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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>Bauxite mining transforms living hills into emptiness [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/bauxite-mining-transforms-living-hills-into-emptiness-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/bauxite-mining-transforms-living-hills-into-emptiness-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Sep 2026 15:27:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Minati DashPatrik Oskarsson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/07095452/site-of-workship-of-baphlibudhi-matriarch-in-a-cave-in-Baphlimali-hills-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40743</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andhra Pradesh, Eastern Ghats, and Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[‘‘In the mine lease area there is no natural water source cited … (In) the tree enumeration report, it is evident that we have hardly 2933 trees only.” An official from Vedanta (a multinational mining and metals company) said this when questioned about the potential environmental impacts of mining in the Sijimali Hills for a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[‘‘In the mine lease area there is no natural water source cited … (In) the tree enumeration report, it is evident that we have hardly 2933 trees only.” An official from Vedanta (a multinational mining and metals company) said this when questioned about the potential environmental impacts of mining in the Sijimali Hills for a documentary. The implication of the statement is that the mining project poses no ecological threat to the region since the region itself lacks forests and water sources. Such an approach to bauxite mining raises concerns of a possible repeat of long-standing conflicts over hilltop (bauxite) mining witnessed in Eastern India since the 1980s. In the neighbouring Baphlimali hills, where bauxite mining operations have been ongoing since 2013, communities recalled that officials of the mining company, UAIL (Utkal Alumina International Limited), described the area as a &#8216;terra nullius&#8217; [space without humans] — &#8220;only rugged terrain with small valleys where some ragi [millets] and grass grew.&#8221; Approaches to bauxite mining that ignore both the unique ecologies of the region and its people run through the contentious history of bauxite hill mining along the Eastern Ghats in places like Gandhamardhan, Niyamgiri, Araku and Jerrela. Even the 2013 landmark decision to protect Niyamgiri Hills from Vedanta’s bauxite mining doesn’t offer protection for other bauxite-bearing hills. Such definitions allow the project to be presented as risk-free, with the potential to even improve environmental outcomes. However, such an articulation rests on a series of omissions and blind spots that compel the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/bauxite-mining-transforms-living-hills-into-emptiness-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>A bauxite mining project, contested consent and growing tensions</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-bauxite-mining-project-contested-consent-and-growing-tensions/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-bauxite-mining-project-contested-consent-and-growing-tensions/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jun 2026 17:40:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashwini Kumar Shukla]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bauxite]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Right Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gram sabha]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PESA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tribal communities]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/01131630/IMG_1202-scaled-e1780300022815-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38444</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Crime, Environmental Politics, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Mining, and Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It was past 2:30 in the morning on April 7, 2026, when the banging on the doors began, locals of Kantamal village narrate. Kantamal is one of over 44 villages nestled in the foothills of Sijimali range in Odisha&#8217;s Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. More than 200 police personnel had encircled the village, say the residents. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It was past 2:30 in the morning on April 7, 2026, when the banging on the doors began, locals of Kantamal village narrate. Kantamal is one of over 44 villages nestled in the foothills of Sijimali range in Odisha&#8217;s Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. More than 200 police personnel had encircled the village, say the residents. The power was out. “We had no idea what was happening,” says Subash Singh Majhi, a 32-year-old who heads Maa Mati Mali Suraksha Manch, a collective of affected villagers opposing a proposed bauxite mine in the area. “Before we could understand anything, they (police) had dragged people out of their homes in the dark and begun beating them,” he alleges. Eighty-six-year-old Gaseb Dei Majhi remembers the night in fragments. “They fired tear gas. They beat us,” she says, holding up an empty shell, police fired that night. As per the locals, the immediate trigger was a protest against a 3-kilometre access road near Sagabari village, a road that, if completed, would connect state highway 44 to the Sijimali hilltop, and, which residents feared, would open the final path to the contested bauxite mine. Kantamal is one of over 44 villages nestled in the foothills of the Sijimali range in Odisha’s Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. In the early hours of April 7, 2026, residents narrate how police personnel raided their homes and attacked them. Image by Ashwini Kumar Shukla. Ram Chandra Naik, a resident of Kantamal, alleged that police stripped him naked and dragged him during the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-bauxite-mining-project-contested-consent-and-growing-tensions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Plastic litter and ghost nets threaten olive ridley hatchlings</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/plastic-litter-and-ghost-nets-threaten-olive-ridley-hatchlings/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/plastic-litter-and-ghost-nets-threaten-olive-ridley-hatchlings/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Apr 2026 12:26:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Phalguni Ranjan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[breeding grounds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genetics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ghost nets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine debris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine ecosystem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[olive ridleys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plastic pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[turtle]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/27101831/Image-3_Riddle_of_Ridleys-scaled-e1777265683766-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37874</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Coast, Coastal erosion, Conservation, Environment, Fishing, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Sea Level Rise, Waste management, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Rushikulya rookery in Odisha’s Ganjam district is among the most important turtle rookeries in the world. Every year, hundreds of thousands of olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) converge here to lay eggs in a synchronous mass nesting event or arribada, with almost 700,000 olive ridleys coming ashore to lay eggs in February 2025 alone. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Rushikulya rookery in Odisha’s Ganjam district is among the most important turtle rookeries in the world. Every year, hundreds of thousands of olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) converge here to lay eggs in a synchronous mass nesting event or arribada, with almost 700,000 olive ridleys coming ashore to lay eggs in February 2025 alone. However, plastic pollution and its associated problems plague this important 10-km stretch along India’s eastern coastline. A recent study by the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, reports significant presence of plastic waste and discarded fishing nets across four nesting beaches at Rushikulya, reflecting a global crisis of ever-increasing marine plastic pollution. Nesting among plastics Surveys across four nesting beaches — New Podampetta, Purunabandha, Siddhantnagar, and Prayagi — during the peak 2025 nesting season recorded more than 1,100 litter items, over 85% of which were plastic. The presence of plastic bottles, wrappers, and bags indicated both land-based runoff and direct human activity as key sources. Fisheries-related debris, including discarded nets, thermocol, and nylon rope fragments — collectively termed as ‘ghost gear’ or abandoned, lost, and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) — made up 41% of all recorded litter across all sites. Fishing nets alone made up around 32% of the recorded litter at New Podampetta, while thermocol too contributed a little over 31% at Siddhantnagar. Olive ridley turtles being released to the sea at Visakhapatnam. Representative image by Drashokk via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Concerningly, standardised environmental quality indices like the Plastic Abundance Index&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/plastic-litter-and-ghost-nets-threaten-olive-ridley-hatchlings/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/plastic-litter-and-ghost-nets-threaten-olive-ridley-hatchlings/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Artificial nesting structures may act as ecological traps for white-bellied sea eagles</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/artificial-nesting-structures-may-act-as-ecological-traps-for-white-bellied-sea-eagles/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/artificial-nesting-structures-may-act-as-ecological-traps-for-white-bellied-sea-eagles/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Feb 2026 12:59:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ananya Singh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[raptors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife monitoring]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/16112814/0853f2d1-424d-4dda-bb93-6b17982c317e-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36908</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Cities and Towns, Ecology, Environment, Oceans, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Torrential rain and strong winds frequently lash Odisha’s cyclone-prone coast, uprooting tall trees that once served as natural nesting sites for white-bellied sea eagles. As their coastal habitat changes due to frequent tropical cyclones as well as urban development activities, these raptors have been increasingly spotted nesting on telecommunication towers and electric pylons. However, new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Torrential rain and strong winds frequently lash Odisha’s cyclone-prone coast, uprooting tall trees that once served as natural nesting sites for white-bellied sea eagles. As their coastal habitat changes due to frequent tropical cyclones as well as urban development activities, these raptors have been increasingly spotted nesting on telecommunication towers and electric pylons. However, new research, published in the Journal for Nature Conservation, raises concerns that artificial structures may be acting as “ecological traps” in rapidly-changing landscapes. While these structures are tall and provide clear vantage points to hunt for prey, the study observed, over four breeding seasons from 2021 to 2025, that nests built on towers consistently produced fewer fledglings than those built on trees. White-bellied sea eagles use the same nesting sites for years, making them vulnerable to habitat changes. While they have been sighted nesting on artificial structures in the country before, this study tries to understand the costs of this shift in detail. “This research is the first of its kind in India, where we have differentiated the breeding output of a raptor in different nesting structures,” said B. Anjan Kumar Prusty, head of the Department of Environmental Science at Berhampur University, Odisha, and the study’s corresponding author. Trees that got uprooted in cyclone Yaas in 2021 being cleared by fire and rescue personnel. Odisha’s cyclone-prone coast often sees tall trees that once served as natural nesting sites for white-bellied sea eagles being uprooted. (AP Photo) Monitoring nesting Some studies on raptors such as ospreys and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/artificial-nesting-structures-may-act-as-ecological-traps-for-white-bellied-sea-eagles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Climate change to redefine survival strategies for India’s iconic sea turtles</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/climate-change-to-redefine-survival-strategies-for-indias-iconic-sea-turtles/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/climate-change-to-redefine-survival-strategies-for-indias-iconic-sea-turtles/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2025 15:29:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Soumya Sarkar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global warming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[olive ridleys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[turtles]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/11/03153143/Lepidochelys_olivaceaDSCN5307-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35318</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour and Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Each winter, the beaches of Odisha witness one of nature’s most spectacular events. Hundreds of thousands of olive ridley turtles emerge from the Bay of Bengal for mass nesting, a phenomenon known as arribada. India’s conservation success in protecting these ancient mariners is remarkable. Yet beneath this achievement, climate change is quietly rewriting the rules [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Each winter, the beaches of Odisha witness one of nature’s most spectacular events. Hundreds of thousands of olive ridley turtles emerge from the Bay of Bengal for mass nesting, a phenomenon known as arribada. India’s conservation success in protecting these ancient mariners is remarkable. Yet beneath this achievement, climate change is quietly rewriting the rules of survival for these endangered species. Two interconnected crises are now unfolding. On nesting beaches, warming sands are feminising entire generations of hatchlings. In the ocean, rising temperatures are forcing turtles to abandon traditional foraging grounds, pushing them into shipping lanes where vessel strikes loom as an escalating threat. Together, these pressures are fundamentally redefining what we mean by a sea turtle hotspot in the waters around India. Temperature determines everything for sea turtle eggs buried in sand. Warmer nests produce female hatchlings and cooler ones yield males. This temperature-dependent sex determination has served sea turtles well for millions of years, but the balance is shifting. At Rushikulya beach in Odisha, data reveals olive Ridley hatchlings are emerging predominantly female, with an average of 71% over the past nine years, and ratios reaching over 97% in some years, according to Monitoring Sea Turtles in India 2008-2024 report by Dakshin Foundation. Representative image of olive Ridley turtle hatchlings. Image by Bethany McCarter via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Danger of warming sands In the short term, a female-biased ratio can actually help promote population growth, as more females mean more eggs. But this benefit comes with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/climate-change-to-redefine-survival-strategies-for-indias-iconic-sea-turtles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The invisible fallout of thermal power plant closures on local