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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/reforestation/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
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					<title>Community-based mangrove monitoring should compliment satellite data [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/community-based-mangrove-monitoring-should-compliment-satellite-data-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/community-based-mangrove-monitoring-should-compliment-satellite-data-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Sep 2026 10:56:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Utchimahali Mariappan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate resilience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/22101938/02_Kudikadu_UM-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41118</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Tamil Nadu]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coast, Commentary, Community based conservation, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Forests, Mangroves, Nature-based Climate Solutions, Plantations, Plants, Positive Environmental, Reforestation, Satellite Imagery, and Villages]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Early one morning at Kudikadu, a small fishing hamlet on the Uppanar river in Cuddalore district, a forester and their team members walked the mangrove nursery before the tide turned. They carried no satellite receiver or drones; only notebooks and pencils. They counted saplings, noted which ones survived the last spring tide and which did [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Early one morning at Kudikadu, a small fishing hamlet on the Uppanar river in Cuddalore district, a forester and their team members walked the mangrove nursery before the tide turned. They carried no satellite receiver or drones; only notebooks and pencils. They counted saplings, noted which ones survived the last spring tide and which did not. By now, hundreds of villagers are enrolled in Tamil Nadu&#8217;s Village Mangrove Councils, walking their own stretches of coast on their own schedules to observe the mangroves. The result? Something remote sensing alone cannot give you: ground truth, gathered frequently, at fine scale, with enough sampling points across enough seasons to mean something. This matters because Tamil Nadu&#8217;s mangrove restoration story is still being told mainly through area figures. A recent assessment by the Centre for Climate Change and Disaster Management (CCCDM) at Anna University, part of its &#8216;Blue Carbon Monitoring for Mangroves of Tamil Nadu&#8217; report, found that the state&#8217;s mangrove area roughly doubled, from about 4,500 ha to 9,039 ha, between 2021 and 2024, an increase linked to plantation drives and protection measures carried out over the same period. New plantations account for 40.1% (3,625 ha) of this total, with existing mangrove forests making up the remaining 59.9% (5,414 ha). Area-based estimates alone cannot tell us whether new mangrove cover is surviving, diverse, and functioning, or whether it is a thin, even-aged stand, a bad monsoon away from dying back. The stakes are high because Tamil Nadu is now one of India&#8217;s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/community-based-mangrove-monitoring-should-compliment-satellite-data-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Audit exposes fundamental flaws in Green India Mission&#8217;s execution</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/audit-exposes-fundamental-flaws-in-green-india-missions-execution/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/audit-exposes-fundamental-flaws-in-green-india-missions-execution/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 19:47:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/24190647/AP26208520244982-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40378</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carbon emissions, Carbon Offset, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Habitat Loss, Plantations, Reforestation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An audit report of the Green India Mission, one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, found that funds were consistently underutilised and that progress under the mission “remains negligible.” The Green India Mission aims to enhance forest cover, improve the quality of forest cover and ecosystem services, and scale [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An audit report of the Green India Mission, one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, found that funds were consistently underutilised and that progress under the mission “remains negligible.” The Green India Mission aims to enhance forest cover, improve the quality of forest cover and ecosystem services, and scale carbon sequestration in India. In 2011, the mission aimed to fulfil these goals in 10 million hectares (mha) of land over a period of 10 years. In 2014, the Mission included afforestation on 2.8 mha of land by 2018 as a goal. But the mission’s performance has been set back by “fundamental weaknesses in planning and design as well as deficiencies in execution and monitoring,” says an audit report by the Comptroller Auditor General of India (CAG), submitted to Parliament on August 12. According to the audit, out of the targeted 2.8 million hectares, afforestation interventions were made in approximately 0.15 million hectares, which is just about 5% of the goal area. Pooja Choksi, an ecologist and founder of Ficus Research Consulting said the CAG&#8217;s report was a timely &#8220;wake up call.&#8221; &#8220;It is an indication that we need to do things radically differently if we want to achieve our land use and forestry related targets, especially in a ecologically and socially meaningful way that ensures the longevity of these plantation efforts,&#8221; she said. Apart from poor implementation, the CAG found that activities carried out eroded the mission’s core objectives of restoring ecosystems at a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/audit-exposes-fundamental-flaws-in-green-india-missions-execution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>India’s afforestation needs a species lens [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-afforestation-needs-a-species-lens-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-afforestation-needs-a-species-lens-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 15:47:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pradeep Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[afforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[native plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rewilding]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/21130241/IMG_2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39497</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Madhya Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Forestry, Forests, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[During my tenure as Divisional Forest Officer in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, I walked through a seven-year-old mixed