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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/himalayas/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:34:00 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
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					<title>Nepal’s flood disaster puts its hydropower-first strategy, exports to the test</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-flood-disaster-puts-its-hydropower-first-strategy-exports-to-the-test/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-flood-disaster-puts-its-hydropower-first-strategy-exports-to-the-test/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 15:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rudra Pangeni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flash flood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nepal]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/10141820/nepal-flood-2026-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40837</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, Himalayas, and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Dams, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Floods, Glacial Lake Outburst Flood, Glaciers, Global Warming, Himalayas, Hydroelectric power, Impacts of Climate Change, Mountains, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nepal’s long-held policy of harnessing hydroelectricity and using it for economic growth has met new challenges: potential catastrophic floods in the snow-fed rivers amid rising global temperatures. The August 26 floods that originated on the Nepal-China border, and that knocked out around 10% of installed power from the national grid, has prompted a debate on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nepal’s long-held policy of harnessing hydroelectricity and using it for economic growth has met new challenges: potential catastrophic floods in the snow-fed rivers amid rising global temperatures. The August 26 floods that originated on the Nepal-China border, and that knocked out around 10% of installed power from the national grid, has prompted a debate on whether Nepal should rethink its overall hydropower strategy or just adopt better-engineered plants. Amid this, the flood could jeopardise the country’s clean energy targets and push it to adopt more solar power. Immediate impacts The recent flash flood crippled a combined installed generation capacity of 281 megawatts, including a solar power plant, and damaged four other under-construction projects, totaling a capacity of 700 MW. One of the oldest hydroelectric plants, the 14.1-MW Devighat Hydroelectric Plant, commissioned 42 years ago, was wiped out. Further downstream, the flood badly damaged a 25-MW solar power plant, according to data compiled by Mongabay from official sources. Similarly, with a hub of a transmission line washed away on the Trishuli river’s banks, another 150 MW of power from different power plants is cut off from the national grid system. Transmission lines, including a substation on the Trishuli riverbank, were also destroyed. While officials are assessing the damage, estimates put losses at hundreds of billions of Nepali rupees, according to media reports. They say they can’t yet provide timelines for when the affected projects will resume generation. Around 983 engineers and workers are feared trapped inside the tunnels or power houses&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-flood-disaster-puts-its-hydropower-first-strategy-exports-to-the-test/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Snow leopards and their survival in changing times [Book Review]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/snow-leopards-and-their-survival-in-changing-times-book-review/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/snow-leopards-and-their-survival-in-changing-times-book-review/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2026 16:06:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Usha Rai]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow leopard]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/08142945/DSC_0942-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40779</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Ecology, Endangered species, Environment, Himalayas, In-situ conservation, Mammals, Mountains, Wildlife, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[If you want to know all about snow leopards, their range, food, love life, fight for survival in the fast changing high mountain landscape, impact of climate change and the struggle of scientists to get accurate figures on their population and spread, Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi’s The Ghost of the Mountains is a must read. It is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[If you want to know all about snow leopards, their range, food, love life, fight for survival in the fast changing high mountain landscape, impact of climate change and the struggle of scientists to get accurate figures on their population and spread, Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi’s The Ghost of the Mountains is a must read. It is a fascinating, extremely well written book that blends research with graphic description of the landscape and allows us to witness a creature few have been privileged to see. “A flagship species of Himalayan conservation, snow leopards are key to preserving an austere, delicate ecosystem,” the book says. It has taken Suryawanshi 20 years to study the ‘ghost of the mountains,’ distributed in mountainous terrain of 12 countries that straddle the Himalayas and Central Asia. Despite the fast changing pace of development, the story of the snow leopard is one of hope. Snow leopards “are shy and their silvery-brown and white coats, marked with dark rosettes, work like magic cloaks offering good camouflage that enable them to disappear like smoke. They have furry tails, the longest of any cats, which they wrap around their bodies like mufflers on cold nights. The tails also work like the balancing pole of a tight rope walker as they manoeuvre around exposed cliffs. Their thick, wide paws, lined with fur, act like snow shoes and their unusually large nostrils help them warm the cold air they breathe and their small rounded ears minimise heat loss”. The author, who travelled across&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/snow-leopards-and-their-survival-in-changing-times-book-review/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/snow-leopards-and-their-survival-in-changing-times-book-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why is disaster risk increasing in the Himalayas? [Explainer]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/why-is-disaster-risk-increasing-in-the-himalayas-explainer/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/why-is-disaster-risk-increasing-in-the-himalayas-explainer/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2026 13:49:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Max Martin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hindu Kush Himalaya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural disaster]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/08111108/AP26250291785391-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40769</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Climate