economies</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/the-invisible-fallout-of-thermal-power-plant-closures-on-local-economies/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/the-invisible-fallout-of-thermal-power-plant-closures-on-local-economies/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Oct 2025 16:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Roli Srivastava]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Air Pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy transition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health impacts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Just Transition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[just transitions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thermal Power Plants]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/10/31112402/IMG_3768-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35291</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Climate Change Mitigation, Coal, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Mining, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Roadside shops selling steaming hot chai and samosas were among the first to down their shutters. The lull then spread gradually across this bazaar, located in front of a major thermal power plant in eastern India, with shop after shop winding up business after their sole customer base, the plant’s workers, were forced to leave [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Roadside shops selling steaming hot chai and samosas were among the first to down their shutters. The lull then spread gradually across this bazaar, located in front of a major thermal power plant in eastern India, with shop after shop winding up business after their sole customer base, the plant’s workers, were forced to leave after the plant’s closure four years ago. “This road was a thoroughfare,” said Nrupati Jena, 65. “Workers thronged my shop through the day; I had a daily business of ₹4,000.” Jena still sells biscuits, cigarettes, and paan (betel leaves) at the wide gate leading to the old plant, his shop the only one standing amidst shuttered ones. “For three years now, my income has dropped to less than half,” he told Mongabay-India. “Nobody has asked us how we are surviving.” The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), India’s largest power company, retired its 460-MW Talcher Thermal Power Station (TTPS) in the mining hub of Odisha in March 2021. The move was fiercely contested by worker unions in court, as worker unions cited insufficient notice — of less than a month — given to the contractual workers who lost their jobs. The court finally allowed the plant’s closure in October of the same year, NTPC officials said. While NTPC employees were transferred to other projects of the power giant, and nearly three-quarters of the contractual workers who lost their jobs have since been reinstated at the new under-construction plant, the invisible collateral damage was the approximately 120&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/the-invisible-fallout-of-thermal-power-plant-closures-on-local-economies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Collective action transforms farming and forests</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/collective-action-transforms-farming-and-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/collective-action-transforms-farming-and-forests/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2025 15:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nidhi Jamwal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community based conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmer producer organisations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grazing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[local community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renewable]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tiger reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[watershed]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/09/22220426/IMG_4537-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34726</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conserving Agro-biodiversity]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture and Community based conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Mitali Sahoo gets almost everything she needs to feed her family from her three acres of land in Angul district, Odisha. She grows paddy, finger millet, pulses, and vegetables such as brinjal, tomato, parval (pointed gourd), drumsticks, and potato, on this land that lies on the periphery of Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Kothabhuin panchayat. Besides [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Mitali Sahoo gets almost everything she needs to feed her family from her three acres of land in Angul district, Odisha. She grows paddy, finger millet, pulses, and vegetables such as brinjal, tomato, parval (pointed gourd), drumsticks, and potato, on this land that lies on the periphery of Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Kothabhuin panchayat. Besides ensuring her two daughters eat healthy, she also has enough produce to sell. “Last year I earned ₹119,000 from brinjal alone,” said the 35-year-old farmer. “Even the oil I use for cooking is extracted from the seeds of the sunflower I grow,” she said with pride. But there was a time when Sahoo and the other residents in her village struggled to make ends meet. Living on the periphery of a wildlife sanctuary meant poor basic infrastructure — lack of tar roads, no irrigation and transportation facilities, and poor access to health and educational services. Farmers like Sahoo just about managed to cultivate paddy in the kharif (monsoon) season. Open grazing was rampant, farming was unproductive, and villagers had little concern for forest protection. Things started to change in the early 2000s when the village residents began agitating for better road infrastructure to their villages that were surrounded by teak and bamboo forests. With irrigation water and controlled grazing, women in Charmalik region say they can now grow food on their farms and feed their children nutritious, organic meals. Image by Nidhi Jamwal. “Initially, village-level meetings were held. Soon, we realised that most villages shared common&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/collective-action-transforms-farming-and-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/collective-action-transforms-farming-and-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>The conservation conundrum leaves shrimp farmers on edge</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/the-conservation-conundrum-leaves-shrimp-farmers-on-edge/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/the-conservation-conundrum-leaves-shrimp-farmers-on-edge/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Apr 2025 15:18:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aishwarya Mohanty]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aquaculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shrimp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shrimp farming]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/04/10130506/21834250326_c3059bbcc5_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=32152</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Fishing, and Mangroves]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“We are not against conservation, but what about our survival?” asks Devdutt Sethi, a shrimp farmer from Rajnagar block of Kendrapara, as he recalls bulldozers ploughing through makeshift embankments in his village, two years ago. Every summer, the forest department in Odisha’s Kendrapara district faces an uphill task — identifying and dismantling illegal shrimp gherries [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“We are not against conservation, but what about our survival?” asks Devdutt Sethi, a shrimp farmer from Rajnagar block of Kendrapara, as he recalls bulldozers ploughing through makeshift embankments in his village, two years ago. Every summer, the forest department in Odisha’s Kendrapara district faces an uphill task — identifying and dismantling illegal shrimp gherries or