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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/grasslands/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 11:16:05 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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					<title>New-to-science spider highlights importance of open natural ecosystems</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-to-science-spider-highlights-importance-of-open-natural-ecosystems/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-to-science-spider-highlights-importance-of-open-natural-ecosystems/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2026 11:30:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ananya Singh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arthropods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desert]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spiders]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/28094856/0E3A1302-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39669</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Deccan Plateau, Grasslands, New species, Positive Environmental, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[What began as a routine vegetation monitoring survey in Maharashtra&#8217;s semi-arid grasslands took an unexpected turn when researchers overturned a rock and stumbled upon a silk-lined burrow underneath. They recognised it as the burrow of a trapdoor spider — an ancient group of spiders, many species of which construct doors of silk and soil to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[What began as a routine vegetation monitoring survey in Maharashtra&#8217;s semi-arid grasslands took an unexpected turn when researchers overturned a rock and stumbled upon a silk-lined burrow underneath. They recognised it as the burrow of a trapdoor spider — an ancient group of spiders, many species of which construct doors of silk and soil to conceal their burrow openings and ambush passing prey. The team dug through the soil, following the burrow to its end where a female trapdoor spider of the genus Tigidia lay in a bulb-shaped chamber. A detailed examination of this specimen, collected in November 2025 near Nandeshwar Mahadev Temple in Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra, confirmed it as a new-to-science species. Researchers named it Tigidia singhal in their study published in the journal Arachnology, bringing the number of Tigidia species in India to eight. Until now, species of this genus were known from peninsular India’s tropical evergreen and deciduous forests, particularly the Western and Eastern Ghats. T. singhal is the first record of this genus from a semi-arid open natural ecosystem, significantly expanding its known range. “The species inhabits rocky hilltop grasslands of the Deccan Plateau, an ecosystem often overlooked despite supporting remarkable biodiversity,” wrote study authors Rishikesh Tripathi and Prasad Bolde in an email to Mongabay-India. “Finding a previously unknown trapdoor spider here highlights how little we still know about the biodiversity of these open natural ecosystems,” they added. A female of the newly described trapdoor spider, Tigidia singhal (left) and the silk-lined burrow (right) built by this&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-to-science-spider-highlights-importance-of-open-natural-ecosystems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-to-science-spider-highlights-importance-of-open-natural-ecosystems/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scrublands and ravines offer key habitat for the elusive caracal</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/caracal-prefer-ravines-open-natural-ecosystems-over-protected-areas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/caracal-prefer-ravines-open-natural-ecosystems-over-protected-areas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2026 14:16:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sneha Mahale]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shailesh Shrivastava]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[caracal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife monitoring]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/09121119/Caracal-in-the-Ranthambhore-Kailadevi-Dholpur-landscape_Ranthambhore-Tiger-Reserve-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39121</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Rajasthan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Camera traps, Cats, Conservation, Endangered species, Grasslands, Protected Areas, Thar Desert, Wildlife, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The caracal is one of India&#8217;s most elusive wild cats. With its sandy coat, lean frame and distinctive black ear tufts, it is instantly recognisable. Yet sightings are rare, and much of what researchers know about the species comes from scattered records rather than dedicated research. A recent study from southeastern Rajasthan on caracals and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The caracal is one of India&#8217;s most elusive wild cats. With its sandy coat, lean frame and distinctive black ear tufts, it is instantly recognisable. Yet sightings are rare, and much of what researchers know about the species comes from scattered records rather than dedicated research. A recent study from southeastern Rajasthan on caracals and their habitats, is looking to change that. Using camera-trap records and habitat modelling, researchers have identified areas likely to support caracals across the Greater Ranthambhore landscape and the environmental features most strongly associated with the species&#8217; occurrence. “Very little was known about its current distribution, habitat requirements, or population status. Most available information came from scattered historical records, opportunistic sightings, and anecdotal observations, making it difficult to develop effective conservation strategies. Our study was motivated by the need to move beyond isolated records and develop a landscape-level understanding of where suitable habitats still exist for the species,” shares Ayan Sadhu, a research scientist at