Science, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Floods, Glacial Lake Outburst Flood, Glaciers, Himalayas, Human Rights, Impacts of Climate Change, and Mountains]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a warming world, rising temperatures in high mountain regions are driving glacier retreat and melting, contributing to an increase in the number and area of glacial lakes. As glaciers retreat, they can create new lakes or expand old ones, sometimes contained by natural dams made of ice or moraines — ridges of rock, sediment [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a warming world, rising temperatures in high mountain regions are driving glacier retreat and melting, contributing to an increase in the number and area of glacial lakes. As glaciers retreat, they can create new lakes or expand old ones, sometimes contained by natural dams made of ice or moraines — ridges of rock, sediment and debris left behind by glaciers. If these dams fail, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) can release huge volumes of water and debris, severely flooding downstream communities and infrastructure. In some cases, GLOFs involve rockfalls or the collapse of entire mountain slopes with cascading impacts. Or there can be avalanches — massive, rapid downhill flows of rocks, ice and snow. Scientists have improved glacier and lake monitoring in the Himalayan region, but large gaps remain in data collection, sharing and processing. This affects real-time early warning for river systems that run across international borders. In the aftermath of the recent Nepal flood disaster, this explainer looks at the relevance of these issues. What caused the August 2026 disaster in Nepal? Initial reports suggested that a massive mountain slope failure involving glacier ice in Nepal’s Langtang National Park, close to the Chinese border. The mass of debris and flood waters travelled nearly 100 kilometres, gathering more water and rock as it gushed downhill, swelling and overflowing streams and rivers. In Nepal, scientists at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and their partners investigated whether the event was a high-altitude ice-rock avalanche. Rock-snow-ice avalanches —&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/why-is-disaster-risk-increasing-in-the-himalayas-explainer/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/why-is-disaster-risk-increasing-in-the-himalayas-explainer/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ladakh glaciers losing speed as ice melts, new study warns</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/ladakh-glaciers-losing-speed-as-ice-melts-new-study-warns/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/ladakh-glaciers-losing-speed-as-ice-melts-new-study-warns/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2026 14:57:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[glacier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Glaciers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/18131448/IMG_4388-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40227</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas and Ladakh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Science, Ecosystem services, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Himalayas, Impacts of Climate Change, Lakes, Mountains, Rivers, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The phrase &#8220;moving at glacial pace&#8221; is inspired by the slow, inching motion of glaciers as they flow downwards. But new research suggests glaciers in the Zanskar Himalayas in Ladakh are moving even slower than before, with implications for water availability in the region over the long term. Centuries-old glaciers blanketing mountaintops may appear to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The phrase &#8220;moving at glacial pace&#8221; is inspired by the slow, inching motion of glaciers as they flow downwards. But new research suggests glaciers in the Zanskar Himalayas in Ladakh are moving even slower than before, with implications for water availability in the region over the long term. Centuries-old glaciers blanketing mountaintops may appear to be stationary, but their mass is slowly pulled down by gravitational forces over time. The speed at which glaciers descend can be used as an indicator of their health, explained Manish Mehta, a scientist and glaciologist at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology. “Glaciers have two parts. The crown at the top is where ice and snow is accumulated from solid precipitation at higher elevations, and the snout or toe is at the bottom. The accumulation of ice at the crown is what pushes the glacier down, increasing its velocity,” he explained, adding, “But in recent times, glaciers are losing their mass in both the upper and lower zones. With less mass, there is less movement.” In the Zanskar Himalayas in Ladakh, glacier velocity decreased by 16% from 1992 to 2023, a study published in The Cryosphere journal found. The study is among the few long-term observational analyses of glacier velocity from the region, and adds to existing evidence of unprecedented glacier retreat in the world’s third pole. Hagshu glacier in the Zanskar Himalayas of Ladakh. Glaciers in this region are moving slower than before, finds new research, with implications for long-term water security. Image&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/ladakh-glaciers-losing-speed-as-ice-melts-new-study-warns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/ladakh-glaciers-losing-speed-as-ice-melts-new-study-warns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Increasing numbers of the Indian peafowl worry farmers [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/increasing-numbers-of-the-indian-peafowl-worry-farmers-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/increasing-numbers-of-the-indian-peafowl-worry-farmers-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Aug 2026 13:45:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aditya Pradhan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/17101028/Photo-2_%40Mingma-Tamang-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40170</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas and West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, and Birds]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Once hailed as a symbol of Indian pride and grace, the Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) is now stirring heated debates in the quiet Himalayan foothills. Revered as the national bird of India and a prominent figure in Hindu mythology, this vibrant bird has long enjoyed admiration and legal protection. But in recent years, its soaring [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Once hailed as a symbol of Indian pride and grace, the Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) is now stirring heated debates in the quiet Himalayan foothills. Revered as the national bird of India and a prominent figure in Hindu mythology, this vibrant bird has long enjoyed admiration and legal protection. But in recent years, its soaring numbers and expanding range have turned it from a cultural icon into a controversial