plantation. According to the plantation journal maintained by the range office, 14 species had been planted at the start. On the ground, teak dominated — a few others persisted in scattered numbers, and some had disappeared entirely. Their [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[During my tenure as Divisional Forest Officer in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, I walked through a seven-year-old mixed plantation. According to the plantation journal maintained by the range office, 14 species had been planted at the start. On the ground, teak dominated — a few others persisted in scattered numbers, and some had disappeared entirely. Their decline was not recorded anywhere. It had been quietly absorbed into an aggregate survival statistic that still read as success. Plantation drives in India are often measured by the number of saplings planted and their survival rates, which portray an image of progress. But do these numbers reflect genuine ecological restoration or just denser tree cover? Indore district provides insight into this issue. Working Plan data from Indore Forest Division showed stable plantation targets, yet several native species fell to less than 1% of the tree population, a trend not captured in plantation reports or remote-sensing maps. This decline did not stem from felling operations or from a single visible event. Instead, it developed quietly, due to selective extraction, poor regeneration, grazing pressure, and climate stress. The greater issue is a management focus on numbers rather than on which species survive. Recognising this, the intervention emphasising Rare, Endangered and Threatened (RET) species raises a crucial question: Should forestry success be measured by total tree cover, or by the sustained presence of native biodiversity? The monsoon landscape at Shankargarh Hills in Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh, where community-led restoration is reviving native biodiversity. Image by Samarjeet Jadav.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-afforestation-needs-a-species-lens-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cities need tailored restoration, not mass tree planting</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/cities-need-tailored-restoration-not-mass-tree-planting/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/cities-need-tailored-restoration-not-mass-tree-planting/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 15:07:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/17093622/DJI_0476-Restored-grazing-commons-of-Bagepalli-scaled-e1784263951510-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39376</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond the Hype and Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Ecology, Forests, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thousands of Bengaluru residents came together late last month in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for planting the largest number of tree saplings in a single day. Nearly 1.5 million saplings were planted across 240 acres in the drive organised by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), with funding from multiple corporate social [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thousands of Bengaluru residents came together late last month in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for planting the largest number of tree saplings in a single day. Nearly 1.5 million saplings were planted across 240 acres in the drive organised by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), with funding from multiple corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and support from environmental organisations. A growing number of ecologists, however, say the enthusiasm for mass tree planting in cities has outpaced the science behind it. This tree plantation drive, billed as one of the country&#8217;s largest urban greening exercises, was designed using the Japanese Miyawaki method of dense native tree planting, a method that is popular but also has been criticised for overstating its effectiveness. “The idea is to make Bengaluru greener. There is global warming, so we want to start this movement with the city,” BDA chairman N.A. Haris told Mongabay-India before the event. He said the plantations, spread across lakes, nala buffer zones and public spaces, are intended to reduce the urban heat island effect and build the city&#8217;s climate resilience. Authorities say every sapling will be geo-tagged and monitored for survival. But mass tree plantation is hardly a quick fix to urban green loss. “What exactly are we trying to achieve? Is it setting a record or greening the city? If it&#8217;s ecology, then what environmental problem are we trying to solve?” asks Rajkamal Goswami, a scientist at ATREE who studies forests and biodiversity dynamics. For Goswami, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/cities-need-tailored-restoration-not-mass-tree-planting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A machine learning-powered chatbot to guide tree plantation in the Himalayas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-machine-learning-powered-chatbot-to-guide-tree-plantation-in-the-himalayas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-machine-learning-powered-chatbot-to-guide-tree-plantation-in-the-himalayas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 13:26:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AI for Good]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/15222318/Rajiv-Gandhi-Van-Samvardhan-Yojana_Mahila-Mandal-e1784134737669-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39318</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh and Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Forests, Himalayas, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, Technology, Technology and Conservation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2022, Pushpendra Rana and his colleagues projected using a machine learning model that Himachal Pradesh would spend $100 million (approximately ₹95 crores) between 2020 and 2030 on planting trees that were unlikely to survive. They published the findings in the journal World Development. But Rana, a serving Indian Forest Officer, didn’t just stop at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2022, Pushpendra Rana and his colleagues projected using a machine learning model that Himachal Pradesh would spend $100 million (approximately ₹95 crores) between 2020 and 2030 on planting trees that were unlikely to survive. They published the findings in the journal World Development. But Rana, a serving Indian Forest Officer, didn’t just stop at drawing attention to the wasteful tree-planting practices in his state. Over the next four years, he focused on developing a restoration decision-support tool to aid in more successful tree planting in the country. Rana partnered with RootIQ Labs Pvt. Ltd., a New Delhi-based artificial intelligence company, to develop WhereToPlant Bot, a chatbot that can predict the survival probability of saplings in a given location based on different climatic and environmental parameters. This chatbot can be accessed by anyone with a Telegram account. Once they share their location pin, it uses machine-learning