enclosures. The drive, mandated by an Orissa High Court order, aims to protect the region’s fragile mangrove ecosystem. Kendrapara is home to Bhitarkanika National Park, spread over 672 sq. km, where the Brahmani and Baitarani rivers merge, forming a fertile delta. The wetlands here sustain a vast biodiversity, making conservation efforts critical. But for many shrimp farmers, these demolitions spell disaster, threatening their primary source of livelihood. A shrimp farm in the Rajnagar block of Kendrapara district. Most farmers who are unable to grow crops due to saltwater intrusion and scant rainfall have switched to shrimp farms over the year. Image by Radhakant Mohanty. Caught between conservation and survival Odisha has long been a hub for shrimp and fish farming, thanks to the state’s vast coastline spanning 450 kilometres. The state’s 418,000 hectares of brackish water resources have made aquaculture a viable livelihood, particularly as traditional farming becomes increasingly difficult due to saltwater intrusion and recurring cyclones. Over the past two decades, Odisha has experienced significant expansion in brackish water shrimp aquaculture. The shrimp farming area has increased from 6,038 hectares to 17,730 hectares over the last two decades. However, as the state moves&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/the-conservation-conundrum-leaves-shrimp-farmers-on-edge/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/the-conservation-conundrum-leaves-shrimp-farmers-on-edge/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Climate-based mapping of a rare but emerging disease in Odisha</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/03/climate-based-mapping-of-a-rare-but-emerging-disease-in-odisha/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/03/climate-based-mapping-of-a-rare-but-emerging-disease-in-odisha/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Mar 2025 12:56:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anusha Krishnan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tropical disease]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/03/13111255/Paddy_field_in_Odisha_01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=31829</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Health impacts]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A chance encounter between a microbiologist and a climate modelling scientist has led to the mapping of a neglected tropical disease across space and time in Odisha. The study used weather and land factors, namely, rain, temperature, humidity, sunlight, soil wetness, and soil temperature to map the occurrence of melioidosis, a rare but emerging tropical [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A chance encounter between a microbiologist and a climate modelling scientist has led to the mapping of a neglected tropical disease across space and time in Odisha. The study used weather and land factors, namely, rain, temperature, humidity, sunlight, soil wetness, and soil temperature to map the occurrence of melioidosis, a rare but emerging tropical health concern that spreads through water and soil contaminated with the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. The results show that melioidosis infections are most likely to occur during heavy rainfall and high humidity, with cloudy weather and low sunlight conditions, at temperatures of 23-29 degrees Celsius. The study also indicates that soil moisture levels between 200-420 L/m3 and soil temperatures of 24-31 degrees Celsius are associated with the highest rates of infections. In Odisha, these conditions prevail for half the year, starting with the monsoon months of June to September, and continuing into the post-monsoon months of October and November. “Melioidosis can be considered an ‘environmentally driven infectious disease’, where climate and landscape play key roles in transmission,” says V. Vinoj from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar, who is one of the authors of this study. Mapping the occurrence of melioidosis across Odisha shows that infections occur across 21 of 30 districts, and that coastal areas in the state, particularly, Puri, Cuttack, Nayagarh, and Khordha, reported more than half these occurrences. The districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, and Keonjhar in northern Odisha, reported roughly 20% of the cases. Unsurprisingly, another trend that emerged, was that areas&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/03/climate-based-mapping-of-a-rare-but-emerging-disease-in-odisha/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/03/climate-based-mapping-of-a-rare-but-emerging-disease-in-odisha/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Coal dust chokes plants and trees in mining areas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/02/coal-dust-chokes-plants-and-trees-in-mining-areas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/02/coal-dust-chokes-plants-and-trees-in-mining-areas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Feb 2025 12:39:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[carbon dioxide]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flora]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/02/12105912/15010336808_8ca46b5164_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=31470</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Sequestration, Mining, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study based in Odisha sheds light on how satellite imagery can help determine the impacts of coal mining dust on vegetation and finds that dust could be impacting photosynthetic processes more than previously thought. Researchers from the University of Southampton in the U.K. and the National Institute of Technology in Rourkela, Odisha, used [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study based in Odisha sheds light on how satellite imagery can help determine the impacts of coal mining dust on vegetation and finds that dust could be impacting photosynthetic processes more than previously thought. Researchers from the University of Southampton in the U.K. and the National Institute of Technology in Rourkela, Odisha, used remote sensing techniques to estimate foliar dust – dust that accumulates on the leaves of plants – on vegetation in Jharsuguda district, which is home to several opencast mines operated by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited. Odisha is the second largest coal mining state in India, after Jharkhand, contributing to around a quarter of India’s annual coal production. “When we think about coal mining, we often think about direct, visible impacts on pollution and health. But the aim of this study was to look at the hidden impacts of mining dust that are less obvious but have implications for the broader environment,” Jadunandan Dash, professor of remote sensing at the University of Southampton and a co-author of the study, told Mongabay India. Using remote sensing to detect mining dust Opencast mining involves removing soil overburden and rocks to excavate coal deposits found beneath the surface. This extractive process can severely pollute the air around the mining and buffer zones. Understanding the impacts of coal dust on vegetation can help manage and mitigate possible ecological impacts on plant functions, the paper says. Satellite imagery “can capture fine-scale variations, offers wide area coverage, regular monitoring, non‐invasive data collection, multi‐spectral&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/02/coal-dust-chokes-plants-and-trees-in-mining-areas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/02/coal-dust-chokes-plants-and-trees-in-mining-areas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Experimenting with artificial reefs to protect marine ecosystems</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/02/experimenting-with-artificial-reefs-to-protect-marine-ecosystems/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/02/experimenting-with-artificial-reefs-to-protect-marine-ecosystems/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Feb 2025 11:37:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aishwarya Mohanty]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Artificial reefs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine Fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marine wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oceans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reefs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/02/11160446/Artificial-Reef-3-768x453.