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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/ecosystem-services/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 11:38:39 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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					<title>Understanding the true value of forest ecosystem services</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/understanding-the-true-value-of-forest-ecosystem-services/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/understanding-the-true-value-of-forest-ecosystem-services/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Aug 2026 17:08:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sharmila Vaidyanathan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/20140801/pexels-shootsaga-35668007-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carbon Offset, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change Mitigation, Conservation, Ecosystem services, Environment, Forests, Global Warming, Natural Resources, Nature-based Climate Solutions, Payment for Ecosystem Services, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India’s forests provide annual ecosystem services worth $2.5 trillion, highlights a new study published in Environmental and Sustainability Indicators. Titled Contribution of forest ecosystem services in India using meta-regression approach, the study reveals that the per-hectare value of ecosystem benefits from India’s forests is about $31,000 per year. Among forest types, tropical dry deciduous forests [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India’s forests provide annual ecosystem services worth $2.5 trillion, highlights a new study published in Environmental and Sustainability Indicators. Titled Contribution of forest ecosystem services in India using meta-regression approach, the study reveals that the per-hectare value of ecosystem benefits from India’s forests is about $31,000 per year. Among forest types, tropical dry deciduous forests provide the highest economic value at $703 billion, annually. Defined as the direct and indirect benefits that bolster human wellbeing and survival, ecosystem services are further classified into provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services. With regard to forests, provisioning services include goods obtained from forest lands, such as timber, food and medicinal plants. Regulating services include carbon sequestration and soil protection, while cultural services include recreational benefits and sacred groves, among others. Supporting services include services such as providing habitats for different species. The authors also examined the economic value of individual services and found that India’s forests provide provisioning, regulating and cultural services worth about $9.64, $12.15 and $17.17 billion, respectively, every year. Supporting services were not analysed in the study. While there is a growing interest in understanding the economic impacts of forest ecosystem services, mainly fuelled by the rise in awareness about the role forests play in climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation, the study highlights the crucial need for incorporating these services into policies and forest conservation measures for better results. “Policymakers increasingly recognise that many of the benefits provided by forests, such as carbon storage, watershed and drought protection, are not&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/understanding-the-true-value-of-forest-ecosystem-services/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/understanding-the-true-value-of-forest-ecosystem-services/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why do changes in the Indian Ocean matter? [Explainer]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/why-do-changes-in-the-indian-ocean-matter-explainer/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/why-do-changes-in-the-indian-ocean-matter-explainer/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Aug 2026 12:33:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bharti Dharapuram]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environmental history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[geology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural history]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/20110746/pexels-batagov-29813525-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40293</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Environment Explained]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Science, Coast, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Fishing, Global Warming, Monsoons, Oceans, Overfishing, and Sea Level Rise]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the dynamic Indian Ocean, change is perpetual, as currents, environment, climate and biodiversity interact across multiple scales, even as global warming reshapes these interactions. The Indian Ocean is geologically the youngest of the world’s major oceans, sharing its origin with the Himalayas and is the third largest ocean in the world. Its dynamic nature, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the dynamic Indian Ocean, change is perpetual, as currents, environment, climate and biodiversity interact across multiple scales, even as global warming reshapes these interactions. The Indian Ocean is geologically the youngest of the world’s major oceans, sharing its origin with the Himalayas and is the third largest ocean in the world. Its dynamic nature, with its environment changing in space and time at various scales, impacts the region’s climate, headlined by the monsoon, and its rich biodiversity. The ocean is also the fastest warming tropical oceans in the world, threatening an increase in extreme climatic events and the decline of marine ecosystems that would impact a third of the global human population dependent on it for lives and livelihoods. How did the Indian Ocean take shape? The Indian Ocean originated from the ancient Tethys Sea, once a seaway linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean of today. This seaway closed gradually when a drifting Indian plate collided with the Asian landmass giving rise to the Himalayas, and the African and the Arabian plates closed the gap with Europe. Once a biodiversity hotspot teeming with marine species, particularly in its shallow tropical waters, the closure of this ancient sea led to widespread extinctions, shifting the centre of marine diversity eastwards to Southeast Asia. The closure also had a significant impact on land animals. One of the earliest known whale fossils, Himalayacetus (over 52 million years old), comes from oyster-rich deposits of the Tethys Sea in the foothills of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/why-do-changes-in-the-indian-ocean-matter-explainer/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A hidden population of greater hog badgers spotted on camera traps</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/camera-traps-reveal-a-hidden-population-of-greater-hog-badgers/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/camera-traps-reveal-a-hidden-population-of-greater-hog-badgers/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Aug 2026 15:05:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deekshita Baruah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kaziranga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kaziranga National Park]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/19135627/Greater-Hog-Badger-1.