models to quickly respond with a survival probability score and a star rating for any and all plants for the particular planting site, ranging from ‘no chance’ to ‘high chance’. The chatbot is currently exclusive to Himachal Pradesh, where it has been functional for over a year. The state forest department, mahila mandals (women collectives), yuvak mandals (youth groups) and self-help groups have taken its guidance to plant saplings, Rana told Mongabay-India. More than 200 women&#8217;s groups and 50 youth clubs used the tool in the field. DFOs and restoration practitioners as part of the Rajiv Gandhi Van Samvardhan Yojana (US$10.14 million community-driven plantation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-machine-learning-powered-chatbot-to-guide-tree-plantation-in-the-himalayas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Why feasibility matters for land use projects in India [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-feasibility-matters-for-land-use-projects-in-india-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-feasibility-matters-for-land-use-projects-in-india-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jul 2026 15:37:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[J.V. SharmaSayanta Ghosh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[land management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/07142040/AP274368273581-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39054</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Carbon emissions, Carbon Finance, Carbon Offset, Carbon Trading, Climate Change Mitigation, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Forestry, Forests, Grasslands, Green Business, and Reforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India’s carbon market conversation is widening beyond energy and industry. Forests, farms, grasslands, wetlands, mangroves and rice fields are increasingly being viewed as spaces where climate action, ecological restoration and rural livelihoods can converge. Carbon credits are expected to help bring private finance into these landscapes. But the global experience of the voluntary carbon market [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India’s carbon market conversation is widening beyond energy and industry. Forests, farms, grasslands, wetlands, mangroves and rice fields are increasingly being viewed as spaces where climate action, ecological restoration and rural livelihoods can converge. Carbon credits are expected to help bring private finance into these landscapes. But the global experience of the voluntary carbon market shows that a project can be registered, verified and even generate credits without necessarily delivering the climate or community outcomes that buyers assume. After evaluating 2,346 carbon-crediting projects and nearly one billion tonnes of issued credits, a 2024 study in Nature Communications estimated that less than 16% of the credits examined, represented real emission reductions. The study does not mean that every carbon project has failed, but it shows how badly results can diverge from claims when baselines, additionality or monitoring are weak. Specific cases make the warning harder to ignore. In 2025, the carbon certifier Verra reviewed Zimbabwe’s Kariba REDD+ project and found that actual deforestation in the reference area was far lower than originally projected. Verra identified 15.22 million excess credits among 26.82 million credits already issued and said these could no longer be corrected through future monitoring periods because the project had withdrawn from its registry. Similarly, in 2024, Verra rejected 37 rice-cultivation projects in China. It sanctioned project proponents and validation bodies and required compensation for overissued credits after concerns were raised about project areas, additionality and emission-reduction calculations. Community governance can be equally decisive. The Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon Project&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-feasibility-matters-for-land-use-projects-in-india-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Delhi witnesses a travesty of ecological restoration [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/delhi-witnesses-a-travesty-of-ecological-restoration-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/delhi-witnesses-a-travesty-of-ecological-restoration-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jul 2026 16:10:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ankila HiremathVikram Iyer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/01141654/2_EarthMovers-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38879</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Delhi and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecology, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Plantations, Plants, and Reforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Delhi’s Central Ridge, a mosaic of forest and open savannah with patches dominated by species such as dhok (Terminalia pendula), is a landscape that would be a rare gem anywhere. The location of this remnant of the ancient Aravallis — spanning a little over 850 hectares in the heart of a sprawling urban metropolis — [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Delhi’s Central Ridge, a mosaic of forest and open savannah with patches dominated by species such as dhok (Terminalia pendula), is a landscape that would be a rare gem anywhere. The location of this remnant of the ancient Aravallis — spanning a little over 850 hectares in the heart of a sprawling urban metropolis — makes it even more special. Yet, for over a century, it has remained misunderstood and misconstrued. In the early 20th century, the planners of New Delhi sought to create a forested backdrop for the Government House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan). Successive waves of tree planting were carried out, but very few of the introduced trees survived because they were poorly suited to local conditions. The exception was the South American tree Neltuma juliflora (formerly Prosopis juliflora). Better known as vilayati keekar, it is now a widespread invasive alien tree across arid and semi-arid regions of India. Since its introduction to the Central Ridge, it has come to dominate the landscape, along with other invasive species such as gaajar ghaas (Parthenium hysterophorus), lantana (Lantana camara), and subabool (Leucaena leucocephala), which arrived more recently. Delhi&#8217;s Central Ridge in the dry season. Invasive plant species dominate the 850 hectares in the heart of the capital city. Image by Pradip Krishen. What are invasive alien species? Invasive alien species must meet two criteria. First, they must be non-native to a region. Typically, these are species intentionally introduced by people, though some introductions occur inadvertently. In India, many non-native plants originated&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/delhi-witnesses-a-travesty-of-ecological-restoration-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/delhi-witnesses-a-travesty-of-ecological-restoration-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rethinking forest restoration beyond tree cover [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-forest-restoration-beyond-tree-cover-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-forest-restoration-beyond-tree-cover-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 12:19:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dhanapal GovindarajuluJohan Oldekop]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[afforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dryland conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat degradation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tree plantation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/08095349/AP21185326184454-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38560</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Ecology, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Global Forest Watch, Habitat Loss, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Since its launch in 2011, the Bonn Challenge has mobilised commitments to restore more than 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030, including India’s pledge to restore 26 million hectares. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) as a process that seeks to regain ecological integrity [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since its launch in 2011, the Bonn Challenge has mobilised commitments to restore more than 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030, including India’s pledge to restore 26 million hectares. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) as a process that seeks to regain ecological integrity while enhancing human well-being. In practice, this means that ecosystem restoration should improve biodiversity, wildlife habitats and corridors, watersheds, and other ecosystem services. It should also strengthen local livelihoods, particularly through the provision of non-timber forest products and support for pastoral communities. Yet in practice, restoration is often narrowly equated with tree planting. This is partly because plantations can sequester large amounts of carbon, making them attractive for climate mitigation targets. India, for example, has committed under the Paris Agreement to create an additional carbon sink of 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes through afforestation and the expansion of tree cover. Many tropical countries use globally available forest-cover products to monitor and report restoration progress. However, these global products come with limitations because they are generated using different satellite imagery, training data, classification algorithms, and forest definitions. For example, the Global Forest Watch dataset, derived primarily from Landsat imagery, can produce substantially different estimates of forest extent and change compared with GlobeLand30, which is generated using Landsat and China’s HJ-1 satellite imagery. A recent global study comparing ten global forest datasets found that these maps agreed on only 26% of the globally mapped forest area. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-forest-restoration-beyond-tree-cover-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why India&#8217;s tree-planting programmes are falling short</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/why-indias-tree-planting-programmes-are-falling-short/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/why-indias-tree-planting-programmes-are-falling-short/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2026 15:06:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aisiri Amin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agroforestry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tree plantation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/02181943/AP24202402198176-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38482</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroecology, Forestry, Forests, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For many countries, including India, increasing tree cover has become a core part of climate mitigation plans to improve biodiversity and ecosystems. ​From tree planting drives and festivals such as the annual Van Mahotsav, where India pledges to plant millions of tree saplings, to tree plantation programmes such as the Green India Mission (GIM), National [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For many countries, including India, increasing tree cover has become a core part of climate mitigation plans to improve biodiversity and ecosystems. ​From tree planting drives and festivals such as the annual Van Mahotsav, where India pledges to plant millions of tree saplings, to tree plantation programmes such as the Green India Mission (GIM), National Afforestation Programme (NAP), and Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF), afforestation is high on the priority list of solutions. However, a question that often arises is: how effective are these initiatives? A new study, published in the journal Environmental Research Communications, attempts to answer this question by examining eight major government policies and programmes and their impact on tree cover, focusing on trees outside forests (ToF). Many of these programmes operate with state funding, which means citizens’ tax money supports various initiatives. Therefore, it’s important to understand how this funding is actually being used, says Pooja Choksi, researcher and founder of Ficus Research Consulting, and co-author of the study. Moreover, India has one of the largest land and forestry-based Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — a country&#8217;s plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “This creates enormous pressure: achieving these targets requires significant behavioural and land-use changes from citizens, because only limited land is government-owned, and primarily forests,” she explains. This also leads to a critical question. “How will we realistically meet these NDCs using current (tree planting) programmes, especially when new programmes are introduced every few years?&#8221; Choksi asks. A plant nursery nurtured by the Forest Department in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/why-indias-tree-planting-programmes-are-falling-short/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/why-indias-tree-planting-programmes-are-falling-short/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Government opens up forest plantation to private sector, critics question its conservation value</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/government-opens-up-forest-plantation-to-private-sector-critics-question-its-conservation-value/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/government-opens-up-forest-plantation-to-private-sector-critics-question-its-conservation-value/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jan 2026 17:33:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/28165013/18963522564_1e12625071_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36652</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Forest Rights Act, Forests, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In early January, the Union Environment Ministry issued a letter to all states and union territories informing them that private entities