presence — especially in fragile ecosystems like the Eastern Himalaya. “Indian peafowl has become a nuisance in recent years,” said a local youth from Ambiok Busty, a village in the Himalayan foothills of Kalimpong district, West Bengal, during a bird guide training session. His frustration echoed a growing sentiment among many in the region. Legally, the Indian peafowl sits at the top tier of wildlife protection in India, listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. This designation — on par with tigers and elephants — makes it almost untouchable. Any attempt to manage its population, be it through relocation, sterilisation, or even research monitoring, involves layers of bureaucratic checks. But the peafowl’s population isn’t on the decline. In fact, it is thriving. A glaring policy gap In many Indian states, peacock conservation is still being celebrated — with “Peacock Parks&#8221; being funded and promoted as ecotourism attractions. These efforts, while well-meaning, rarely consider the actual ground reality in regions like the eastern Himalaya, where peafowls are increasingly seen as pests rather than assets. A peacock rests on the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/increasing-numbers-of-the-indian-peafowl-worry-farmers-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Insects may be guiding seasonal bird movements in the eastern Himalayas, study finds</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/insects-may-be-guiding-seasonal-bird-movements-in-the-eastern-himalayas-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/insects-may-be-guiding-seasonal-bird-movements-in-the-eastern-himalayas-study-finds/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2026 10:45:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manjeera Gowravaram]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eastern himalayas]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/28092911/image-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39660</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Community based conservation, Conservation, Ecology, Forests, Global Warming, Insects, Migration, Mountains, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every winter, in the Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh, certain birds like babblers, laughing thrushes, yuhinas and other small mountain birds, that spent the warm months at the top of the mountains, begin making their way down. Many of them don&#8217;t really fly at all, they just hop, branch by branch, tree by tree, descending hundreds [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every winter, in the Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh, certain birds like babblers, laughing thrushes, yuhinas and other small mountain birds, that spent the warm months at the top of the mountains, begin making their way down. Many of them don&#8217;t really fly at all, they just hop, branch by branch, tree by tree, descending hundreds of metres over days and weeks. And come summer, they go back up again. These seasonal journeys are common in the Himalayas, where roughly 65% of high-elevation birds make some form of elevational movement. Yet, the reasons behind these shifts have remained only partially understood. &#8220;The theory behind why birds migrate has two major explanations, both connected to temperature,&#8221; said Tarun Menon, a Ph.D. researcher at the Indian Institute of Science and the study&#8217;s lead author. &#8220;One is that cold directly affects the bird and it moves to stay warm. The other is that the cold affects the food, and the bird is following the food.&#8221; What Menon had noticed during his earlier work in the Himalayas was that the birds that were most likely to migrate down the mountain in winter were almost always insectivores. That observation eventually grew into a larger question: were the birds following the insects rather than escaping the cold? A view of Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, where insect availability, more than temperature alone, may be guiding the seasonal movements of birds up and down the mountain ranges. Image by Tarun Menon. The study, published in Biology Letters, offers evidence from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/insects-may-be-guiding-seasonal-bird-movements-in-the-eastern-himalayas-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/insects-may-be-guiding-seasonal-bird-movements-in-the-eastern-himalayas-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<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>
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					<title>Rising temperatures, not just human activity, drives Himalayan forest fires</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rising-temperatures-not-just-human-activity-drives-himalayan-forest-fires/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rising-temperatures-not-just-human-activity-drives-himalayan-forest-fires/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2026 14:28:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[temperature rise]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/25132719/AP22143608738141-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38810</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Environment, Fires, Forest Fires, Forests, Himalayas, Impacts of Climate Change, and Mountains]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Forest fires in the Himalayas typically occur between November and June, during the drier months. However, out-of-season and higher elevation fires have sparked concerns about their effective management in a changing climate. A new study from the Western Himalayas provides more clues into the underlying factors driving forest fires in the region. A higher frequency [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Forest fires in the Himalayas typically occur between November and June, during the drier months. However, out-of-season and higher elevation fires have sparked concerns about their effective management in a changing climate. A new study from the Western Himalayas provides more clues into the underlying factors driving forest fires in the region. A higher frequency of forest fires was associated with a decline in floristic diversity and the promotion of fire-dominant plant species in Uttarakhand — the most fire-prone state in the Indian Western Himalayas, according to the Forest Survey of India. Fires in the Himalayas are also particularly worrisome because they threaten to erode carbon stocks. Including the Eastern Himalayas, the Himalayan forests are estimated to hold 3,273.1 million tonnes of carbon. For the Western Himalaya study, researchers from the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, and Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, considered a host of bioclimatic, anthropogenic, and topical variables that could influence forest fire dynamics in the region. “What we tried to do was study 10 years of past data to understand how these variables interact with each other.  