the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India, and a corresponding author of the study. A landscape beyond the tiger reserve The study focused on the Kailadevi landscape, which forms the northern extension of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve. Situated between Banas and Chambal rivers, the semi-arid region is a mosaic of scrub forests, rocky plateaus, ravines and villages. It supports a diverse carnivore community that includes tigers, leopards, wolves, striped hyenas and jungle cats. To understand how caracals use this landscape, researchers deployed camera traps at 177 locations between January&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/caracal-prefer-ravines-open-natural-ecosystems-over-protected-areas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/caracal-prefer-ravines-open-natural-ecosystems-over-protected-areas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Proposed solar project in India&#8217;s largest grassland sparks conservation concerns</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/proposed-solar-project-in-indias-largest-grassland-sparks-conservation-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/proposed-solar-project-in-indias-largest-grassland-sparks-conservation-concerns/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2026 16:27:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ronak Gajjar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ramsar site]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ramsar sites]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solar Energy]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/08102058/009-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39076</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Gujarat]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Community based conservation, Conservation, Grasslands, Indigenous Peoples, Lakes, Renewable Energy, Thar Desert, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Banni grasslands of Kachchh represent one of the most unique, complex, and fragile ecological mosaics in the Indian subcontinent. For centuries, this vast expanse in the western state of Gujarat has been shaped by the harmonious coexistence of diverse wildlife and the Maldharis, a traditional pastoralist community. The region gained greater conservation recognition earlier [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Banni grasslands of Kachchh represent one of the most unique, complex, and fragile ecological mosaics in the Indian subcontinent. For centuries, this vast expanse in the western state of Gujarat has been shaped by the harmonious coexistence of diverse wildlife and the Maldharis, a traditional pastoralist community. The region gained greater conservation recognition earlier this year when its Chhari Dhandh wetland was designated as a Ramsar site in January, making it Kachchh&#8217;s first and Gujarat&#8217;s fifth Ramsar site, highlighting the wetland&#8217;s critical biodiversity. However, a proposed solar power plant near the wetland has sparked concerns over its ecological impact and triggered opposition from local communities. The solar power plant, proposed by the NTPC Renewable Energy Limited, will be spread over 4,500-acres as per the claim in the notice published by the Fulay Juth (group) gram panchayat in the newspaper on May 12. Documents accessed by Mongabay-India reveal that the timeline for securing the required No Objection Certificates (NOCs) was initiated in 2024. According to local conservationists and a forest official, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity as they have been instructed to not speak to the media, the project has now begun active groundwork, with site surveys, fencing installation, and the management of Prosopis juliflora underway. However, conservationists, ecologists, wildlife photographers, and local pastoralists fear that the project will cause irreversible damage to the ecology of Chhari Dhandh wetland. A herder with camels in the lush grasslands bordering the Chhari Dhandh wetland in Kachchh, Gujarat, which received&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/proposed-solar-project-in-indias-largest-grassland-sparks-conservation-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/proposed-solar-project-in-indias-largest-grassland-sparks-conservation-concerns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<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>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-feasibility-matters-for-land-use-projects-in-india-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>When trees replace grasslands, specialist birds lose their habitat</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/when-trees-replace-grasslands-specialist-birds-lose-their-habitat/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/when-trees-replace-grasslands-specialist-birds-lose-their-habitat/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2026 17:45:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[afforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heavy rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[savanna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[savannahs]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/02170908/PaddyfieldPipit_SiddhantMhetre_Anthus_Rufulus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38913</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, Grasslands, Impacts of Climate Change, Plantations, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India’s fast disappearing grasslands have long been targeted for afforestation — a practice that encourages tree planting on “degraded” parcels of land. With their vast and open landscapes, savannahs and grasslands are often considered barren land in need of more dense tree cover. But how does converting grassy, arid land to something woody and canopied [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India’s fast disappearing grasslands have long been targeted for afforestation — a practice that encourages tree planting on “degraded” parcels of land. With their vast and open landscapes, savannahs and grasslands are often considered barren land in need of more dense tree cover. But how does converting