could lease forest land and carry out plantations for commercial benefit without paying any penalties, marking a shift in how India’s forests have been traditionally managed. Forestry activities, including plantations, have typically been carried [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In early January, the Union Environment Ministry issued a letter to all states and union territories informing them that private entities could lease forest land and carry out plantations for commercial benefit without paying any penalties, marking a shift in how India’s forests have been traditionally managed. Forestry activities, including plantations, have typically been carried out by the forest department, since forests are considered to be publicly owned. But the letter makes the application of India’s primary forest conservation law more flexible, by allowing non-government entities to lease forest land — with permission — for the purposes of restoration or silviculture, and reclassifying it as “forestry activity.” “This step would lead to partnerships between government and non-government entities to undertake afforestation on degraded forest lands and therefore will help increase India’s green cover,” an FAQ document regarding the provision, provided to Mongabay-India by a Ministry spokesperson in response to a series of questions, says. However, forest restoration experts have raised concerns about the conservation objectives of this change, as well as its implications for forest-dwelling communities who depend on forest resources. The amendment was brought in to “sustainably harness” forest resources with the possibility of profit-sharing, but also to “harmonise” existing laws with the newly launched Green Credit programme – a controversial scheme that allows private entities to generate credits from tree planting to meet legal compliances. “Planting trees is not the same as ecological restoration. Commercial tree plantation in natural ecosystems can actually be ecologically harmful. The documents in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/government-opens-up-forest-plantation-to-private-sector-critics-question-its-conservation-value/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/government-opens-up-forest-plantation-to-private-sector-critics-question-its-conservation-value/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mangrove restoration needs more than planting; it needs monitoring and data</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/mangrove-restoration-needs-more-than-planting-it-needs-monitoring-and-data/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/mangrove-restoration-needs-more-than-planting-it-needs-monitoring-and-data/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jan 2026 10:30:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Barasha Das]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sundarbans]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/14235503/AP23104582960456-scaled-e1768415608186-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36473</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coast, Coastal erosion, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Fish, Mangroves, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Mangroves serve as a bridge between land, freshwater, and the sea; they sustain rich and diverse ecosystems, and are crucial for shoreline protection and carbon storage. The Mangrove Alliance&#8217;s 2024 report states that India’s mangroves are home to 5,746 species, with 84% being animals, spanning 21 major taxonomic groups. Across the country, several community-based mangrove [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Mangroves serve as a bridge between land, freshwater, and the sea; they sustain rich and diverse ecosystems, and are crucial for shoreline protection and carbon storage. The Mangrove Alliance&#8217;s 2024 report states that India’s mangroves are home to 5,746 species, with 84% being animals, spanning 21 major taxonomic groups. Across the country, several community-based mangrove restoration projects have been initiated over the past few years. According to the Forest Survey of India, the country’s mangrove cover expanded by more than 336 square kilometres between 2011 and 2021. In contrast, during nearly the same period (2010-2020), the global mangrove area has been declining at an average annual rate of 0.07%. However, studies show that on the ground, many restoration efforts rely on large-scale plantation drives, often planting a single fast-growing mangrove species such as Rhizophora, Sonneratia, or Avicennia. These activities, carried out under popular models like Ecological Mangrove Rehabilitation (EMR) and Community-Based Ecological Mangrove Rehabilitation (CBEMR), focus more on silviculture than on true ecological restoration. Experts caution that large-scale plantations alone are unlikely to deliver meaningful ecological outcomes. “Success should not be measured in how many hectares are being planted, but rather in survival rates, long-term establishment, and the recovery of ecosystem functions. What truly counts is the return of critical services such as coastal protection, carbon sequestration, the restoration of native biodiversity, and livelihood support like fisheries,” says K. Kathiresan, a scientist who has spent decades of his career studying mangroves. Plantation-heavy approaches, he cautions, could risk eroding the natural&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/mangrove-restoration-needs-more-than-planting-it-needs-monitoring-and-data/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can climate change and human pressure favour deciduous forests?</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/can-climate-change-and-human-pressure-favour-deciduous-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/can-climate-change-and-human-pressure-favour-deciduous-forests/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jan 2026 16:41:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cashew]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human encroachment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mango]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rubber]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/09154516/BIRD_PALLKKAD_IRV06145-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36419</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecology, Forests, Mountains, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, Trees, Water, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It is a well-documented fact that climate change, combined with multiple anthropogenic pressures, is drastically altering forest landscapes. A new study from the northern Western Ghats highlights how climatic factors such as water stress, along with chronic anthropogenic disturbances like biomass extraction, influence tropical forest community structure, richness, and composition. The study finds that overall [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It is a well-documented fact that climate change, combined with multiple anthropogenic pressures, is drastically altering forest landscapes. A new study from the northern Western Ghats highlights how climatic factors such as water stress, along with