Temperature had the biggest edge out of all of them,” said Amit Kumar Verma, a senior technical officer and faculty member with the Forest Research Institute (FRI) who authored the study. Adding fuel to fire The study’s findings add to a growing body of evidence of forests’ sensitivity to environmental fluctuations — and temperature in particular. Though most forest fires are triggered by human activity in India, every one degree&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rising-temperatures-not-just-human-activity-drives-himalayan-forest-fires/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rising-temperatures-not-just-human-activity-drives-himalayan-forest-fires/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Unseasonal snowfall blocks the path for migratory pastoralists</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/unseasonal-snowfall-blocks-the-path-for-migratory-pastoralists/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/unseasonal-snowfall-blocks-the-path-for-migratory-pastoralists/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 14:22:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Farzana Nisar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[erratic weather]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grazing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[migration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/04114910/Nomadic-shepherds-guide-their-flock-across-the-rugged-Himalayan-terrain-along-the-Mughal-Road-near-Pir-Panjal-Pass.-Credit_-Faisal-Bashir1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38508</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change and Climate Change Adaptation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last month, a Gujjar family from Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir had been on the move for days with their flock, heading towards Kashmir’s high-altitude pastures. When they reached Peer Ki Gali, about 50 kilometres from their destination Shopian, fresh snowfall brought their journey to a halt. Authorities suspended traffic on the Mughal Road, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last month, a Gujjar family from Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir had been on the move for days with their flock, heading towards Kashmir’s high-altitude pastures. When they reached Peer Ki Gali, about 50 kilometres from their destination Shopian, fresh snowfall brought their journey to a halt. Authorities suspended traffic on the Mughal Road, which connects Shopian with the relatively lower-altitude districts of Rajouri and Poonch, leaving the family stranded along the roadside. They waited in the cold weather without shelter, uncertain about when they could resume their journey. Snowfall this deep into May was something they had never encountered along this route. For communities whose lives depend on migration, the challenge is no longer just harsh weather, but increasing uncertainty in weather conditions. Every spring, Gujjars and Bakarwals, semi-nomadic tribes, undertake this seasonal migration with their livestock towards the upper reaches of Kashmir and the Chenab Valley. The journey, which can take over a month, follows routes shaped over generations by snow patterns, pasture cycles and traditional ecological knowledge. However, that rhythm is beginning to break. A Gujjar family makes their way towards Kashmir’s upper reaches during the annual seasonal migration. Last month, a Gujjar family encountered unseasonal snowfall that suspended their long journey and left them stranded. Image by Fasil Raza. “It takes nearly a month for us to complete the journey,” said Talib Hussain, a Gujjar nomad, travelling from Sunderbani (south) towards Shopian (north) with his livestock. “The journey itself has become increasingly uncertain. Even this&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/unseasonal-snowfall-blocks-the-path-for-migratory-pastoralists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/unseasonal-snowfall-blocks-the-path-for-migratory-pastoralists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<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>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Thar desert dust carries bacteria to the Himalayas, a study finds</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/thar-desert-dust-carries-bacteria-to-the-himalayas-a-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/thar-desert-dust-carries-bacteria-to-the-himalayas-a-study-finds/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Mar 2026 12:50:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[T. V. Padma]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bacteria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drug-resistant bacteria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dust storm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eastern himalayas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Himalayas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thar desert]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/03/24093507/Thar_desert_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37424</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environment And Health]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas, Rajasthan, and Thar Desert]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Environment, and Mountains]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bacteria hitching a ride on the back of desert dust can find their way all the way from Thar up to the Himalayas, carrying with them bacteria harmful to health, new research shows. A study by scientists from the Bose Institute, Kolkata, and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, examined airborne bacterial community structure [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bacteria hitching a ride on the back of desert dust can find their way all the way from Thar up to the Himalayas, carrying with them bacteria harmful to health, new research shows. A study by scientists from the Bose Institute, Kolkata, and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, examined airborne bacterial community structure in a hill-top region of the Eastern Himalayas over two years, from 2022 to 2023. The team analysed three days of back-trajectories of dust using remote-sensing satellite data and found a thick dust layer between 2 and 3 km over the Eastern Himalayas, originating from the Thar Desert. Long-range dust transport from the Thar desert carries 41% unique bacterial taxa over the Eastern Himalayas, scientists report in Science of the Total Environment. Long-range transport via vertical and horizontal air movement carries 80% of the total Himalayan bacteria, it says. This changes the original natural bacterial diversity by about 60%. Bacteria attached to the desert dust and transported over long distances contain one-third skin-infecting pathogens, while pollutants rising up carry mainly respiratory-infecting bacteria (45%).  