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40272</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Biodiversity, Camera traps, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Grasslands, Mammals, Protected Areas, Wildlife, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For years, forest officials in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve have reported occasional sightings of the greater hog badger (Arctonyx collaris) during routine night patrols. But beyond these observations, little was known about its population in the reserve, its habitat and behaviour. Now, the park’s first scientific assessment of the species published in June, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For years, forest officials in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve have reported occasional sightings of the greater hog badger (Arctonyx collaris) during routine night patrols. But beyond these observations, little was known about its population in the reserve, its habitat and behaviour. Now, the park’s first scientific assessment of the species published in June, has provided a glimpse into the hidden world of one of Asia’s least-studied mesocarnivores. Conducted by the Kaziranga Tiger Cell in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) and The Fishing Cat Project, the assessment estimated a minimum of 55 greater hog badgers across the 1,100 square kilometres of surveyed area and found that the species occupies nearly half the landscape. Researchers analysed thousands of camera trap images collected during the All India Tiger Estimation’s (AITE) 2026 exercise between February and May, providing the first scientific baseline for the species and suggesting it may be more widespread than previously believed. “The greater hog badger is an elusive nocturnal mammal. Spotting one in the wild could be a ‘call it a day’ moment for someone,” says C. Ramesh, the director of Kaziranga National Park in Assam. Before the assessment results were published, hog badgers were thought to be extremely rare as they were barely spotted outside a few locations. “But it is quite surprising that the camera traps revealed their occurrence in almost 50% of the grids where the traps were installed.” The species was independently detected more than 140 times from 857 camera-trap locations over&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/camera-traps-reveal-a-hidden-population-of-greater-hog-badgers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ladakh glaciers losing speed as ice melts, new study warns</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/ladakh-glaciers-losing-speed-as-ice-melts-new-study-warns/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/ladakh-glaciers-losing-speed-as-ice-melts-new-study-warns/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2026 14:57:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[glacier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Glaciers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/18131448/IMG_4388-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40227</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas and Ladakh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Science, Ecosystem services, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Himalayas, Impacts of Climate Change, Lakes, Mountains, Rivers, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The phrase &#8220;moving at glacial pace&#8221; is inspired by the slow, inching motion of glaciers as they flow downwards. But new research suggests glaciers in the Zanskar Himalayas in Ladakh are moving even slower than before, with implications for water availability in the region over the long term. Centuries-old glaciers blanketing mountaintops may appear to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The phrase &#8220;moving at glacial pace&#8221; is inspired by the slow, inching motion of glaciers as they flow downwards. But new research suggests glaciers in the Zanskar Himalayas in Ladakh are moving even slower than before, with implications for water availability in the region over the long term. Centuries-old glaciers blanketing mountaintops may appear to be stationary, but their mass is slowly pulled down by gravitational forces over time. The speed at which glaciers descend can be used as an indicator of their health, explained Manish Mehta, a scientist and glaciologist at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology. “Glaciers have two parts. The crown at the top is where ice and snow is accumulated from solid precipitation at higher elevations, and the snout or toe is at the bottom. The accumulation of ice at the crown is what pushes the glacier down, increasing its velocity,” he explained, adding, “But in recent times, glaciers are losing their mass in both the upper and lower zones. With less mass, there is less movement.” In the Zanskar Himalayas in Ladakh, glacier velocity decreased by 16% from 1992 to 2023, a study published in The Cryosphere journal found. The study is among the few long-term observational analyses of glacier velocity from the region, and adds to existing evidence of unprecedented glacier retreat in the world’s third pole. Hagshu glacier in the Zanskar Himalayas of Ladakh. Glaciers in this region are moving slower than before, finds new research, with implications for long-term water security. Image&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/ladakh-glaciers-losing-speed-as-ice-melts-new-study-warns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/ladakh-glaciers-losing-speed-as-ice-melts-new-study-warns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>The fraught politics and ethics of climate rankings [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-fraught-politics-and-ethics-of-climate-rankings-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-fraught-politics-and-ethics-of-climate-rankings-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Aug 2026 13:59:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Chirag Dhara]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/14114613/AP26180521878742-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40138</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Change Mitigation, Conservation, Ecosystem services, Energy, and Environment]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[​The 2022 version of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), one of the world’s best-known environmental indices, produced biennially by Yale and Columbia Universities, sparked an acerbic debate in India when it assessed the country as one of the worst performers among 180 countries. Environment and policy experts Navroz K. Dubash and Sharachchandra Lele, in an [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[​The 2022 version of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), one of the world’s best-known environmental indices, produced biennially by Yale and Columbia Universities, sparked an acerbic debate in India when it assessed the country as one of the worst performers among 180 countries. Environment and policy experts Navroz K. Dubash and Sharachchandra Lele, in an opinion piece called the EPI’s methodology “indefensible and tone-deaf” on ethics. Others argued that the index pushes a worldview that suits the “developed world,” and proposed that India build its own benchmarking system. The Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&amp;CC) went so far as to issue a stringent public rebuttal, which, unusually, elicited a robust counter-rebuttal by the EPI developers. A few months later in 2022, another well-known index called the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), by Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute, and Climate Action Network (CAN) International, released