chronic anthropogenic disturbances like biomass extraction, influence tropical forest community structure, richness, and composition. The study finds that overall tree richness — and evergreen tree richness in particular — is lower in disturbed areas, while deciduous richness rises sharply under conditions of high disturbance and water stress. As a part of an on-ground restoration programme in Maharashtra, the researchers conducted baseline surveys of birds, amphibians, and reptiles in the northern Western Ghats to understand where the restoration should take place: “We wanted sites that were highly threatened, poorly protected, yet still retained significant biodiversity,” explains Rohit Naniwadekar, one of the authors of the study. The surveys revealed that low-elevation forests in the northern Western Ghats harbour unique biodiversity, with higher diversity of birds and reptiles than higher elevations. At the same time, only a fraction of these forests fall within the protected area network. “Low-elevation forests are largely not government-owned. Much of the land is privately or community owned and is rapidly being converted to cashew, rubber, and mango plantations,” Naniwadekar says. Whatever forest remains is often harvested periodically for fuelwood. Forests are cut, allowed to regenerate for about a decade, and then harvested again. “This cycle allowed us to identify low-elevation forests as both highly biodiverse and highly threatened — making them priority&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/can-climate-change-and-human-pressure-favour-deciduous-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Legal ambiguity hinders rewilding efforts in India</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/legal-ambiguity-hinders-rewilding-efforts-in-india/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/legal-ambiguity-hinders-rewilding-efforts-in-india/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Nov 2025 14:57:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rewilding]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/11/27123456/DJI_0033-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35797</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Positive Environmental, Protected Areas, Reforestation, and Reserved Forest]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bopanna Pattada has left two acres of land amidst his 60-acre coffee plantation in the Kodagu district of Karnataka to grow wild for small mammals and birds to feed, rest, nest and colonise. A four-acre paddy field abutting the plantation in Ammathi village in Virajpet taluk has also been left fallow, attracting an equal number [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bopanna Pattada has left two acres of land amidst his 60-acre coffee plantation in the Kodagu district of Karnataka to grow wild for small mammals and birds to feed, rest, nest and colonise. A four-acre paddy field abutting the plantation in Ammathi village in Virajpet taluk has also been left fallow, attracting an equal number of birds and animals, including elephants. “In the rewilded area, animals such as civet cats, mouse deer and small-clawed otters have been spotted. The paddy field, being on the boundary of the estate, sees more elephant activity,” Bopanna informs Mongabay-India. Even when reports of negative interactions with elephants and other wild animals claim considerable news space in Kodagu, Bopanna sees no threat in allowing elephants into his plantation. “Elephants have always used this plantation, and my family has chosen to not disturb them. So far, there have been no human casualties. Earlier, only a single herd visited the land, but now there are three herds, including one with 14 members.” According to him, the elephants are familiar with the area but are often chased from one place to another. “It is then that most damage to the plantation occurs.” He envisions his estate remaining a safe haven for all animals that visit it. India is witnessing an uptick in rewilding by private landowners who see biodiversity gains in allowing patches of wilderness to flourish within their landholdings. This trend is in direct concurrence with the United Nations’ call for ecosystem restoration through the UN Decade&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/legal-ambiguity-hinders-rewilding-efforts-in-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>When elephants signalled eco-restoration in a tribal village [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/when-elephants-signalled-eco-restoration-in-a-tribal-village-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/when-elephants-signalled-eco-restoration-in-a-tribal-village-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jun 2025 10:15:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[C. J. Punnathara]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[silent valley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soil health]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/06/01223611/Interaction-with-the-tribals-after-40-years.-PC.-Jacob-Punnathara-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=32853</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Groundwater, Reforestation, Water, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It was close to midnight and Gumman, the ooru mooppan (village chief), woke up with a start. He sensed an alien presence in the dark stillness of the night; he sensed danger. Troubled and uncertain, he tossed and turned before drifting back to sleep. The next morning, fear and fascination gripped the air of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It was close to midnight and Gumman, the ooru mooppan (village chief), woke up with a start. He sensed an alien presence in the dark stillness of the night; he sensed danger. Troubled and uncertain, he tossed and turned before drifting back to sleep. The next morning, fear and fascination gripped the air of the tribal village of Bommiyampadi, as three wild elephants — two females and an adolescent — had invaded the village in the darkness of the night. Gumman&#8217;s intuition had proved right. The elephants had sauntered beside village settlements, thatched houses and desultory mud paved village roads, in the dark phantoms of the night. By morning they were stationed beneath the jackfruit and mango trees, feasting on the ripe fruits — far away from their jungle home. This was new in the small Irula tribal village of Bommiyampadi in Kerala’s Attappadi. It was the first time in the living memory of the residents that elephants entered their village. The tribals recalled that it was never anything like this earlier. Neither the visit of wild animals, nor the abundance of fruit and other trees all around. I first visited the village over 40 years ago when it was arid and windswept. Due to its location in the rainshadow region, the rains were scarce and infrequent. We had come to Attappadi on a pilot survey to identify a location for an eco-restoration project which we planned to undertake in conjunction with the tribals. But far beyond, on the other&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/when-elephants-signalled-eco-restoration-in-a-tribal-village-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<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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					<title>Decision science could lead action in mangrove restoration</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/decision-science-could-lead-action-in-mangrove-restoration/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/decision-science-could-lead-action-in-mangrove-restoration/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2025 09:30:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Barasha Das]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community based conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[local community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sundarbans]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/04/29091524/8.