Downward transport of air is dominated by gastrointestinal tract-infecting bacteria (50%), the study shows. The results “highlight the profound impact of atmospheric transport processes on regional bacterial diversity and public health in a hill-top region, highlighting Himalayan atmosphere as a dynamic and global conveyor of life, including pathogens across long distances,” the report says. According to the authors, despite the inhospitable nature of the atmosphere, characterised by low moisture, nutrient scarcity, intense&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/thar-desert-dust-carries-bacteria-to-the-himalayas-a-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/thar-desert-dust-carries-bacteria-to-the-himalayas-a-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A zoonotic disease in the Himalayas that needs a closer look [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-zoonotic-disease-in-the-himalayas-that-needs-a-closer-look-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-zoonotic-disease-in-the-himalayas-that-needs-a-closer-look-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2026 13:20:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Saurabh GurungSunita Pradhan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment and health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Himalayas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mountains]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zoonotic disease]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/23111134/Image-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36999</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Environment And Health]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity and Health impacts]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Maya Rai, 38, is a tea garden worker in a pristine Darjeeling estate. Her days, which start at 4:30 a.m., are often a chaotic brew of cleaning, cooking, livestock care and readying her children for school. After a busy early morning, she walks to the tea garden to pluck leaves from 8 a.m. to 4 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Maya Rai, 38, is a tea garden worker in a pristine Darjeeling estate. Her days, which start at 4:30 a.m., are often a chaotic brew of cleaning, cooking, livestock care and readying her children for school. After a busy early morning, she walks to the tea garden to pluck leaves from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. As a daily wage earner, she toils for long hours for less than ₹300. After this she also must carry firewood for her hearth and fodder from the nearby forest and agricultural land for her cattle and goats. Maya, like most women in the region , cannot afford to stop working. For her, every febrile illness is ‘just another fever’. One monsoon, fever hit her hard. She assumed it would pass with some rest and a few home remedies, but soon, she was too weak to work. At the local Public Health Center (PHC), with no clear diagnosis, she was sent home with painkillers. But her condition did not improve. Fever persisted, along with cough, nausea, breathlessness and discomfort. Seven wage-less days later, she was taken to a private hospital in town, hours away from the village. There, a rapid test confirmed ‘scrub typhus’ , an infectious disease caused by a bacterium called Orientia tsutsugamushi. She was prescribed antibiotics and rest. Maya survived, unlike many others. Late diagnosis of scrub typhus often progresses to complications including acute respiratory distress, liver inflammation, kidney failure and multiorgan dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Although Maya missed her wages, she&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-zoonotic-disease-in-the-himalayas-that-needs-a-closer-look-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Carnivores alter behaviour to coexist in a high-altitude Himalayan valley</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/carnivores-alter-behaviour-to-coexist-in-a-high-altitude-himalayan-valley/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/carnivores-alter-behaviour-to-coexist-in-a-high-altitude-himalayan-valley/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Feb 2026 11:22:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sneha Mahale]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[carnivores]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow leopard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow leopards]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/11230057/Red-foxes-were-more-common-even-in-areas-used-by-snow-leopards-wolves-and-dogs-likely-because-they-can-exploit-scavenging-opportunities.-Photo-Credit-WII-Camera-Trap-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36842</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Ecology, Himalayas, and Human Wildlife Conflict]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[High in the Trans-Himalayan landscape of Spiti, life is shaped by extremes. The air is thin, winters plunge to -40°C, and food is scarce for much of the year. For the region’s carnivores — snow leopards, Himalayan wolves, red foxes, and an increasingly visible newcomer, free-ranging dogs — survival depends on navigating a landscape under [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[High in the Trans-Himalayan landscape of Spiti, life is shaped by extremes. The air is thin, winters plunge to -40°C, and food is scarce for much of the year. For the region’s carnivores — snow leopards, Himalayan wolves, red foxes, and an increasingly visible newcomer, free-ranging dogs — survival depends on navigating a landscape under growing human pressure. New research shows how these predators are quietly rearranging their lives to coexist. “Studying them together is essential because none of them function in isolation; each species’ behaviour and survival are shaped by the others and by human influence,” says Priyanka Justa, Ph.D. student at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the study’s co-author. A landscape under pressure Himachal Pradesh’s Spiti Valley lies within the Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve, spanning elevations from about 3,600 to over 6,700 metres. Snow leopards and Himalayan wolves occupy the top of the food web, while red foxes operate as smaller, yet highly adaptable mid-ranking predators. In the recent decades, free-ranging dogs have joined this carnivore group, subsidised by food waste from villages and tourism. “Spiti is almost a natural stress test for understanding carnivore coexistence. Everything is scarce, seasonal, and highly concentrated. This naturally intensifies competition and makes trade-offs between risk, food, and space much sharper and easier to detect,” says Justa. For this study, the researchers focused on five areas across Spiti Valley (Chandratal, Kibber, Pin Valley, Mane, and Gue), each differing in tourism intensity, settlements, livestock presence, predator-prey dynamics and the presence of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/carnivores-alter-behaviour-to-coexist-in-a-high-altitude-himalayan-valley/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Eastern Himalayan hydropower risks locking in climate maladaptation [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/eastern-himalayan-hydropower-risks-locking-in-climate-maladaptation-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/eastern-himalayan-hydropower-risks-locking-in-climate-maladaptation-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Feb 2026 16:37:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sharon Sarah Thawaney]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eastern himalayas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[glacial