically impacts these fruit trees, there is no molecular data available at all for the borer,” Ganesh Behere told Mongabay-India. The Aristobia reticulator mitogenome. Image by Ganesh Behere. “We are in a position to deal with FAW invasion because we know so much about it, especially in the context of genetic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2019/05/as-fall-armyworm-invades-northeast-india-scientists-scratch-the-surface-of-the-trunk-borer/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Assam most vulnerable to climate change in Indian Himalayan region: study</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/12/assam-most-vulnerable-to-climate-change-in-indian-himalayan-region-study/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/12/assam-most-vulnerable-to-climate-change-in-indian-himalayan-region-study/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Dec 2018 10:47:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mayank Aggarwal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mayank Aggarwal]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Himalayas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hydropower]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[irrigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sikkim Himalayas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/12/21065323/Banner-Image-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=3514</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[India's Iconic Landscapes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Himalayas, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Change Mitigation, Lakes, Mountains, People, Rivers, and Villages]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Himalayas support about 20 percent of the world’s population. But the ecologically fragile region, the storehouse of the third highest amount of frozen water on earth, is highly vulnerable to climate change. Among the 12 states in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), Assam is found to be the most vulnerable to the changing climate, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Himalayas support about 20 percent of the world’s population. But the ecologically fragile region, the storehouse of the third highest amount of frozen water on earth, is highly vulnerable to climate change. Among the 12 states in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), Assam is found to be the most vulnerable to the changing climate, according to a Department of Science and Technology (DST) vulnerability assessment. The study, “Climate vulnerability assessment for the Indian Himalayan region using a common framework”, was done by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati and the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore to help understand climate change vulnerabilities which could inform development of adaptation strategies and ecosystem management for the Himalayan region. The study was part of the Swiss-funded Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP).  The assessment is significant for India as a majority of its population is dependent on agriculture which requires water. Himalayas are a source of many rivers which supply this water. Bordering eight countries, the Himalayan mountain range is the tallest in the world. It covers an area of about 4.3 million square kilometres and nearly 1.5 billion people depend on it for water, food and energy. In India, the IHR spans across 12 states &#8211; Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and (hill districts of) West Bengal. The vulnerability assessment was done on the basis of four major factors which are socio-economic,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2018/12/assam-most-vulnerable-to-climate-change-in-indian-himalayan-region-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Durga puja art exhibits spur dialogue on conservation</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/10/durga-puja-art-exhibits-spur-dialogue-on-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/10/durga-puja-art-exhibits-spur-dialogue-on-conservation/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Oct 2018 10:14:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sahana Ghosh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sahana]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/10/19085056/Photo-from-Sahana-Ghosh-1-e1539919292165-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=2830</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, Tripura, and West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Climate Change, Conservation, and Environment]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Underpinned by the message of “good-over-evil”, Durga puja or the worship of goddess Durga, is one of the most important event in the religious calendar in east India. In contemporary times, however, it has become a paragon of pop culture spurring dialogue and awareness through rich artistic representations of an array of themes. With increased focus [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Underpinned by the message of “good-over-evil”, Durga puja or the worship of goddess Durga, is one of the most important event in the religious calendar in east India. In contemporary times, however, it has become a paragon of pop culture spurring dialogue and awareness through rich artistic representations of an array of themes. With increased focus on communication on climate change, biodiversity and environmental concerns in recent years, the five-day event in West Bengal and neighbouring states has seen celebrations branch out to spreading the message on conservation and environment protection. Researchers say &#8220;simulating experiences emotionally connects the public to the environment, which is crucial for public awareness and caring about environmental issues.&#8221;  Topics such as wildlife conservation (particularly tigers) and pollution, have slowly pervaded the urban festival scenario during the Durga puja. In keeping with the global call on beating plastic pollution in 2018, many organisers have specifically chosen to highlight the subject in the current edition of the festival. The festival (puja), whose origins are rooted in Hindu mythology, marks the arrival of Goddess Durga, in tow with her four children &#8211; Ganesh, Kartik, Lakshmi and Saraswati &#8211; on earth every year to visit her parents to battle evil. Seated upon a lion, the goddess wielding an array of weapons in her 10 hands, is said to have slayed the demon Mahishashura in a fierce battle and thereby establish peace and symbolising good over evil. &nbsp; The goddess Durga on her lion kills the demon Mahishasura, 1880, Kalighat school.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2018/10/durga-puja-art-exhibits-spur-dialogue-on-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>When drought and extreme heat strike forests at the same time</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/10/when-drought-and-extreme-heat-strike-forests-at-the-same-time/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/10/when-drought-and-extreme-heat-strike-forests-at-the-same-time/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Oct 2018 11:14:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sandhya Sekar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sandhya Sekar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/10/16174249/Mudumalai_forest_after_fire-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=2822</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Eastern Ghats, Himalayas, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Drought, Fires, Forest Fires, and Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The frequency of extreme weather events is going up around the world, and droughts and heatwaves are no exception. When the globe warms by 3-4 degrees &#8211; a possibility during this century under a ‘business as usual’ scenario &#8211; about 40 percent of the world’s land surface is predicted to experience drought. The tropics are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The frequency of extreme weather events is going up around the world, and droughts and