its rankings, which differed sharply from the EPI by ranking India among the world’s best climate performers. In response, the Ministry issued a press release welcoming the CCPI. Why do credible, science-based indices arrive at conflicting assessments for the same country? What, then, do we make of any country’s “true” climate performance? These questions have yet again been thrown into sharp relief with the 2026 edition of the EPI released on July 9. European countries have again been ranked the world’s best performers and India among the worst. It would be easy to read these results as merely the latest chapter of an old&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-fraught-politics-and-ethics-of-climate-rankings-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>The carbon market bets on an invasive tree</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-carbon-market-bets-on-an-invasive-tree/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-carbon-market-bets-on-an-invasive-tree/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 16:21:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yash Sadhak Shrivastava]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prosopis]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/12135149/IMG_8312-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40072</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Gujarat]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biofuels, Carbon emissions, Carbon Finance, Carbon Offset, Carbon Trading, Climate Change, Climate Change Mitigation, Ecosystem services, Energy, Grasslands, Green Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Decades ago, in the Banni grasslands of Kachchh, an invasive tree was planted to solve one environmental crisis. Today, big companies are paying to convert the same trees into a charcoal-like substance to solve another problem. In January 2025, Google announced one of the largest biochar carbon removal deals to date, agreeing to purchase 1,00,000 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Decades ago, in the Banni grasslands of Kachchh, an invasive tree was planted to solve one environmental crisis. Today, big companies are paying to convert the same trees into a charcoal-like substance to solve another problem. In January 2025, Google announced one of the largest biochar carbon removal deals to date, agreeing to purchase 1,00,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal credits from Varaha ClimateAg Private Limited, a Gurugram-based climate tech startup. Biochar is a carbon-rich charcoal produced by heating organic matter in low-oxygen conditions, which can store carbon in soil for hundreds of years. By January 2026, Varaha had added Microsoft to its roster of corporate buyers, with Lufthansa, Swiss Re, and Capgemini also signing offtake agreements. Among Varaha&#8217;s initiatives is a project in Kachchh, Gujarat, combining carbon sequestration with ecosystem restoration. The problem the credits are meant to solve Prosopis juliflora was introduced to Kachchh around the 1960s to arrest desertification. The Banni grassland now has around 50% of its area dominated by this single invasive species, according to Khyati Thacker, a botanist who has spent over five years working on community-led ecosystem restoration in Kachchh and Saurashtra. Research shows the grassland produced up to 4,000 kg of fodder per hectare in the 1960s; by 1999, that had fallen to around 620 kg. &#8220;This Prosopis juliflora has destroyed the jungle, the native trees (such as Vachellia nilotica, Prosopis cineraria, Senegalia senegal) and the grazing grass,&#8221; said Kaiyan Rabari, a herdsman from Sangnara village, Kachchh. Around late 2022, a private&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-carbon-market-bets-on-an-invasive-tree/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sloth bears are unlikely seed dispersers shaping forests</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/sloth-bears-shape-forests-as-unlikely-seed-dispersers/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/sloth-bears-shape-forests-as-unlikely-seed-dispersers/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Aug 2026 13:14:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sneha Mahale]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aravallis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lantana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sloth bear]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/06102357/Sloth-bears-may-contribute-to-the-spread-of-the-invasive-shrub-by-dispersing-its-seeds-over-long-distances.-Photo-Credit-Utkarsh-Prajapati-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39910</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Rajasthan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Endangered species, Food, Forests, Mammals, Mountains, Positive Environmental, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sloth bears may be doing much more than foraging across Rajasthan&#8217;s semi-arid deciduous forests. A new study from the Aravalli hills suggests they may also help shape the forests by dispersing viable seeds. “A relatively small number of careful studies have been conducted on sloth bear diet ecology, and an even smaller number on their [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sloth bears may be doing much more than foraging across Rajasthan&#8217;s semi-arid deciduous forests. A new study from the Aravalli hills suggests they may also help shape the forests by dispersing viable seeds. “A relatively small number of careful studies have been conducted on sloth bear diet ecology, and an even smaller number on their role in enabling seed dispersal,” says K.S. Gopi Sundar, independent scientist and co-author of the study. “Since we studied both of these aspects, we are able to show that bears are influencing a number of plant species in germinating more and faster than if they were left to germinate naturally. Clearly, dry deciduous forests’ plant compositions are a function of sloth bear presence, movement, and dietary habits,” he says. Studying bears in the Aravallis The research was conducted in the Kumbhalgarh and Todgarh-Raoli wildlife sanctuaries in Rajasthan&#8217;s south-central Aravalli range. Together, the protected areas cover about 1,100 square kilometres of dry deciduous forest, scrubland and grassland. “The two sanctuaries formed a unique ecotone between the drier western Aravalli slopes and the much greener eastern slopes,” says co-author Utkarsh Prajapati, a senior project associate at the Wildlife Institute of India. “This zone of transition, we thought, likely holds a greater diversity of resources for omnivores such as the sloth bear.” Prajapati conducted the research while at the Wildlife Research Laboratory at the Department of Zoology, University College of Science, Mohanlal Sukhadia University (MLSU), Udaipur. The Kumbhalgarh and Todgarh-Raoli wildlife sanctuaries in Rajasthan’s south-central Aravalli range. These&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/sloth-bears-shape-forests-as-unlikely-seed-dispersers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/sloth-bears-shape-forests-as-unlikely-seed-dispersers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Flies are overlooked pollinators and farmers’ friends</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/flies-are-overlooked-pollinators-and-farmers-friends/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/flies-are-overlooked-pollinators-and-farmers-friends/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 13:24:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Geetha