melt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hydropower]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/10220803/AP23285554626804-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36822</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Dams, Ecology, Energy, Environment, Floods, Glacial Lake Outburst Flood, Glaciers, Hydroelectric power, Mountains, Rivers, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Over the past two decades, hydropower has reshaped development pathways in the Himalayas. It has been aggressively promoted as clean energy that can meet climate goals, while also driving economic growth. The Hindu Kush Himalaya is widely recognised as a storehouse of untapped green energy, with estimates exceeding 3.5 terawatts (TW) of renewable potential, including [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Over the past two decades, hydropower has reshaped development pathways in the Himalayas. It has been aggressively promoted as clean energy that can meet climate goals, while also driving economic growth. The Hindu Kush Himalaya is widely recognised as a storehouse of untapped green energy, with estimates exceeding 3.5 terawatts (TW) of renewable potential, including nearly 882 gigawatts (GW) of hydropower. However, this expansion is unfolding in one of the world’s most geologically fragile mountain systems. Nowhere is this tension more visible than in the Eastern Himalayas, where climate risks are intensifying rapidly. Over time, these shifting risks have exposed how large hydropower projects can amplify, rather than absorb, environmental stress. The 2023 glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) from South Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim crystallised this contradiction. As the flood intersected with hydropower infrastructure along the Teesta, it revealed how vulnerability has been hard-wired into the landscape. This raises an uncomfortable question: has hydropower, long promoted as a climate solution in the Eastern Himalayas, in fact been functioning as a maladaptation? Hydropower on a geologically unstable The concept of maladaptation describes climate responses that ultimately increase vulnerability, shift risk across space or time, or undermine long-term resilience. It is particularly relevant in the Eastern Himalayas, where the physical foundations of large hydropower infrastructure are increasingly misaligned with climatic and geological realities. The Himalayas sit in a seismically active, high-hazard zone characterised by young geology, steep terrain, and dynamic, sediment-rich rivers. Even without considering the impacts of climate change, large,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/eastern-himalayan-hydropower-risks-locking-in-climate-maladaptation-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/eastern-himalayan-hydropower-risks-locking-in-climate-maladaptation-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>New bat species and first records uncovered in the Western Himalayas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/new-bat-species-and-first-records-uncovered-in-the-western-himalayas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/new-bat-species-and-first-records-uncovered-in-the-western-himalayas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Aug 2025 10:00:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taxonomy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Threatened species]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/21155448/Tadarida-insignis-Mandal-2021-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34267</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecology, Himalayas, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Based on years of field research and re-examining museum specimens, a team of bat biologists has published a taxonomic review of bat diversity in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. This revised inventory of bats from the Western Himalayas comprises 53 species in 24 genera and seven families, representing a remarkable 40% of the total 134 bat [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Based on years of field research and re-examining museum specimens, a team of bat biologists has published a taxonomic review of bat diversity in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. This revised inventory of bats from the Western Himalayas comprises 53 species in 24 genera and seven families, representing a remarkable 40% of the total 134 bat species known from India. The review describes a new species, reports a previously unrecorded species from India, and documents new locality records of several species, thereby adding to our understanding of bat diversity in the region. Bat taxonomy is undergoing an evolution, according to Uttam Saikia, one of the authors of the review and a bat researcher with the Zoological Society of India. “Traditionally, bat taxonomy and species delineation involved recording various morphological parameters of adult specimens, coupled with measurement of the cranium (skull) and dental characteristics,” Saikia said. “However, with the advent of molecular tools like DNA barcoding and the availability of ancillary data such as echolocation call structure, taxonomists have taken an integrative approach, wherein all the relevant data are combined to make species distinctions more robust,” he said. Published in the Zootaxa journal, this taxonomic review of bats from the Western Himalayas also adopts an “integrative approach”, combining morphology, molecular genetics, and acoustics. Bat researcher Rohit Chakravarty installs a bat detector at a field site in Uttarakhand. A team of bat biologists have published a revised inventory of bats from the Western Himalayas, comprising 53 species, including a new species and new&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/new-bat-species-and-first-records-uncovered-in-the-western-himalayas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/new-bat-species-and-first-records-uncovered-in-the-western-himalayas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fallen pine needles could help India cut carbon emissions</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/fallen-pine-needles-could-help-india-cut-carbon-emissions/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/fallen-pine-needles-could-help-india-cut-carbon-emissions/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Aug 2025 11:32:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vandana K.