grassy, arid land to something woody and canopied transform an ecosystem, and the life within it? New research from Maharashtra studies how old-growth savannahs, when planted with trees, changes bird populations and distributions. Grasslands and savannahs are estimated to cover 15-20% of India’s land mass, and yet remain under-researched. The lack of recognition of grassland ecosystems has meant their role in regulating microclimates and hosting endemic biodiversity has largely gone unnoticed. “There are very few studies on dry savannahs in general, and even fewer on the impacts of afforestation on them,” said Abi T. Vanak, Director of the Centre for Policy Design at ATREE and a scholar of India&#8217;s grasslands. The study from Maharashtra compared bird species and abundance across undisturbed savannahs and well-established plantations, creating new evidence for how the impacts of afforestation go beyond just changes to tree cover. It found that afforestation rendered the area uninhabitable for grassland specialist species like the Indian courser — a long-legged bird which scans the grass to forage — and the tawny pipit, which nests on the ground — among a host of others. Instead, bird populations were maintained by an influx of other species better adapted to woody and forested habitats. The shift&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/when-trees-replace-grasslands-specialist-birds-lose-their-habitat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>New camera-trap record confirms caracal presence in Kuno</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-camera-trap-record-confirms-caracal-presence-in-kuno/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-camera-trap-record-confirms-caracal-presence-in-kuno/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jul 2026 14:55:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manish Chandra Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shailesh Shrivastava]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[caracal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kuno]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Madhya Pradesh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/30114032/IMG_0186-e1782883923178-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38850</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Madhya Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Animals, Camera traps, Cats, Conservation, Endangered species, Forests, Grasslands, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deep inside Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, two camera traps captured a lean wildcat at night. It had long legs, a tawny coat and black ear tufts. This wildcat was a caracal, one of India’s least-seen wild cats. Notably, this caracal was recorded from the same forest landscape where India’s cheetah reintroduction project is underway. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deep inside Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, two camera traps captured a lean wildcat at night. It had long legs, a tawny coat and black ear tufts. This wildcat was a caracal, one of India’s least-seen wild cats. Notably, this caracal was recorded from the same forest landscape where India’s cheetah reintroduction project is underway. Kuno National Park’s field director Uttam Kumar Sharma noted that in the four years that he has been in the Park, this was the first record of the cat. The forest department is now going through older records to check if caracals had been recorded earlier in Kuno or adjoining areas. Sharma noted that this record may indicate the possibility of local presence. However, more monitoring is needed before drawing a conclusion, he added. Presence, not proof of population Shekhar Kolipaka, who has studied caracal distribution and suitable habitats in India, and is Senior Landscape Developer at Commonland Foundation said the Kuno record should be interpreted carefully. “A single camera-trap photograph confirms the presence of a caracal, but does not indicate the existence of a resident population,” Kolipaka said in a written response to Mongabay-India. However, he added that the record, most likely a dispersing male, is still significant. Continued monitoring, he said, will help determine whether more individuals occur in the landscape and whether the photographed animal establishes residency or continues dispersing. “Like most wild cats, young adults naturally disperse from their birth areas to establish their own territories. Males, in particular, often travel&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-camera-trap-record-confirms-caracal-presence-in-kuno/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Village documents 600 species through a community-led survey</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/village-documents-600-species-through-a-community-led-survey/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/village-documents-600-species-through-a-community-led-survey/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jun 2026 11:35:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vinaya Kurtkoti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[documentation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grassland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/22081709/Indian-Wolf-in-the-grasslands-of-Kiraksal-Photo-Credit-Himesh-Gahir-GreenHub-Fellow-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38758</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas and Eco Hope]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community based conservation, Conservation, Grasslands, Human Wildlife Conflict, and Mammals]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Kiraksal, a small village in Maan taluka, Satara district of Maharashtra, is known for its dense scrublands. According to the village elders, this area was once a thriving grasslands ecosystem, home to blackbucks and chinkaras. After the 1950s, ungulate species gradually became locally extinct in this area; the Indian grey wolves, striped hyena, golden jackals, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Kiraksal, a small village in Maan taluka, Satara district of Maharashtra, is known for its dense