Iyer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollination]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollinators]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/03095032/Syrphid-fly-from-Ladakh-e1785731238147-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39793</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, and Insects]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Say flies, and one instantly thinks about dirt and disease. But in truth they are among the cleanest of insects. They are a grossly misunderstood order of insects. They are excellent pollinators, aid in criminal investigation, composting, pest control and increasing soil fertility, and of course in scientific research. They are the true flies. Why [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Say flies, and one instantly thinks about dirt and disease. But in truth they are among the cleanest of insects. They are a grossly misunderstood order of insects. They are excellent pollinators, aid in criminal investigation, composting, pest control and increasing soil fertility, and of course in scientific research. They are the true flies. Why are true flies named so? Several insects such as the butterflies, dragonflies, mayflies, or fireflies bear the word ‘flies’ in their names, but they are not flies. To distinguish what we know as the fly from such insects, they are described as true flies. These are insects that have only one pair of wings. In true flies (referred to in this article as fly/flies) the hind wings are reduced to a pair of club-shaped structures called halteres and so fly using only one pair of wings. To stay airborne and move forward, the fly must beat its wings as much as two hundred times a second. That is also why it is difficult to swat flies. The halteres function as gyroscopes, providing fine balances during flight. Flies can therefore perform complex movements in flight to deftly avoid any obstacles or swats. Along with their close relatives, the midges and mosquitoes, flies belong to the order Diptera (Di, meaning two; ptera, meaning wings). Of the 27 orders of insects, Diptera ranks second for abundance. The housefly being the frequently seen one, there is a general impression that all flies are dark and drab like them. Many&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/flies-are-overlooked-pollinators-and-farmers-friends/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/flies-are-overlooked-pollinators-and-farmers-friends/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Rethinking irrigation through farm ponds [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rethinking-irrigation-through-farm-ponds-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rethinking-irrigation-through-farm-ponds-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2026 11:06:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Partik KumarParul]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[irrigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/27094551/1_Jamal-scaled-e1785125772499-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39605</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Haryana]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Food, Groundwater, Natural Resources, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the sandy fields of Jamal, a village in the Sirsa district of Haryana, water for irrigation does not arrive through a single source. It is mixed, stored, lifted, diluted, timed, subsidised and improvised. Jamal’s landscape first appears dry and exposed: mustard and wheat fields stretch across a semi-arid plain, field channels cutting through farms, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the sandy fields of Jamal, a village in the Sirsa district of Haryana, water for irrigation does not arrive through a single source. It is mixed, stored, lifted, diluted, timed, subsidised and improvised. Jamal’s landscape first appears dry and exposed: mustard and wheat fields stretch across a semi-arid plain, field channels cutting through farms, sand dunes levelled into cultivable plots, and very few functioning tubewells in the conventional sense. But the most striking feature is the diggi — a pond, often lined and built within the farmland. Mixing canal water and groundwater Canal water has clear agronomic value for a farmer: it is usually fresh, low-cost, and is drawn from Himalayan river flows and monsoon-fed storage. But it has limits. It moves through schedules, rotations, field channels, upstream–downstream hierarchies, tail-end losses and sometimes informal diversion. For farmers, this means canal water is valuable, but rarely fully controllable. It is not “on-demand” irrigation; it is scheduled irrigation. The Green Revolution made these limits sharper. High-yielding crops require water at the right time and in the right amount. This created space for what scholars describe as “atomistic irrigation” which means private wells and pumps that give farmers control, flexibility and timely access. Groundwater offers command. But at times, the groundwater’s quality becomes its biggest limitation. In regions with high groundwater salinity, the water is undesirable for irrigation. Jamal, on the Haryana–Rajasthan border, sits precisely in that type of region. It lies near the tail end of Haryana’s canal system, where canal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rethinking-irrigation-through-farm-ponds-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Fishers, naturalists worry about the impacts of turning a coastal wetland into a reservoir</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-coastal-wetland-could-soon-become-a-reservoir-to-meet-a-citys-water-demand/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-coastal-wetland-could-soon-become-a-reservoir-to-meet-a-citys-water-demand/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 17:18:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Smitha T.K.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban wetlands]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wetlands]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/13161843/4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39239</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Tamil Nadu]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Coast, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Fishing, Floods, Habitat Loss, Lakes, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Narayanan R. stood on the muddy bund of the Great Salt Lake, watching a group of flamingoes pick their way across the shallows. He remembered standing in the same spot as a 10-year-old, knee-deep in water — the day his father showed him how to fish. &#8220;The flamingoes may not come next season,” he said. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Narayanan R. stood on the muddy bund of the Great Salt Lake, watching a group of flamingoes pick their way across the shallows. He remembered standing in the same spot as a 10-year-old, knee-deep in water — the day his father showed him how to fish. &#8220;The flamingoes may not come next season,” he said. “These pools will dry soon. A few hundred metres away, Gowriamma waded through the shallow waters of the lake, her fingers sifting through the mud for shrimp. “Everything depends on these small pools. We know this water through the mud and the thorns.