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=31456</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Hewing The Regulatory Tree]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coral Reefs, Fishing, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The eastern coastal state of Odisha, with its unique geo-climatic setting, stands at the frontline of nature’s fury. The escalating coastal vulnerability has turned the region into a hotspot for climate-induced disasters, while also threatening its fragile marine ecosystem, disrupting biodiversity, and endangering coastal habitats. To address these challenges, Odisha plans to establish 93 artificial [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The eastern coastal state of Odisha, with its unique geo-climatic setting, stands at the frontline of nature’s fury. The escalating coastal vulnerability has turned the region into a hotspot for climate-induced disasters, while also threatening its fragile marine ecosystem, disrupting biodiversity, and endangering coastal habitats. To address these challenges, Odisha plans to establish 93 artificial reef units along its 480-kilometre coastline. Artificial reefs are structures designed to mimic the natural features of coral reefs and other underwater habitats. Globally recognised for their ability to restore marine ecosystems and boost fish populations, these reefs are constructed from materials like concrete, rocks, or specially engineered substances. Positioned on the seabed, they offer shelter, food, and breeding grounds for fish and other aquatic organisms, aiding in the recovery of degraded marine environments. Why does Odisha need artificial reefs? This initiative is not unique to Odisha. In August 2023, the Department of Fisheries unveiled plans to deploy artificial reefs in 3,477 fishing villages across the country, with the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) leading the initiative. Subsequently in November 2024, the Department of Fisheries (DoF), Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry &amp; Dairying (MoFAH&amp;D), under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) approved the establishment of 93 units of artificial reefs for climate change mitigation, fish stock enhancement and promotion of sustainable marine fisheries along the Odisha coast, at an estimated cost of Rs. 29 crores (Rs. 290 million). Of the total investment, the union government funds 60% while the state provides the rest. Several&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/02/experimenting-with-artificial-reefs-to-protect-marine-ecosystems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/02/experimenting-with-artificial-reefs-to-protect-marine-ecosystems/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>[Explainer] What is blue carbon?</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/explainer-what-is-blue-carbon/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/explainer-what-is-blue-carbon/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jan 2025 10:56:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Phalguni Ranjan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carbon Capture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[carbon sequestration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate mitigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nature-based climate solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nature-based solutions]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/01/20061852/Blue-Lagoons-In-Kalpeni-Lakshadweep-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=31166</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environment Explained and Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon emissions, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Climate Change Mitigation, and Nature-based Climate Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Blue carbon refers to the carbon captured and stored by marine ecosystems. The term &#8220;blue carbon&#8221; is an extension of the well-known concept of &#8220;green carbon,&#8221; which refers to the carbon stored by terrestrial ecosystems like forests and grasslands. Coastal marine ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows play a crucial role in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Blue carbon refers to the carbon captured and stored by marine ecosystems. The term &#8220;blue carbon&#8221; is an extension of the well-known concept of &#8220;green carbon,&#8221; which refers to the carbon stored by terrestrial ecosystems like forests and grasslands. Coastal marine ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows play a crucial role in sequestering carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere and storing it in their biomass (leaves, branches, roots, etc.) and sediments. These ecosystems are remarkably efficient in sequestering carbon, with the oceans playing the role of the largest heat and carbon sinks on the planet. Through photosynthesis, mangroves, salt marsh vegetation, and seagrasses absorb atmospheric CO₂ and store it as sugars and other organic forms of carbon in their biomass. Tides and drainage basins bring in more organic carbon in the form of decaying matter, which is deposited in the sediment, and the falling leaf litter adds to this. These marine ecosystems can store carbon in the sediments for long periods of time, ranging from a few decades to millennia, setting them apart from other terrestrial ecosystems. This is because the near-constant state of inundation and tidal action in these habitats slows down the decomposition of organic matter, effectively locking the carbon away in the sediments. Mangroves are among the most efficient carbon sinks in the world, storing around three to five times more carbon per unit area than tropical rainforests. While still relatively underexplored, studies have established that seagrass meadows and salt marshes too, store more&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/explainer-what-is-blue-carbon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/explainer-what-is-blue-carbon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>[Explainer] What are habitat rights?</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/explainer-what-are-habitat-rights-under-the-forest-rights-act-and-why-are-they-being-discussed-now/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/explainer-what-are-habitat-rights-under-the-forest-rights-act-and-why-are-they-being-discussed-now/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jan 2025 18:22:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shuchita Jha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Forest Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Right Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Habitat Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ministry of Tribal Affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PVTG]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife protection act]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/01/13104315/Claim-filing-process-for-the-Habitat-Rights-of-Hill-Kharia-in-Mayurbhanj-district-Photo-credit-Shyam-Sundar-Sahoo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=31039</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environment Explained]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chhattisgarh, India, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Forest Rights Act and Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Odisha recently became one of three states in the country to grant Habitat Rights (HR) under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). The state recognised Habitat Rights for seven of its 13 PVTGs and other traditional communities. India&#8217;s Forest Rights Act, enacted to undo historical injustices to tribal and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Odisha