scrublands. According to the village elders, this area was once a thriving grasslands ecosystem, home to blackbucks and chinkaras. After the 1950s, ungulate species gradually became locally extinct in this area; the Indian grey wolves, striped hyena, golden jackals, and Bengal foxes survived, but the biodiversity in the village remained undocumented. Chinmay Sawant, a wildlife biologist from Mumbai whose grandparents live in Kiraksal, decided to change this by scientifically documenting the species in this ecosystem. Sawant spent the COVID-19 lockdown period in Kiraksal for this purpose, and worked on putting together the village’s People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR). “Kiraksal is connected to hilly areas and table mountains but we did not know which animals live there. I was curious to find out and scientifically study this area, so I spent the entire lockdown period here. Amol Katkar, who was a member of the gram panchayat during this time, entrusted me with the task of making the PBR, so I formed a team of likeminded young people interested in conserving nature,” he shares. The Kiraksal Conservation Project was thus started, and this team continued their efforts to document the biodiversity, later supported by a WWF grant from 2023 to 2025. The WWF-supported project had three objectives: local community engagement and youth training, biodiversity documentation and research, habitat protection and restoration. The first phase of the project (May 2023 to October 2024) involved developing surveys with the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/village-documents-600-species-through-a-community-led-survey/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>The chinkara&#8217;s future may be less secure than its conservation status suggests</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-chinkaras-future-may-be-less-secure-than-its-conservation-status-suggests/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-chinkaras-future-may-be-less-secure-than-its-conservation-status-suggests/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2026 14:37:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manjeera Gowravaram]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dryland conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[herbivores]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solar Energy]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/18125106/10840549853_e252fdecb6_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38716</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecology, Grasslands, Mammals, Renewable Energy, Thar Desert, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Indian gazelle, also known as chinkara, found across the subcontinent&#8217;s drylands, carries a quiet sense of security. Protected under Schedule I of India&#8217;s Wildlife Protection Act and listed under the least concern category by the IUCN, it is not an obvious candidate for a conservation crisis. However, a new study published in the Journal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Indian gazelle, also known as chinkara, found across the subcontinent&#8217;s drylands, carries a quiet sense of security. Protected under Schedule I of India&#8217;s Wildlife Protection Act and listed under the least concern category by the IUCN, it is not an obvious candidate for a conservation crisis. However, a new study published in the Journal of Wildlife Management by researchers from the Zoological Survey of India, challenges that assumption. The study projects that under the worst-case emissions pathway, RCP 8.5, where temperatures rise by 4°C or more by 2100, the chinkara could lose nearly 89% of its suitable habitat by 2070. When climate alone is isolated as a driver, projected habitat loss climbs to almost 96.5%. Under RCP 2.6, which aligns with the Paris Agreement&#8217;s 2°C target, habitat losses were lower, but still severe. &#8220;A loss of 89-96% of habitat within roughly 50 years represents a biodiversity emergency for this species in India,&#8221; said lead author of the study Amar Paul Singh. The study is among the first to examine these risks at a national scale for a dryland ungulate. Mapping a shrinking future The researchers compiled more than 200 verified chinkara records from field surveys, published literature and biodiversity databases spanning between 2000 and 2022. They layered those records against climate, land-cover, topographic and human-disturbance data, then ran them through an ensemble of seven different species-distribution models to reduce the bias any single model might introduce into the final projection. Under current conditions, the models identified a little over&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-chinkaras-future-may-be-less-secure-than-its-conservation-status-suggests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Biodiversity and pastoral traditions lose shine with time in these grass preserves</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/biodiversity-and-pastoral-traditions-lose-shine-with-time-in-these-grass-preserves/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/biodiversity-and-pastoral-traditions-lose-shine-with-time-in-these-grass-preserves/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jun 2026 14:03:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vandana K.