heatwaves are no exception. When the globe warms by 3-4 degrees &#8211; a possibility during this century under a ‘business as usual’ scenario &#8211; about 40 percent of the world’s land surface is predicted to experience drought. The tropics are all set to experience high temperatures as the new normal. With drought and heat posing individual threats, there is also the looming threat of frequent ‘double whammies’ of drought and heat: concurrent drought and heatwaves, across India and the globe. A recent study has found that the area under concurrent drought and heatwaves is more in recent years (1981-2000) compared to an earlier time period (1951-1980) in India. Moreover, there is an increase in frequency of concurrent heatwaves and drought. “We divided 60 years of data into two halves taking 1951-1980 as a base period. At each grid, we computed the differences in number of concurrent droughts and heatwaves for the period 1981 to 2010 with respect to the base period. These results indicate that simultaneous occurrence of droughts and heatwaves have increased,” said Shailza Sharma, an author of the study. The study found that concurrence of extreme drought and longer, more severe heatwaves is increasing in Gujarat, Central India and Peninsular India. Grasslands at Nannaj Wildlife Sancturary, Maharashtra. Photo by Raju Kasambe / Wikimedia Commons. The response of vegetation to a combination of drought and stress is complex, ranging from short-lived local mortality events&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2018/10/when-drought-and-extreme-heat-strike-forests-at-the-same-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Unchecked rubber spread in northeast India threat to native forests: Study</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/03/unchecked-rubber-spread-in-northeast-india-threat-to-native-forests-study/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/03/unchecked-rubber-spread-in-northeast-india-threat-to-native-forests-study/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Mar 2018 11:01:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sahana Ghosh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sahana]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kerala]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northeast India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plantations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rubber]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shifting cultivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Threat]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/03/15185921/Rubber-Tripura-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=662</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, People, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As the growing demand for natural rubber transforms Southeast Asia’s landscapes, scientists in India have warned against the unregulated expansion of rubber monocultures in seven northeastern states that together make up the second largest area of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) planted in the country. Tripura considered as the ‘second rubber capital of India’—after Kerala—has emerged as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As the growing demand for natural rubber transforms Southeast Asia’s landscapes, scientists in India have warned against the unregulated expansion of rubber monocultures in seven northeastern states that together make up the second largest area of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) planted in the country. Tripura considered as the ‘second rubber capital of India’—after Kerala—has emerged as the frontrunner among the non-traditional rubber growing regions. Meghalaya, Mizoram, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, the other rubber producing states in the region, have also witnessed notable growth in production. The study likened the rubber boom in northeast India to the spread in southeast Asia. Culling satellite data, scientists from North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), Meghalaya, mapped and analysed the extent of rubber plantation in selected sub-watersheds straddling Mizoram, Tripura and Assam. They observed a five-fold increase in rubber plantations in the study area over a 15 year period (1997 to 2013), with the expansion being more rapid during recent times, i.e. between 2010 to 2013. Rubber cultivation in Tripura. Photo by Arunabha Majumdar/Rubber Board. “Rubber plantations increased from 4.47 sq. km to 28.42 sq. km in various parts of the study area. The plantations took place in dense forest, open forest and degraded forest areas. The spread of the plantations was also observed in one reserved forest located within the study area,” said author Kasturi Chakraborty. The study stresses on the issue of rubber plantations spreading at the cost of natural forests, often being “overlooked” because rubber trees look like forests. The area in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2018/03/unchecked-rubber-spread-in-northeast-india-threat-to-native-forests-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>State of Forest Report says that India’s forest and tree cover has increased by 1 percent</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/02/state-of-forest-report-says-that-indias-forest-and-tree-cover-has-increased-by-1-percent/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/02/state-of-forest-report-says-that-indias-forest-and-tree-cover-has-increased-by-1-percent/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Feb 2018 11:14:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sahana Ghosh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[S. Gopikrishna Warrier]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/02/16104146/The-beauty-of-Valparai-forests-Kerala-Tamil-Nadu-border_Photo-by-Pradeep-Kumar-N.-Wikimedia-Commons-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=514</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Tripura]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Forest Carbon, Forests, Rivers, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India has recorded a one percent jump (8,021 square km) in overall forest and tree cover between 2015 and 2017 despite population and livestock pressures, even as the green footprint in the northeast region shrunk by 630 square km, according to the latest India State of Forest Report (ISFR). Based on satellite data analysis, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India has recorded a one percent jump (8,021 square km) in overall forest and tree cover between 2015 and 2017 despite population and livestock pressures, even as the green footprint in the northeast region shrunk by 630 square km, according to the latest India State of Forest Report (ISFR). Based on satellite data analysis, the biennial assessment – conducted by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) and released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) – has put the total forest and tree cover at 802,088 square km, which is 24.39 percent of the geographical area of the country. The total forest cover is 708,273 square km, which is 21.54 percent of the total area of the country. Between 2015 and 2017, India has added 6,778 square km of forest cover and extended 1, 243 square km of tree cover. The 2017 report, which is the 15th State of Forest survey, maps green cover across 633 districts in place of 589 districts that were considered for the previous edition.  According to the Ministry, India has shown an increasing trend in the forest and tree cover, in comparison to the global trend of decreasing forest cover during the last decade. It highlighted that the country is “ranked 10th in the world, with 24.4 percent of land area under forest and tree cover, even though it accounts for 2.4 percent of the world surface area and sustains the needs of 17 percent of human and 18 percent livestock population.”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2018/02/state-of-forest-report-says-that-indias-forest-and-tree-cover-has-increased-by-1-percent/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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