&#8221; Located between Nemmeli and Kovalam in Chennai, the Great Salt Lake also known as Kovalam-Nemmeli backwaters, is a coastal wetland that spans 5,000 acres. The Tamil Nadu government plans to convert this coastal wetland into Chennai’s sixth drinking water reservoir: the Mamallan reservoir. Chennai currently supplies between 700 and 800 million litres per day (MLD) of water. The demand already exceeds 1,100 MLD and is projected to cross 2,500 MLD by 2035, according to the project&#8217;s environmental impact assessment (EIA). The Mamallan reservoir aims to supply 170 MLD for the city’s needs. The reservoir is designed to store 1.65 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) in a single filling and an annual storage of 2.25 TMC. However, for Narayanan, Gowriamma and many fishing families in the area, losing the Great Salt Lake means losing the only world they have ever known. “Who are we to change the contours drawn by nature?” Narayanan asks.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-coastal-wetland-could-soon-become-a-reservoir-to-meet-a-citys-water-demand/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-coastal-wetland-could-soon-become-a-reservoir-to-meet-a-citys-water-demand/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Why looking at trees is a type of rebellion [Book Review]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-looking-at-trees-is-a-type-of-rebellion-book-review/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-looking-at-trees-is-a-type-of-rebellion-book-review/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 12:16:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aarushi Agrawal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trees outside forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban trees]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/13102344/2560px-hill-mynah-28gracula-religiosa29-leaving-its-nest-28806409492329-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39207</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Forests, Plants, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[According to an analysis by Down to Earth of the environment ministry&#8217;s advisory committee records, more than 2.8 million trees, on forest land, were approved for felling or recorded as felled across India between July 2023 and May 2026. About 90% of this felling has happened because of mining, hydropower and rehabilitation projects. Where efforts [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[According to an analysis by Down to Earth of the environment ministry&#8217;s advisory committee records, more than 2.8 million trees, on forest land, were approved for felling or recorded as felled across India between July 2023 and May 2026. About 90% of this felling has happened because of mining, hydropower and rehabilitation projects. Where efforts are being made to increase green cover in the country, we are starkly falling short. A recent study published in the journal Environmental Research Communications, which examines eight major government policies and programmes and their impact on tree cover, finds that only one showed positive associations with tree cover. Essentially, most government efforts are ill-informed and falling short. The more we consume news about this war against trees, the harder we fight. Until we can’t anymore. Until we’re exhausted and depleted. Writer and wildlife scientist T.R. Shankar Raman’s book The Trees of My Country: A Natural History of India in 50 Trees, with illustrations by Manali Patil, is a balm for those tired times. The book doesn’t try to advocate for trees or talk about their functionality and importance to human life. It doesn’t talk about why trees are needed and all the bad that will happen if trees are gone. It doesn’t make excuses on their behalf. The tactics tree lovers normally use to try to get the unaffected to care about trees are all thrown out the window. Here, trees deserve to exist because they are living beings. That’s reason enough. In not&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-looking-at-trees-is-a-type-of-rebellion-book-review/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-looking-at-trees-is-a-type-of-rebellion-book-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cooling cities needs climate-smart design, not just more trees</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/cooling-cities-needs-climate-smart-design-not-just-more-trees/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/cooling-cities-needs-climate-smart-design-not-just-more-trees/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2026 13:23:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepa Padmanabhan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heat wave]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heatwave]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tree plantation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban climate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urban forest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urban Heat Island]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban trees]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/09130111/AP24170444747328-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39112</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Ecosystem services, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Impacts of Climate Change, Nature-based Climate Solutions, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Urban greening is widely promoted as a solution to rising temperatures. But can planting more trees actually make people feel hotter in some cities? A new study published in Nature Communications by researchers from IIT Gandhinagar and Northeastern University, USA examines this paradox. Instead of looking only at air temperature or land surface temperature, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Urban greening is widely promoted as a solution to rising temperatures. But can planting more trees actually make people feel hotter in some cities? A new study published in Nature Communications by researchers from IIT Gandhinagar and Northeastern University, USA examines this paradox. Instead of looking only at air temperature or land surface temperature, the study focused on the Heat Index (HI) which is the “feels like” temperature that combines heat and humidity because humans respond to both temperature and moisture in the air. The study finds that while urban trees generally help cool cities by providing shade, reducing incoming solar radiation, and lowering surface temperatures, these benefits vary in different cities. In humid cities, dense tree canopies can inadvertently increase heat stress by boosting evapotranspiration, which releases more moisture into the air. Where buildings are closely packed and airflow is restricted, this extra humidity can raise the Heat Index even if the air itself becomes cooler. On the other hand, semi-arid cities experience more consistent cooling because the drier atmosphere can absorb additional moisture without becoming uncomfortably humid. The study&#8217;s first author, Angana Borah, says the same tree can produce very different thermal comfort outcomes depending on where it is planted, the surrounding urban density and the local climate. As cities warm faster than their rural surroundings, climate-responsive greening is important, the study notes. Canopy structure plays a role The study analysed three different aspects of vegetation — EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index), LAI (Leaf Area Index) and fPAR (Fraction&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/cooling-cities-needs-climate-smart-design-not-just-more-trees/" 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>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous women build new livelihoods with hive