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desert]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livestock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional Knowledge]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/12122455/AP23167518472753-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38617</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Gujarat]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecology, Environment, Grasslands, Indigenous Peoples, Protected Areas, and Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nasibi Shermamad Jat, 55, remembers how, as a child, she would walk to the rakhal near her village with her mother to take their buffaloes for grazing. “I plucked imli (tamarind) from the trees and collected grass during drought,” she recalls. After she got married, her visits to the rakhal continued with her husband and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nasibi Shermamad Jat, 55, remembers how, as a child, she would walk to the rakhal near her village with her mother to take their buffaloes for grazing. “I plucked imli (tamarind) from the trees and collected grass during drought,” she recalls. After she got married, her visits to the rakhal continued with her husband and their camels. A protected area, a rakhal is typically characterised by sparse tree cover, shrubs, and grass in a savannah-like landscape, found in the arid and semi-arid regions of Kachchh, Gujarat. Nasibi’s village is one among the many villages across the parched region of Kachchh, where shades of white, beige and sandy brown dominate the landscape. Belonging to the pastoralist Maldhari community in Dhragavandh, a village near the India-Pakistan border, Nasibi’s family of eight owns 30 camels and six buffaloes. There are four rakhals surrounding her village located inside the Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary. “The kings gave us rakhals to graze our animals,” says Nasibi. Rakhals began as grass preserves in the 1880s, with the purpose of supplying fodder for animals and for hunting by the rulers of the princely state of Kachchh. Cutting trees was banned even then. The royal court earned revenue from some rakhals by allowing Maldharis to graze their herds in these areas. After Independence, the rakhals were taken over by the state forest department. In present times, rakhals are facing several pressures in the form of urbanisation, industrialisation, the fading away of traditional ecological knowledge, invasive species, renewable energy expansion, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/biodiversity-and-pastoral-traditions-lose-shine-with-time-in-these-grass-preserves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>How nomadic herders sustain forests [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-nomadic-herders-sustain-forests-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-nomadic-herders-sustain-forests-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jun 2026 12:38:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Najakat AliNeema P. BroomeNeha Negi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[buffalo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grazing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildfires]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/01112508/An-egret-walks-among-resting-Gojri-buffalo-reflecting-the-close-relationship-between-the-herds-and-other-species-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38446</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uttarakhand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community based conservation, Ecology, Forest Rights Act, Grasslands, Indigenous Peoples, and Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When you walk with the Van Gujjars in the forest, you realise quickly that conservation with them doesn’t look like warning boards or official patrols. It is in everyday things, in the way the nomadic pastoralist families move with their buffaloes, graze carefully, use medicinal plants, and lop trees in a way that they grow [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When you walk with the Van Gujjars in the forest, you realise quickly that conservation with them doesn’t look like warning boards or official patrols. It is in everyday things, in the way the nomadic pastoralist families move with their buffaloes, graze carefully, use medicinal plants, and lop trees in a way that they grow back again. For them, looking after the herd is just another way of looking after the forest. For generations, the Gojri buffalo has been at the centre of Van Gujjar life. Families migrate with them season after season, down to the plains in winter where fodder and water are easier to find, up to the alpine meadows in summer where grass grows thick and fresh. This movement is guided by elders&#8217; knowledge of rivers, pastures, and seasons. It is a way of living that has helped keep forests, grasslands, and people in balance. Ask a Maee (a traditional herder identified by each family for their buffaloes, and shares a mutually intimate relationship with their buffaloes), and they’ll explain it simply, “Our buffaloes eat from the top, not the root.” These small details make all the difference. Grass grows back quickly and is soft, and the forest regenerates. Within days, the same patch turns green again. In Kunau Chaur, a grassland and scrub forest in Uttarakhand, elders point to the trees that sprouted after buffaloes carried seeds across the ranges. In another landscape, Anjani Chaur, the elders said that the buffaloes do more than walk; they&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-nomadic-herders-sustain-forests-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>India’s rare swamp deer establishes a second home</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/indias-rare-swamp-deer-establishes-a-second-home/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/indias-rare-swamp-deer-establishes-a-second-home/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Apr 2026 11:37:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sneha Mahale]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tiger reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tiger reserves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[translocation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife translocation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/27185347/Hard-ground-swamp-deer-are-growing-and-breeding-well-in-their-new-habitat-in-Satpura-Tiger-Reserve.-Photo-Credit-L-Krishnamoorthy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37899</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Madhya Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Grasslands, In-situ conservation, Mammals, Protected Areas, Wildlife, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A population of hard-ground swamp deer translocated from Kanha Tiger Reserve to Satpura Tiger Reserve, both in Madhya Pradesh, is growing steadily and breeding successfully, according to a new study. The subspecies, once widespread across central India, now survives in just one region, making efforts to establish a second population critical in reducing extinction risk. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A population of hard-ground swamp deer translocated from Kanha Tiger Reserve to Satpura Tiger Reserve, both in Madhya Pradesh, is growing steadily and breeding successfully, according to a new study. The subspecies, once widespread across central India, now survives in just one region, making efforts to establish a second population critical in reducing extinction risk. The hard-ground swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii branderi) was once found widely across India, but today survives naturally only in Kanha. According to the IUCN Red List, the hard-ground swamp deer is categorised as vulnerable and is listed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The subspecies declined historically due to habitat alteration, fragmentation of grasslands and hunting. With a single population of roughly 1,100 animals, the species remains vulnerable to disease outbreaks or other threats. “Confining the entire subspecies to Kanha effectively created a single point of failure,” says Neha Awasthi, the study’s corresponding author, and member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission’s Deer Specialist Group. “Small isolated populations face intrinsic risks such as demographic stochasticity [fluctuations in mean growth rate], genetic drift and inbreeding, as well as external threats including disease outbreaks or large-scale environmental disturbances.” The study was conducted by researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India along with the Madhya Pradesh forest department. Kanha also has ecological limits with finite grassland habitat and carrying capacity. “Without opportunities for dispersal into new landscapes, density-dependent pressures could eventually limit population growth,” adds Awasthi. In recent&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/indias-rare-swamp-deer-establishes-a-second-home/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Wind power’s ecological costs on bats</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/wind-powers-ecological-costs-on-bats/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/wind-powers-ecological-costs-on-bats/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 16:56:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aisiri Amin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bats]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/22095536/Scotophilus-heathii_Dehradun_RohitChakravarty2016-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37759</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative energy, Energy, Grasslands, Mammals, Renewable Energy, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As India’s renewable energy market diversifies, wind farms have emerged as an underexplored threat to bats. Globally, millions of bats die every year when they collide into wind turbines as they fly. Currently, bat species across the world face significant threats such as habitat loss from deforestation and agriculture, persecution, hunting, urbanisation, energy production, and climate [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As India’s renewable energy market diversifies, wind farms have emerged as an underexplored threat to bats. Globally, millions of bats die every year when they collide into wind turbines as they fly. Currently, bat species across the world face significant threats such as habitat loss from deforestation and agriculture, persecution, hunting, urbanisation, energy production, and climate change, according to a 2025 Fact Sheet by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species and Wild Animals (CMS). Yet conversations about biodiversity threats rarely acknowledge that climate solutions, such as renewable energy infrastructure, can themselves pose risks to biodiversity. The latest State of Indian Bats report also brings attention to wind turbines as one of the threats affecting bat species. However, there are data gaps in three major areas, bat researcher Rohit Chakravarty says. “One, what species are the most affected. Two, to what extent the mortality is and three, whether there are any seasonal patterns in the mortality across species,” he explains. With about 135 bat species, India is home to roughly 10% of the global bat diversity. Of these, around sixteen are found only in India. According to Bat Conservation International, of the 122 species from India assessed by the IUCN, “only 23% have stable populations, with the rest decreasing.” The carcass of a Scotophilus heathii bat found at a wind farm. While bat carcasses in grasslands can be spotted by researchers during the dry season with relative ease, grass growth during the wet season makes finding them more challenging. Images&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/wind-powers-ecological-costs-on-bats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rewilding rhinos as part of a long-term conservation plan</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rewilding-rhinos-as-part-of-a-long-term-conservation-plan/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rewilding-rhinos-as-part-of-a-long-term-conservation-plan/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 16:23:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manish Chandra Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brahmaputra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dudhwa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dudhwa Tiger Reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ganga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greater one-horned rhino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rhino conservation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/03152740/DSC4427.JPG-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37605</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uttar Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Ecology, Grasslands, Mammals, Protected Areas, Rhinos, Rivers, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the grasslands of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh, a