recently became one of three states in the country to grant Habitat Rights (HR) under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). The state recognised Habitat Rights for seven of its 13 PVTGs and other traditional communities. India&#8217;s Forest Rights Act, enacted to undo historical injustices to tribal and other forest-dwelling communities in India, recognises a range of rights for these communities. The different rights ensure that indigenous and forest-dwelling communities can access their ancestral land and resources, carry on their traditional livelihood practices and utilise, protect and conserve the forests. What are Habitat Rights? Habitat Rights are classified under the FRA&#8217;s Community Forest Rights. They recognise traditional and customary rights over &#8220;demographic and geographic spread out, socio-cultural, economic, and livelihood systems, as well as traditional knowledge to ecological systems and biodiversity,&#8221; defines a report by the UN Development Programme and the Tribal and Scheduled Caste Development Department of the Chhattisgarh government. In the context of forest dwelling people or indigenous communities, the term, &#8216;habitat&#8217; is defined under Section 2 (h) of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, as “the area comprising the customary habitat and such other habitats in reserved forests and protected forests of primitive tribal groups and pre-agricultural communities and other forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes.” A habitat for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups may refer to an area where they have both spiritual and material connections, notes a study undertaken by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) in 2014 in collaboration with Vasundhara,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/explainer-what-are-habitat-rights-under-the-forest-rights-act-and-why-are-they-being-discussed-now/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/explainer-what-are-habitat-rights-under-the-forest-rights-act-and-why-are-they-being-discussed-now/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>[Commentary] Can CAMPA compensate for the loss of forest land?</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/commentary-can-campa-compensate-for-the-loss-of-forest-land/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/commentary-can-campa-compensate-for-the-loss-of-forest-land/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jan 2025 15:17:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Himanshu UpadhyayaVaishnavi Paliya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CAMPA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[compensatory afforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forestry]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/01/06140110/The_seedling-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=30951</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Hewing The Regulatory Tree]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Forestry and Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Supreme Court of India in October 2002 directed that a “Compensatory Afforestation Fund’ (CAF) shall be created, where money is collected from user agencies towards compensatory afforestation (CA) under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 for accelerating activities for the preservation of natural forests, management of wildlife, and infrastructure development. In this spirit, the Odisha [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[The Supreme Court of India in October 2002 directed that a “Compensatory Afforestation Fund’ (CAF) shall be created, where money is collected from user agencies towards compensatory afforestation (CA) under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 for accelerating activities for the preservation of natural forests, management of wildlife, and infrastructure development. In this spirit, the Odisha State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) was constituted and operationalised in September 2018 to compensate for the loss of tangible and intangible benefits from the forest lands which were to be diverted for non-forest purposes. However, the process of “compensatory afforestation” is pointed out as devoid of logic by many environmentalists as the plantation can never compensate for the loss of natural forests.  On 11 September 2024, four audit reports from India’s national audit office &#8211; the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) &#8211; were tabled in the Odisha state assembly. One of these reports devoted an entire chapter reviewing the functioning of Odisha’s Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority. The audit findings that emerged from this detailed compliance audit reveal glaring deficiencies in the implementation of the code of management&#8217;s plan procedure, non-maintenance of plantation, diversion of CAMPA funds and so on.  Afforestation. Image by BemanHarish via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Records show that from 2016-17 to 2019-20, the survival rate of plantation was only 7.5 percent due to non-maintenance. The plantation activity costing Rs. 15 lakh (Rs. 1.5 million) for Aided Natural Regneration (ANR) – a method&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/01/commentary-can-campa-compensate-for-the-loss-of-forest-land/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>A fishing cat survey indicates robust population density</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/10/a-fishing-cat-survey-indicates-robust-population-density/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/10/a-fishing-cat-survey-indicates-robust-population-density/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Oct 2024 13:16:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[density]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fishing cat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[local community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[population]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/10/08074217/1024px-Fishing_Cat_Prionailurus_viverrinus_3-e1728353633198-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=29815</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species and Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cats, Community based conservation, Conservation, Research, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Four years after the Chilika Development Authority assigned ambassadorship to fishing cats, the species appears to be thriving in Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon. The latest population density estimate indicates that the northern and southern parts of Chilika hold a robust number of fishing cats — the highest density reported outside protected areas, according to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Four years after the Chilika Development Authority assigned ambassadorship to fishing cats, the species appears to be thriving in Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon. The latest population density estimate indicates that the northern and southern parts of Chilika hold a robust number of fishing cats — the highest density reported outside protected areas, according to the researchers. The study, carried out in two phases during 2021 and 2022, utilised 144 camera traps over 4,380 trap nights. It was conducted in the northern and southern blocks of Chilika (northern block includes the north and northeastern sides of the lagoon) where distinct fishing cat habitats exist. The findings revealed that both regions together support a population of roughly 344 fishing cats. “We referred to other studies and also examined the estimations of fishing cats in various locations and countries. According to the existing data, this is the highest density of fishing cats to date and the only one estimated outside protected areas,” says the lead author of the study, Tiasa Adhya, from the Centre for Conservation of Natural Resources at the University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology, and a member of the Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance in Texas. Adhya, who is also the founder of The Fishing