-The-5-acres-of-mangrove-restoration-in-Tridibnagar.-PC-Mukut-Biswas-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=32372</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Mangroves and Reforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Our lives are shaped by the havoc of cyclones, uncertainty, and constant struggles,” says Chandana Kayal, a resident of Tridibnagar in Jharkhali, a mid-estuarine island in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district. Jharkhali is one of the entry points to the Sundarbans, a biodiversity hotspot considered one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the country. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Our lives are shaped by the havoc of cyclones, uncertainty, and constant struggles,” says Chandana Kayal, a resident of Tridibnagar in Jharkhali, a mid-estuarine island in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district. Jharkhali is one of the entry points to the Sundarbans, a biodiversity hotspot considered one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the country. Recurring cyclones are a harsh reality of the Sundarbans — it experiences five to six cyclones annually. Over the last 40 years, the Bay of Bengal region has experienced 255 cyclonic storms ranging from low to severe categories. Cyclone intensity has increased over the last 100 years. Between 2019 and 2020, three cyclones impacted the Sundarbans, leading to hundreds of casualties and billions in economic damage. The most severe in recent history, Cyclone Amphan in May 2020, reportedly the first category five cyclone to affect the Sundarbans in two decades, had a major impact on India and Bangladesh with a loss of 128 lives and more than $13 million in damage. “When cyclones strike, we barely have time to save our belongings,” Kayal says. So, when an opportunity to create a buffer against cyclones was presented to them, hundreds of women joined forces to realise it. “We collected propagules that drifted to the coast and nurtured them in a mangrove nursery.” The determined women of Tridibnagar secured two kilometres of mud embankment while conserving 40 acres of pre-existing mangroves. “In our first attempt, we planted 2,000 saplings sourced from NGOs using standard spacing, following methods&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/decision-science-could-lead-action-in-mangrove-restoration/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>One ring to save them all: terracotta rings for mangrove regeneration</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/one-ring-to-save-them-all-terracotta-rings-for-mangrove-regeneration/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/one-ring-to-save-them-all-terracotta-rings-for-mangrove-regeneration/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Apr 2025 16:01:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anusha Krishnan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/04/29121621/Picture7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=32385</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Mangroves and Reforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings, the inscription “One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them” described the malicious golden one ring that shook the Middle Earth.  But the one ring does not exist in the reality of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings, the inscription “One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them” described the malicious golden one ring that shook the Middle Earth.  But the one ring does not exist in the reality of India’s eroding wetlands, and instead of orcs, humans are responsible for much of the destruction.  Nonetheless, there is hope that rather than a golden one ring, a humble terracotta ring could change the fate of the Sundarbans wetlands by being “A ring to trap the silt and soil, A ring to green them, A ring to bring them all and in the embankments bind them.” Arrangements of large terracotta rings, ranging from two to four feet in diameter and standing at about a foot or two in height, may help save sinking islands in the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve. These rings, installed in grids measuring 92 metres in length along the embankment, and about 6.5 metres wide along its slope, are silt traps. Over a 16-month period, these silt traps have had some interesting impacts on the embankments as reported in this study that recorded observations of the experiment conducted between 2023 and 2024. The rings have captured and retained sediment, reducing the erosion of the embankment. The net sediment accumulation in these traps was two to three times the rate of annual sea level rise, which makes them an effective and relatively cheap solution to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/one-ring-to-save-them-all-terracotta-rings-for-mangrove-regeneration/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Coffee agrofarms can play a key role in restoring degraded forest, study says</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/coffee-agrofarms-can-play-a-key-role-in-restoring-degraded-forest-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/coffee-agrofarms-can-play-a-key-role-in-restoring-degraded-forest-study-says/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Apr 2025 13:53:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agrobiodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agroforestry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coffee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tea estates]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/04/17130647/Photo_4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=32252</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Plantations, and Reforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The growing appetite for specialty coffee in India has also driven the demand for it to be more sustainably sourced. New research from the Western Ghats proposes coffee agrofarms could be sites not only for in-situ biodiversity conservation – meaning growing a variety of species on their farms – but also be sources of seeds [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The growing appetite for specialty coffee in India has also driven the demand for it to be more sustainably sourced. New research from the Western Ghats proposes coffee agrofarms could be sites not only for in-situ biodiversity conservation – meaning growing