boxes</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-women-build-new-livelihoods-with-hive-boxes/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-women-build-new-livelihoods-with-hive-boxes/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jul 2026 13:31:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beekeeping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[honey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[honeybees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollination]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollinators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[women]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[women in agriculture]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/03101916/Sigur_070725_7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38951</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Knowledge]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Food, Indigenous Peoples, Insects, Non-Timber Forest Produce, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Neelavathi (37), an Irula woman from Vazhaithottam village in Tamil Nadu&#8217;s Nilgiris district, has had several reasons to celebrate over the past few months — a new occupation, a higher income, and enough money to celebrate the annual festival at her village temple, Mariyamman Kovil. “I have already sold around six litres of honey,” she [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Neelavathi (37), an Irula woman from Vazhaithottam village in Tamil Nadu&#8217;s Nilgiris district, has had several reasons to celebrate over the past few months — a new occupation, a higher income, and enough money to celebrate the annual festival at her village temple, Mariyamman Kovil. “I have already sold around six litres of honey,” she says with pride. “Since I am the beekeeper at home, my family lets me keep the income for my own needs.” Apart from buying new clothes for herself and her kids, Neelavathi could buy two stone dosa griddles with the income from honey sales over time. Nine Irula women from the Sigur Plateau, including Neelavathi, gathered in a small community hall in Vazhaithottam to share with Mongabay-India their experiences of learning beekeeping. Over the past year, they have been trained to manage bee colonies in hive boxes, grow fruit trees that provide nectar for the bees, and harvest honey — an enterprise that has significantly boosted their household incomes. Women trained on beekeeping as a livelihood In April 2025, UNESCO partnered with the Nilgiris-based non-profit Keystone Foundation to bring its Women for Bees project to India. The Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve was chosen as the programme’s first site in the country, with activities launched across five locations in two states — Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Beekeepers at work in Nilambur, Kerala. In April 2025, UNESCO&#8217;s Women for Bees project debuted in India, at the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve, engaging 50 Indigenous women from Sigur, Pillur, Kuzhiyoor, Wayanad&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-women-build-new-livelihoods-with-hive-boxes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The slow exit of foraging in urban blue spaces</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-slow-exit-of-foraging-in-urban-blue-spaces/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-slow-exit-of-foraging-in-urban-blue-spaces/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 May 2026 14:27:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jyotsnika Tiwari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[foraging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fruits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[greens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urban forest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban lakes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wild foods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wild greens]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/05/22122945/East-Kolkata-Wetlands-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38313</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Ecosystem services, Food, Plants, Trees, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It is 4 a.m. at the East Kolkata Wetlands. The city has not yet woken up, but a woman has already arrived at the lake&#8217;s edge. She wades in and starts collecting crabs, mussels, and fish, moving with the ease of someone who has done this many times. Once it is done, she changes into [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It is 4 a.m. at the East Kolkata Wetlands. The city has not yet woken up, but a woman has already arrived at the lake&#8217;s edge. She wades in and starts collecting crabs, mussels, and fish, moving with the ease of someone who has done this many times. Once it is done, she changes into dry clothes and is off to work as a domestic help in one of the new lake-view apartment buildings nearby. Before her shift begins, she will sell some of what she has collected, and cook the rest in the evening, with the women in her neighbourhood. Sukanya Basu, researcher and faculty at Azim Premji University, saw this woman and others like her across lakes and rivers in Kolkata, Kochi, Bengaluru and Mumbai during months of fieldwork for her study, Widespread Practices and Sustainability Benefits of Foraging in Urban Blue Spaces of India, published in Nature Cities journal, conducted with colleagues Brenda Maria Zoderer, Harini Nagendra, Peter H. Verburg and Tobias Plieninger. The study surveyed over 1,200 people (799 women and 391 men) who used these urban water bodies or blue spaces from March to September in 2023 and found that more than half of them frequently collected edibles from lakes, rivers and wetlands for personal consumption, selling, sharing and collective cooking. And yet, this practice is almost entirely absent from policy, planning and public imagination. Urban water bodies are valued as recreational amenities, ecological assets and for flood management, but never as food systems, which&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-slow-exit-of-foraging-in-urban-blue-spaces/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Rules for forest conservation may facilitate diversions [Analysis]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rules-for-forest-conservation-may-facilitate-diversions-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rules-for-forest-conservation-may-facilitate-diversions-analysis/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2026 17:02:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Meenakshi Kapoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[afforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[compensatory afforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment clearance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest clearance]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/30151517/Image-1_-Sub-tropical-pine-forest-of-Himachal-Pradesh.