Cat Project, a long-term research project on fishing cats in West Bengal and Odisha, points to the abundant fish population in Chilika as a key factor that led to the increase in density of fishing cats at Chilika. More prey for predator health Chilika&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/10/a-fishing-cat-survey-indicates-robust-population-density/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Dwindling forest commons leave Koraput tribal communities with little to celebrate</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/05/dwindling-forest-commons-leave-koraput-tribal-communities-with-little-to-celebrate/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/05/dwindling-forest-commons-leave-koraput-tribal-communities-with-little-to-celebrate/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 May 2024 13:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest commons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[indigenous knowledge]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/05/20225400/IMG20240424135638_2_4000-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=27854</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Knowledge]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Community based conservation, and Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It&#8217;s Chaita Parab season in Odisha’s Koraput district, a time when most tribal residents indulge in mahuli, a local brew made from the flowers of the mahua tree. Fresh mango harvests await the assent of the village chieftain and other indigenous leaders of the local committee. The bounty is shared among residents only after the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It&#8217;s Chaita Parab season in Odisha’s Koraput district, a time when most tribal residents indulge in mahuli, a local brew made from the flowers of the mahua tree. Fresh mango harvests await the assent of the village chieftain and other indigenous leaders of the local committee. The bounty is shared among residents only after the men go hunting and perform a ritualistic animal sacrifice before a deity, praying for prosperity and a good harvest for the rest of the year. A significant festival heralding the onset of summer in April, Chaita Parab is celebrated by tribes in southern Odisha. Like many rituals in Koraput, it is deeply connected to the collection and consumption of shared natural resources. “Commons have historically defined the boundaries of settlements in Koraput. They are interconnected with everyday life and cultural practices,” says Neha Saigal, the director of gender and climate change at Asar Social Impact Advisors, a research group involved in mapping village forest commons in the district. “Many such traditions are changing gradually.” Several tribal groups in the region have been witnessing a decline in the common forest resources essential for their livelihoods, cultural traditions, and food security. Beyond factors like population growth, deforestation, and developmental projects, they now face an emerging challenge in the form of unpredictable weather patterns brought on by climate change. In April 2024, Koraput was reeling under an early heatwave, with temperatures touching 40℃ — unusually hot for a district located 860 metres above sea level. A coconut broken&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/05/dwindling-forest-commons-leave-koraput-tribal-communities-with-little-to-celebrate/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>More than 15 years on, implementation of Forest Right Act is lagging, new report finds</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/04/more-than-15-years-on-implementation-of-forest-right-act-is-lagging-new-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/04/more-than-15-years-on-implementation-of-forest-right-act-is-lagging-new-report-finds/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Apr 2024 16:45:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Simrinsirur]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Forest Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Rights]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/04/04104956/Gram_sabha_meeting_at_Mendha_Lekha-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=27183</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[The Indian Forest Story]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam, India, Karnataka, and Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, and Land Rights]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The implementation of the Forest Rights Act has largely overlooked claims for community forest rights and is fraught with exclusionary practices due to misconceptions about its applicability, according to a new report. The report was published in March and conducted by Delhi-based NGO Call for Justice, with a committee chaired by former high court judge [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The implementation of the Forest Rights Act has largely overlooked claims for community forest rights and is fraught with exclusionary practices due to misconceptions about its applicability, according to a new report. The report was published in March and conducted by Delhi-based NGO Call for Justice, with a committee chaired by former high court judge S.N. Dhingra. The Forest Rights Act of 2006 (FRA), which came into force in 2008, recognises the historical rights that forest dwellers and scheduled tribes have over forest resources. However, despite being in force for over 15 years, strong implementation is still lacking due to knowledge gaps or conflicts of interest, says the report. Conducted by an independent fact finding committee, the report was submitted to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs last week. Conducted across five different states representing diverse regions of the country, the report sought to identify “key issues and concerns” in the implementation of the law, which has seen a high rate of rejection among claims. It found that claims for individual forest rights were accepted more often than claims for community forest rights, and that district and forest officials continued to wield more decision-making power over the gram sabhas. In a meeting on March 30, the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda, told the fact finding committee that the Ministry would examine the key recommendations of the report. The FRA presents forest dwellers with the opportunity to claim community forest rights over 40 million hectares of land, according to some&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/04/more-than-15-years-on-implementation-of-forest-right-act-is-lagging-new-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Conflict over critical mineral prospecting in Odisha signals need for better community involvement</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/03/conflict-over-critical-mineral-prospecting-in-odisha-signals-need-for-better-community-involvement/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/03/conflict-over-critical-mineral-prospecting-in-odisha-signals-need-for-better-community-involvement/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Mar 2024 14:19:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ishan Kukreti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CFR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Forest Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Critical Minerals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Resource Management Committee]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/03/14081845/IMG_8009-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=26929</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy and Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy, Forests, and Mining]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India’s focus on critical minerals for its clean energy transition has come in conflict with the rights of forest dwellers in Odisha, highlighting policy gaps in forest land acquisition and the need for community benefits in the country&#8217;s journey towards clean energy.   