a variety of species on their farms – but also be sources of seeds and seedlings for forest restoration in nearby areas. In India, coffee is typically grown in rain-rich regions under the shade of trees, making the rainforests of the Western Ghats an ideal destination for cultivation. Growing coffee under shade takes longer and results in smaller yields compared to coffee grown under the sun, but produces a higher quality bean with a more full-bodied taste. In coffee agroforests that use a diversity of native tree species for shade, seeds that are normally cleared by farmers during canopy pruning can instead be collected, or “rescued,” in order to facilitate forest conservation and restoration, the research proposes. “In the past, some of those seeds might have survived and those trees might have grown, but today they&#8217;re getting slashed because farmers do not want trees growing in places that will compromise the productivity of their crop,” explained Anand Osuri, a scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) and lead author of the study. “The act of removing those seeds and seedlings is a form of rescue,” he added. Shade coffee agroforests and pockets of remnant natural forest form a dense and continuous tree canopy in Chikmagalur, Karnataka. New research from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/04/coffee-agrofarms-can-play-a-key-role-in-restoring-degraded-forest-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>[Obituary] Kallur Balan: The man who planted a forest</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/02/obituary-kallur-balan-the-man-who-planted-a-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/02/obituary-kallur-balan-the-man-who-planted-a-forest/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Feb 2025 22:42:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/02/11223410/Kallur_Balan-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=31467</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Forests, Nature-based Climate Solutions, Obituary, People, Positive Environmental, and Reforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Kallur Balan did not seek recognition. He did not write books, nor command the podium at international climate summits. His work was quieter, the slow and unglamorous toil of one man against the arid land. But when he died in early February, aged 75, the forests he left behind spoke for him. The plots in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Kallur Balan did not seek recognition. He did not write books, nor command the podium at international climate summits. His work was quieter, the slow and unglamorous toil of one man against the arid land. But when he died in early February, aged 75, the forests he left behind spoke for him. The plots in which he worked in the hills of Palakkad, Thrissur, and Malappuram districts in Kerala, once barren and dry, now teem with life—palm and bamboo, tamarind and neem, birds, monkeys, and the occasional wild pig. The green tide spread by his hands, one sapling at a time, stretched over 100 acres of what was once wasteland. Over his lifetime, he planted some 2.5 million trees, turning desolation into forest. The task took decades. The tools were rudimentary: a bamboo staff, a green lungi, and a lifetime of stubborn devotion. Balan had not been born to such work. The son of a toddy tapper, he spent his early years following his father’s trade. His future might have been much the same, had he not encountered the teachings of Sree Narayana Guru, whose words convinced him to renounce liquor and look elsewhere for purpose. He found it in the trees. What began as a simple habit—planting saplings wherever he could—soon became an obsession. He planted by roadsides, in public spaces, across the hills. He did not merely plant but nurtured, returning to tend each tree like a child. And when he saw that wildlife suffered, he took to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/02/obituary-kallur-balan-the-man-who-planted-a-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Green credit scheme rolls out with oil and coal leading the way</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/12/green-credit-programme-rolls-out-with-little-clarity-on-exchange-value/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/12/green-credit-programme-rolls-out-with-little-clarity-on-exchange-value/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Dec 2024 21:02:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Simrinsirur]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[compensatory afforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Green Credit Programme]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/12/17152158/2048px-Forest_conversion_plantation_DSCN0245-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=30754</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environomy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Environmental Economics, Forests, Governance, and Reforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Eco-restoration work towards the generation of green credits is underway in over 3,000 hectares of land in India, even as the government is working to devise a formula to make such credits quantifiable and tradable. The programme, launched in October 2023, seeks to incentivise “voluntary environmental actions” by making them tradable. Activities such as tree [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Eco-restoration work towards the generation of green credits is underway in over 3,000 hectares of land in India, even as the government is working to devise a formula to make such credits quantifiable and tradable. The programme, launched in October 2023, seeks to incentivise “voluntary environmental actions” by making them tradable. Activities such as tree plantations, rainwater harvesting, and waste management are among those that can yield credits for trade. But the contours of the scheme – particularly the fungibility of these credits across different activity types – are still being worked out. In a reply to a question raised in the Lok Sabha on November 25, the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change revealed that eco-restoration work towards generating green credits had already begun in 152 land parcels of degraded forest land, amounting to 3,409 hectares. The largest of these land parcels is in Gujarat (974.9 hectares). Vinay Kumar, director of the Green Credit Cell at the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), told Mongabay India that a committee had been set up to develop a baseline for credits across different types of eco-restoration activities, and said a proposal had been sent to the Union Environment Ministry for finalisation. The ICFRE has been tasked with administering the programme. “The main purpose of the scheme is to award entities who undertake environmentally friendly actions. We’ve formed a committee to come up with an equivalence formula between different activities, which will also lead to fungibility of the credits,”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/12/green-credit-programme-rolls-out-with-little-clarity-on-exchange-value/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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