-Credit-Meenakshi-Kapoor--scaled-e1777542538894-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37958</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Environmental Politics, Forestry, and Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Forest conservation goes beyond tree planting and requires preservation of the entire ecosystem,” said Bhupender Yadav, the Union Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF&#38;CC), on the occasion of World Forest Day at a national workshop at the Forest Research Institute Dehradun on March 21. While the minister expressed a pro conservation sentiment, certain [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Forest conservation goes beyond tree planting and requires preservation of the entire ecosystem,” said Bhupender Yadav, the Union Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF&amp;CC), on the occasion of World Forest Day at a national workshop at the Forest Research Institute Dehradun on March 21. While the minister expressed a pro conservation sentiment, certain legal changes made by the environment ministry do not follow the same sentiment. As per Indian environment law, forest clearance is required to divert land when a project of a non-forestry nature is planned in a forest area. The clearance process involves both the central and state governments. The proponent of the project submits an application to the state forest department, which examines the proposal and, if satisfied, forwards it to the central government with its observations. There, either the Forest Advisory Committee, the Empowered Committee at the regional office, or the head of the regional office of the environment ministry reviews the proposal, mainly to determine whether the project absolutely needs to be located on forest land or can be shifted elsewhere. If the committee agrees with the project&#8217;s need for forest land, the central government grants a Stage I, or in-principle, clearance. Stage I approval comes with certain conditions, including (but not limited to) the need for compensatory afforestation to make up for the loss of trees and payment of net present value to offset the loss of ecosystem services of the forest being lost. Once the project meets these conditions and the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rules-for-forest-conservation-may-facilitate-diversions-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>India’s farms do ecological work that no policy has accounted [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/indias-farms-do-ecological-work-that-no-policy-has-accounted-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/indias-farms-do-ecological-work-that-no-policy-has-accounted-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Apr 2026 17:40:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepanjana SahaG. RavikanthPrasanna N.S.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[groundwater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paddy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollination]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollinators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soil health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water crisis]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/28165937/AP24094531201617-scaled-e1777375917659-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37919</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environmental Politics, Food, Insects, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A farm that rebuilds soil carbon, supports pollinators, and conserves groundwater is treated no differently from one that depletes all three. In India’s agricultural economy, this is not a failure of awareness. Rather, ecosystem services have entered the vocabulary of agricultural policy, as in the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), launched under the National [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A farm that rebuilds soil carbon, supports pollinators, and conserves groundwater is treated no differently from one that depletes all three. In India’s agricultural economy, this is not a failure of awareness. Rather, ecosystem services have entered the vocabulary of agricultural policy, as in the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), launched under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, which explicitly frames soil health, water-use efficiency, and biodiversity conservation as agricultural priorities. The NITI Aayog’s strategy documents for doubling farmer income reference ecological sustainability. The PM-PRANAM scheme, introduced in 2023, acknowledges that chemical input reduction has landscape-level value worth incentivising. It is a failure of institutional design: the mechanisms that actually determine farm income have never been revised to reflect what policy language now routinely acknowledges. The MSP system began in 1966-67 during the Green Revolution, aiming to stabilise grain output when food was scarce. It worked. Over time, it grew to include 23 mandated crops. However, India built pricing around output and input costs only, so the system measures quantity produced, not how it is produced. To calculate MSP, the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) uses A2 (direct cost borne by the farmer), A2+FL (family labour), or C2 (A2+FL+rented value of owned land). But it does not consider ecological outcomes, positive or negative. Ecological processes like soil formation, water regulation, pollination, and pest control support every harvest. They are not side effects of farming — they are its foundation. Yet, they are missing from MSP, procurement,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/indias-farms-do-ecological-work-that-no-policy-has-accounted-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Ramsar wetland tag needs to be followed up with sustained management, say experts</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/ramsar-wetland-tag-needs-to-be-followed-up-with-sustained-management-say-experts/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/ramsar-wetland-tag-needs-to-be-followed-up-with-sustained-management-say-experts/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2026 11:45:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manish Chandra Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aquatic life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freshwater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[migratory birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ramsar site]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ramsar sites]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[waterbirds]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/24094121/Image_5_Sarus_cranes-e1777004765814-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37855</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uttar Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Lakes, Water, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Shekha Jheel Bird Sanctuary in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, has been designated a Ramsar site, taking India’s total number of wetlands of international importance to 99 and Uttar Pradesh’s tally to 12. The 40-hectare freshwater wetland in the Upper Gangetic Plain that supports 249 bird species, including 62 water bird and wetland-dependent species. The perennial water [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Shekha Jheel Bird Sanctuary in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, has been designated a Ramsar site, taking India’s total number of wetlands of international importance to 99 and Uttar Pradesh’s tally to 12. The 40-hectare freshwater wetland in the Upper Gangetic Plain that supports 249 bird species, including 62 water bird and wetland-dependent species. The perennial water body regularly hosts more than 20,000 water birds in peak winter and serves as a refuge during dry months, supporting vulnerable species such as sarus crane, common pochard, greater spotted eagle and endangered freshwater turtles. The Ramsar site is characterised by a mosaic of wetlands, grasslands, forests and agriculture lands. The Ramsar official information sheet describes the wetland’s role in groundwater recharge, irrigation support, nature tourism, education and