rhino stood inside a transport crate mounted on a tractor trolley as forest staff, veterinarians, mahouts and elephants gathered around it. Once the team lifted the door and stepped back, the animal paused briefly, looked around, and then moved toward the forest. The was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the grasslands of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh, a rhino stood inside a transport crate mounted on a tractor trolley as forest staff, veterinarians, mahouts and elephants gathered around it. Once the team lifted the door and stepped back, the animal paused briefly, looked around, and then moved toward the forest. The was part of a two-day release operation in March 2026, during which forest staff, veterinarians and field teams shifted four great one-horned rhinos from a fenced rehabilitation area into the reserve’s core habitat. The rhinos (one male and three females aged 15 to 25 years) were tranquilised, fitted with radio collars, examined and then released into an unfenced grassland area inside the reserve. With the introduction of the four rhinos in March, Dudhwa now has eight free-ranging rhinos. This exercise was carried out by a joint team of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and WWF-India. It was the third such effort after similar releases in November 2024 and March 2025. The team has set up a monitoring mechanism and control room to track the animals using VHF and satellite locations. H. Rajamohan, Field Director, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, said in a press release, the release of the four rhinos into the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve was a significant step in rhino conservation. “After decades of hard work, the efforts to bring back rhinos to India’s Terai landscape have finally begun to bear fruit. The exercise exemplifies the commitment of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department to conserve and protect&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rewilding-rhinos-as-part-of-a-long-term-conservation-plan/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Shrinking commons, broken routes strain nomadic pastoralists</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/shrinking-commons-broken-routes-strain-nomadic-pastoralists/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/shrinking-commons-broken-routes-strain-nomadic-pastoralists/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Mar 2026 18:54:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aishwarya Mohanty]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livestock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[migration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralists]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/03/30130755/Raika_3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Rajasthan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Grasslands, Grazing, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, and Thar Desert]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district, Narayan Rabari, 42, walks with his sheep and camels, looking for fields with fodder. He has travelled on foot for over two days, covering 17 kilometres, but his journey is far from over. Since leaving his village in Rajasthan’s Pali district, Narayan has already covered nearly 300 kilometres, moving across [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district, Narayan Rabari, 42, walks with his sheep and camels, looking for fields with fodder. He has travelled on foot for over two days, covering 17 kilometres, but his journey is far from over. Since leaving his village in Rajasthan’s Pali district, Narayan has already covered nearly 300 kilometres, moving across highways, fenced farms and settlements where open grazing once existed. He belongs to the Raika community, a nomadic agropastoralist community from Rajasthan, which followed seasonal routes across western India. Today, shrinking grazing lands, disappearing migration routes and declining access to commons are pushing the Raika pastoralists to the brink. As younger generations leave herding for waged labour, older Raikas continue to migrate on foot, trying to sustain their traditional agropastoral system, now struggling to survive amid rapid land-use change. Walking father, resting less “When I was young, I remember there was grazing land around, not enough for all the cattle in the village, but still there. But over the years, the grazing open lands were converted into private farmlands; some were diverted for road construction,” Narayan said. “What remained hardly had any grass. It was all deserted,” he added. “There is no grazing land near our home.” He began herding livestock at 10-years-old, joining his father on seasonal migrations. “Earlier, we had more camels, sheep and goats. But over the years, as their food became limited in areas around us and we walked longer distances looking for pasture land, it increasingly became difficult to manage&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/shrinking-commons-broken-routes-strain-nomadic-pastoralists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Sloth bears den between a rock and a safe place</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/sloth-bears-den-between-a-rock-and-a-safe-place/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/sloth-bears-den-between-a-rock-and-a-safe-place/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Mar 2026 13:29:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sneha Mahale]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[camera traps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dryland conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest guards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sloth bear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife corridors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife monitoring]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/03/25010338/MelursusUrsinusFemaleCub-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37445</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Gujarat]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Ecology, Forestry, Grasslands, Mammals, Protected