A graphite prospecting effort in a community forest in the state last [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India’s focus on critical minerals for its clean energy transition has come in conflict with the rights of forest dwellers in Odisha, highlighting policy gaps in forest land acquisition and the need for community benefits in the country&#8217;s journey towards clean energy.   A graphite prospecting effort in a community forest in the state last year, was contested by the local people, eventually leading to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes initiating an inquiry against the district administration and mineral exploration agency for violating the Forest Rights Act and threatening tribal people. Graphite is a critical mineral in India&#8217;s clean energy transition. In July 2023, residents of Lamer village in the state&#8217;s Kalahandi district opposed graphite prospecting, by the district administration and the Odisha Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (OMEL), in the forest that is legally recognised as the community&#8217;s forest rights area, under the Schedule Tribe and Other Forest Dweller (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (FRA). As the village residents stopped JCBs from felling trees, they were told that permission had been given by the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), says Binod Majhi, Lamer Gram Sabha secretary, who claimed that the community was not informed about the tree felling. The residents managed to stop the prospecting at that time. However, the conflict escalated in November when the district administration forcefully entered the village along with a police force to complete the prospecting work. Protesting residents from the village were detained. “Three of us were kept in police custody. They said that we&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/03/conflict-over-critical-mineral-prospecting-in-odisha-signals-need-for-better-community-involvement/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Restaurants fuelling demand for shark meat in India, finds study</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/01/restaurants-fuelling-demand-for-shark-meat-in-india-finds-study/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/01/restaurants-fuelling-demand-for-shark-meat-in-india-finds-study/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jan 2024 15:41:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Simrinsirur]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/01/19140947/Spadenose_Shark_Scoliodon_laticaudus_04-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=26133</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, India, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coast, Fish, Fishing, and Food]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Certain species of elasmobranch, such as sharks, are among the most overfished species in the Indian seas. A new survey documenting their consumption in India suggests one group of stakeholders, in particular, could influence their consumption patterns in a big way: restaurants. In a study, researchers who are a part of InSeason Fish, a sustainable [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Certain species of elasmobranch, such as sharks, are among the most overfished species in the Indian seas. A new survey documenting their consumption in India suggests one group of stakeholders, in particular, could influence their consumption patterns in a big way: restaurants. In a study, researchers who are a part of InSeason Fish, a sustainable seafood initiative, conducted a survey among seafood eateries in 10 coastal states in the country and found that they “form an important component in domestic supply chains,” for shark meat. Shark meat is a part of local diets in several coastal states and is traditionally favoured by low-income groups for its low price and perceived health benefits. But the survey finds that demand for shark meat is now coming from a more diverse clientele, including tourists. “We wanted to see how people from the middle and upper classes were able to access shark meat, which was previously confined to this narrow coastal belt,” said Divya Karnad, Assistant Professor of environmental studies at Ashoka University and lead author of the study. “We cannot suddenly come in and tell fishing communities, who are eating what they catch, what to do, especially without offering a viable alternative. But if there are other customers who are eating at more upmarket restaurants and have the potential to make other choices with their money, but opt to eat shark meat instead, it can be a problem.” Worldwide, shark and ray populations have declined by more than 70% over the last 50&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/01/restaurants-fuelling-demand-for-shark-meat-in-india-finds-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Repurposing farm waste to cultivate mushrooms</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2023/12/repurposing-farm-waste-to-cultivate-mushrooms-and-produce-vermicompost/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2023/12/repurposing-farm-waste-to-cultivate-mushrooms-and-produce-vermicompost/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Dec 2023 14:59:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aishwarya Mohanty]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bioeconomy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farm waste]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mushroom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rain fed irrigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stubble burning]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2023/12/21140319/Sundergarh-1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=25773</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conserving Agro-biodiversity]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture and Waste management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bharati Prusetch, a woman in her late 30s from Phuldhudi, a village in Odisha&#8217;s Sundargarh district, has transformed her previously barren backyard into a lucrative source of income. She reuses and recycles paddy field waste, to cultivate mushrooms and produce vermicompost. Prusetch earns over Rs. 1 lakh annually through this cost-effective activity. Adversely impacted by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bharati Prusetch, a woman in her late 30s from Phuldhudi, a village in Odisha&#8217;s Sundargarh district, has transformed her previously barren backyard into a lucrative source of income. She reuses and recycles paddy field waste, to cultivate mushrooms and produce vermicompost. Prusetch earns over Rs. 1 lakh annually through this cost-effective activity. Adversely impacted by migration stemming from its reliance on rain-fed agriculture, Phuldhudi, located near the Ujalpur forest range, faces several challenges. The farmers in the village have limited earning opportunities. Former Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Arun Mishra proposed an initiative to boost local income through mushroom cultivation. Teaming up with the non-profit SEWAK, Mishra facilitated training and awareness programmes for the residents. The forest department then encouraged people to use paddy straw as a raw material. Kamala Pradhan, another resident of Phuldhudi, recalls how it all began, “Though we depend on agriculture, our income from it was not that steady due to a lack of proper irrigation. A former forest official suggested growing mushrooms in the village. The input cost was less, and we were provided guidance, support, and training to start from scratch.” Phuldhudi pioneered the initiative in 2018. As more and more people began utilising residue from paddy cultivation to grow mushrooms, the idea quickly spread to 15 other villages, claims Digambar Upadhyay from SEWAK. The activity is a significant boost to the local economy, as nearly 1,000 families across these 15 villages in the district have now embraced crop residue management systems, minimising adverse environmental&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2023/12/repurposing-farm-waste-to-cultivate-mushrooms-and-produce-vermicompost/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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