research, while also noting that it is facing pressures from invasive alien species, excess heat and noise, temperature extremes and grazing. The management plan lists several on-ground measures already proposed or taken at the site, including mounds for bird resting and nesting, a nature trail, two watchtowers, weed removal in some areas, afforestation, awareness drives and involvement of local villagers in conservation. India’s Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said, in a press release, that Shekha Jheel acts as “a crucial stopover on the Central Asian Flyway,” providing habitat for migratory birds such as the bar-headed goose, painted stork and various ducks during winter. The Ramsar dossier says Shekha Jheel supports several species of higher conservation concern, including the vulnerable sarus crane, common pochard, greater spotted eagle and river&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/ramsar-wetland-tag-needs-to-be-followed-up-with-sustained-management-say-experts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Plugging data gaps in global plant diversity using citizen science</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/plugging-data-gaps-in-global-plant-diversity-using-citizen-science/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/plugging-data-gaps-in-global-plant-diversity-using-citizen-science/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Apr 2026 14:44:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anusha Krishnan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[data collection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mapping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[maps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[species]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/22093742/54845290113_dbf0dfa29c_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37800</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Citizen science, Climate Change, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Forests, Plants, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[What does a global map of plant life look like, and what happens when the data behind it is incomplete? A recent study published in Nature Communications in January 2026, describes such a map, built from field surveys, earth observation systems, and millions of observations recorded by citizen scientists around the world. This map now [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[What does a global map of plant life look like, and what happens when the data behind it is incomplete? A recent study published in Nature Communications in January 2026, describes such a map, built from field surveys, earth observation systems, and millions of observations recorded by citizen scientists around the world. This map now offers one of the most in-depth views of how plants function across ecosystems. However, the map also exposes something else. These are large, persistent gaps in the data that scientists rely on to understand the Earth’s vegetation, which means that quite a bit of the world’s plant life is still poorly documented. The study used 31 plant traits such as size, growth strategy, leaf characteristics, wood density, reproductive traits, and resource use to outline a global ‘plant economics’ spectrum. These characteristics, also known as functional traits, can help us understand how plant strategies change in response to climate and ecosystem stress. Currently, most global biodiversity data only tell us what species are found where; they don’t tell us what roles they play in carbon storage and ecosystem dynamics. Mapping these traits on a global scale gives us a spectrum of characteristics spanning fast-growing, nutrient-hungry plants to slow-growing, stress-tolerant ones and how these traits support plant growth, survival, adaptation, and persistence in an ever-changing world. This is especially important for informing models on energy, nutrient, and water cycles which are increasingly being used to plan infrastructure, agricultural, and energy strategies in a world faced with climate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/plugging-data-gaps-in-global-plant-diversity-using-citizen-science/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>From diversity to monotony, ecological communities are homogenising</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/from-diversity-to-monotony-ecological-communities-are-homogenising/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/from-diversity-to-monotony-ecological-communities-are-homogenising/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Apr 2026 11:58:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Guha DharmarajanTrisha Putturaya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monoculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zoonoses]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/09103503/Green_Moray_Eel_Gymnothorax_funebris_Cozumel-scaled-e1775712264999-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37644</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecosystem services, Environment, Health impacts, Oceans, Plantations, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Imagine walking through different ecosystems across the world, only to find that species inhabiting them look strikingly similar. This is the reality of biotic homogenisation, a process where diverse biological communities become increasingly similar as unique endemic species, highly sensitive to environmental changes, are replaced by common generalist species, which are insensitive to such perturbations. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Imagine walking through different ecosystems across the world, only to find that species inhabiting them look strikingly similar. This is the reality of biotic homogenisation, a process where diverse biological communities become increasingly similar as unique endemic species, highly sensitive to environmental changes, are replaced by common generalist species, which are insensitive to such perturbations. Natural drivers It is important to recognise that biotic homogenisation can be a natural process. The drivers can be placed into two broad categories, disturbance and connectivity. Disturbance refers to changes over time in environmental conditions that can drive homogenisation by favouring species that thrive under altered conditions, such as hurricanes, floods, and volcanic eruptions. However, when the environment is constantly disturbed, specialist species that thrive under a narrow set of environmental conditions find it tough to keep up, leaving only generalists that can survive under a broad set of environmental conditions. Climate change can cause ecological disturbances at a global scale. Earth’s climate has naturally fluctuated over geological timescales, and fossil records show that there were past instances of biotic homogenisation, particularly following mass extinction events. For example, the Palaeozoic mass extinction, which wiped out nearly 90% of species, resulted in a global biota dominated by a few generalist species. Changes in landscape connectivity, such as land bridges and river networks, influence species compositions by facilitating species movement and increasing species overlap in previously distinct regions. Natural mechanisms can also facilitate global connectivity, ocean currents, for example, can facilitate long-distance movement of marine species&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/from-diversity-to-monotony-ecological-communities-are-homogenising/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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