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[biofuel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biofuels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pine]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/21102530/Pinus_wallichiana_at_VanDusen_Botanical_Garden-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34251</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative energy, Coal, Energy, Fires, Forest Fires, and Green Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every year, an estimated 7.47 million tonnes of pine needles fall across the Indian Himalayan region, creating a fire hazard that climate change is making deadlier. A new study shows these needles could instead become fuel, replacing 4.7 million tonnes of coal and generating electricity to power the region. Pine needle biochar can be co-fired [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every year, an estimated 7.47 million tonnes of pine needles fall across the Indian Himalayan region, creating a fire hazard that climate change is making deadlier. A new study shows these needles could instead become fuel, replacing 4.7 million tonnes of coal and generating electricity to power the region. Pine needle biochar can be co-fired with coal in power plants across Himalayan states — to generate 6.4 terawatt-hours of electricity and cut carbon emissions by 5.8 million tonnes annually, while reducing forest fires, according to the study. The findings are from a research paper published in the journal Bioresource Technology Reports in March 2025 by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. The study addresses a serious concern across the region. Uttarakhand alone recorded over 11,000 forest fire incidents from November 2023 to June 2024. The scientists found that pine needle biochar produced at 600°C with 10°C per minute heating rate shows good potential for coal replacement, because of its high carbon content. The findings of this study could be used to create new jobs and solve frequent forest fires while drastically reducing the share of coal in power plants, in line with India&#8217;s net-zero targets by 2070. “The novel aspect of the research is linking biochar production to power plants and quantifying carbon benefits,” said Priyanka Kaushal, professor at the Centre for Rural Development and Technology at IIT Delhi. She explained the dual benefits of using pine needle biochar &#8212; “One is replacing the dirty fossil coal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/fallen-pine-needles-could-help-india-cut-carbon-emissions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/fallen-pine-needles-could-help-india-cut-carbon-emissions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>The tectonic journey of the roof of the world [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-the-roof-of-the-world-came-into-being-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-the-roof-of-the-world-came-into-being-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2025 16:13:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[C.P. Rajendran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[earthquake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Himalayas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monsoon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mountains]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tectonic movements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tectonic plates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tibetan plateau]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/18154807/Tibet_-_Trek_2_-_30_Nyenchen_Tanglha_150305598-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34170</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Connected Environments]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, Himalayas, and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Earth Science, Monsoons, Mountains, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The land of striking contrasts in morphology &#8212; the rugged Tibetan Plateau has always challenged explorers, as do its vast flat expanses. Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountaineer who escaped from an internment camp in Dehradun in 1943 with some of the inmates, journeyed on foot through the challenging mountainous terrain to Lhasa, the capital of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The land of striking contrasts in morphology &#8212; the rugged Tibetan Plateau has always challenged explorers, as do its vast flat expanses. Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountaineer who escaped from an internment camp in Dehradun in 1943 with some of the inmates, journeyed on foot through the challenging mountainous terrain to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. In a passage in his book Seven Years in Tibet, he expressed his awe at this land of topographic extremes: “The next day, we reached the top of the pass and were astonished to find that there was no descent and that we had simply come to a high plateau. The view over the unending plain was discouraging. One seemed to be facing infinity, and the huge spaces would certainly take months to cross. As far as we could see, there was no sign of life, and an ice-cold wind blew over the snow.” With a mean elevation of over 4,500 metres and an extensive area of approximately 25,00,000 square kilometres, the Tibetan Plateau covers an area that surpasses some countries in size. Geographically, the Tibetan Plateau lies north of the Himalayas and the Indian subcontinent, and south of the Tarim Basin and Mongolia. As the highest plateau on Earth, it also features some of the region&#8217;s deep, glacier-fed lakes. Its glaciers feed major Asian rivers, originating on the Tibetan Plateau, including the Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Salween, and Irrawaddy, which play a crucial role in supplying freshwater to a large portion of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-the-roof-of-the-world-came-into-being-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-the-roof-of-the-world-came-into-being-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A decline in riverine birds signals deeper problems in the Himalayan rivers [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/07/a-decline-in-riverine-birds-signals-deeper-problems-in-the-himalayan-rivers-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/07/a-decline-in-riverine-birds-signals-deeper-problems-in-the-himalayan-rivers-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2025 12:37:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ankita Sinha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aquatic life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water bodies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[waterbirds]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/07/11201002/brown-dipper-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=33592</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Himalayas, Rivers, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Himalayan rivers are a source to almost all the major rivers that inundate the northern plains in India. These upland rivers are amongst the most dramatic landscape features in the country. Trickling droplets from mountain glaciers form numerous streams which carve through ancient gorges and steep valleys, leaping over rock faces, cascading over boulders. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Himalayan rivers are a source to almost all the major rivers that inundate the northern plains in India. These upland rivers are amongst the most dramatic landscape features in the country. Trickling droplets from mountain glaciers form numerous streams which carve through ancient gorges and steep valleys, leaping over rock faces, cascading over boulders. The Himalayan rivers are unique. It does not take much time for keen eyes to discover that the banks of these icy cold torrents are thriving with life too. The cascading white waters are home to feathery creatures that have adapted to these torrential mountain rivers for their survival. Unlike their colourful showy cousins who live in the forests, these birds live in extremely hostile conditions. The Himalayas harbour some of the highest diversity of specialist riverine birds. Understanding river bird populations and habitat associations In times of large-scale anthropogenic alterations, rivers and their riparian zones in the tropics stand among the most threatened ecosystems of the world. Rivers are the lifelines of the Himalayas, sustaining both wildlife and human communities. However, these fragile ecosystems are increasingly threatened by habitat destruction, hydropower generation, pollution, and climate change. Among the most affected and the least known are the river birds that rely on the flowing waters for food, shelter, and breeding. A shingle river bed in Dharali valley, which is situated 2,700 masl and is home to over seven breeding riverine birds. Image by Nilanjan Chatterjee. A team of researchers, including the commentary author, have conducted&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/07/a-decline-in-riverine-birds-signals-deeper-problems-in-the-himalayan-rivers-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Unpacking three decades of restoration in the Western Himalayas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/05/unpacking-three-decades-of-restoration-in-the-western-himalayas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/05/unpacking-three-decades-of-restoration-in-the-western-himalayas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 May 2025 10:42:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/05/16093735/Himalayan_Buck_alias_Musk_Deer_at_Gangotri_National_Park_Uttarakhand_01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=32646</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Forests, and Reforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A review of restoration interventions in the Western Himalayas over the last three decades outlines the unique challenges of restoring this landscape. “We tried to pull in as much content as we could on anybody doing any kind of restoration work in the Western Himalayas, to analyse the trends and gaps in the restoration ecology [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A review of restoration interventions in the Western Himalayas over the last three decades outlines the unique challenges of restoring this landscape. “We tried to pull in as much content as we could on anybody doing any kind of restoration work in the Western Himalayas, to analyse the trends and gaps in the restoration ecology of the region,” Aashra Iype, lead author of the paper, said. Iype, a research assistant with the Nature Conservation Foundation, has worked in Himachal Pradesh for multiple years and is keenly aware of the restoration efforts in the region. In this systematic review, Iype and her colleagues from the Nature Conservation Foundation analysed 100 peer-reviewed and grey literature articles on restoration in the Western Himalayas from January 1990 to February 2024. The Western Himalayas is defined in the study as the Himalayan region west of Nepal, spanning two Indian states and two union territories: Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. According to the review, Uttarakhand had the most interventions, with more than 93% of forest restoration initiatives (restoration of deforested or degraded forest landscapes) in the region being reported from the state. In contrast, Himachal Pradesh showed a strong focus on afforestation activities (tree planting in historically non-forested areas). Most of them were government-managed, meaning there was minimal participation from the local communities. Conifers in Naggar, Himachal Pradesh. In a recent review of restoration in the Western Himalayas, the state showed a strong focus on tree planting in historically non-forested areas that were&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/05/unpacking-three-decades-of-restoration-in-the-western-himalayas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Digging into icy depths to understand glacial melt</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/digging-into-icy-depths-to-understand-glacial-melt/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/digging-into-icy-depths-to-understand-glacial-melt/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2025 13:09:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Meena Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[glacial melt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[glacier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global warming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mount everest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mountains]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nepal]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/04/23114704/Everest-equipment-arrives-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=32322</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Science, and Glaciers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The icy silence of the Western Cwm glaciers of Mount Everest will be broken this summer by the sound of battery-operated drills for boreholes as part of a new experiment to determine why glaciers are losing their cool. A team of researchers, including an Indian glaciologist, plans to push the frontiers of glacier science by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The icy silence of the Western Cwm glaciers of Mount Everest will be broken this summer by the sound of battery-operated drills for boreholes as part of a new experiment to determine why glaciers are losing their cool. A team of researchers, including an Indian glaciologist, plans to push the frontiers of glacier science by getting to the core of the matter by spending a few weeks in the Western Cwm in April and May this year where they will continue their investigation on why the ice at one of the world’s highest glaciers is at melting point. The world over glaciers are retreating, melting at a faster rate than ever before but there is inadequate information to make accurate predictions and reasons for increased melt. Losing their Cool: are high-elevation heat exchanges warming Himalayan glaciers?, is a three-year project by academics from the University of Leeds, Aberystwyth University, University of Bergen (Norway) and Uppsala University (Sweden), funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) UK, which aims to investigate the physical interactions between the atmosphere and the glacier surface at high-elevations on Khumbu Glacier in Nepal. Duncan Quincey, the expedition leader and a professor from the School of Geography, University of Leeds, in an interview for this article, said that ice temperatures in the Khumbu Glacier are surprisingly warm. This is based on findings from an earlier investigation, which drilled into the ice below Everest Base Camp. “We think the sun is so strong at those high elevations and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/digging-into-icy-depths-to-understand-glacial-melt/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
			</channel>
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