Areas, Wildlife, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the dry forests of eastern Gujarat, sloth bears disappear into the landscape every day. Naturally occurring caves on rocky hillocks provide hidden shelters that offer shade, safety and, for some, a place to raise cubs. A recent study takes a closer look at these refuges to understand how sloth bears choose these sites, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the dry forests of eastern Gujarat, sloth bears disappear into the landscape every day. Naturally occurring caves on rocky hillocks provide hidden shelters that offer shade, safety and, for some, a place to raise cubs. A recent study takes a closer look at these refuges to understand how sloth bears choose these sites, and why certain aspects of the landscape matter more than others. “Denning behaviour is a really important part of sloth bear ecology, but surprisingly it has not been studied as much as other aspects like diet or habitat use. Like other bears, sloth bears depend on dens as safe places for resting and for raising their cubs. These sites also provide protection from environmental stress, disturbance and potential threats, especially when cubs are very young,” says Ashish Kumar Jangid, principal project associate at Wildlife Institute of India, and a sloth bear expert. Finding sloth bears dens The study was conducted between May 2022 and November 2023 in forests connecting Ratanmahal Wildlife Sanctuary and Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat. The landscape stretches across Dahod, Chhota Udepur and Panchmahal districts and covers roughly 324 square kilometres. The terrain is rugged and hilly. Rocky outcrops rise through dry deciduous forest dominated by teak, crocodile bark, mahua, tendu and dhak trees. Although the sanctuaries themselves are protected areas, the corridor linking them is a mosaic of forest and human use. Sloth bears move through this landscape alongside species such as leopards, rusty-spotted cats, Indian giant flying squirrels, striped hyenas, golden&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/sloth-bears-den-between-a-rock-and-a-safe-place/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Invasive trees, roaming dogs, and the fragile balance of Thar’s desert predators</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/invasive-trees-roaming-dogs-and-the-fragile-balance-of-thars-desert-predators/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/invasive-trees-roaming-dogs-and-the-fragile-balance-of-thars-desert-predators/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 12:01:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sneha Mahale]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[carnivores]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[feral dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free ranging dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stray dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildcats]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/03/09100250/Desert-foxes-often-used-the-same-areas-as-free-ranging-dogs-but-shifted-their-activity-to-different-times-of-day-reducing-the-risk-of-encounters.-Photo-Credit-Chet-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37194</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Thar Desert]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Biodiversity, Cats, Ecology, Grasslands, Mammals, Plants, Thar Desert, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Grasslands around the world are quietly changing under pressure from overgrazing, cropland expansion, climate change and biological invasions. In India’s Thar Desert, these pressures are reshaping which species survive and how they share space. A new ecological study finds that two invasive forces, fast-spreading mesquite trees and free-ranging dogs linked to human settlements, are changing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Grasslands around the world are quietly changing under pressure from overgrazing, cropland expansion, climate change and biological invasions. In India’s Thar Desert, these pressures are reshaping which species survive and how they share space. A new ecological study finds that two invasive forces, fast-spreading mesquite trees and free-ranging dogs linked to human settlements, are changing how native mesocarnivores (medium-sized carnivores) move, hunt and coexist in this landscape. “Wildlife communities of the Thar Desert remain relatively understudied even as the landscape undergoes rapid ecological change,&#8221; says Chetan Misher, a wildlife ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Trust and the study’s corresponding author. &#8220;Mesquite has become the dominant woody plant, altering habitat structure, while free-ranging dogs function as apex or dominant predators in many areas. Together, these invasives are reshaping native communities through habitat modification, changes in predation, competition and interference, with cascading effects across the ecosystem,” A changing desert landscape The Thar spans about 446,000 square kilometres across western India and southern Pakistan, covering over 200,000 sq km across parts of western Rajasthan and the Kachchh region of Gujarat. To capture ecological variation across this landscape, researchers focused on two contrasting sites for the study: the mesquite-dominated Banni grasslands of Gujarat and the more fragmented, agriculture-influenced grasslands around Bikaner in Rajasthan. Mesquite growing in Gujarat. A new study finds that fast-spreading mesquite trees and free-ranging dogs are changing how native medium-sized carnivores move, hunt and coexist in this landscape. Image by Dinesh Valke via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). Both regions support similar&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/invasive-trees-roaming-dogs-and-the-fragile-balance-of-thars-desert-predators/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Migrant harriers emerge as unlikely gardeners of grasslands</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/migrant-harriers-emerge-as-unlikely-gardeners-of-grasslands/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/migrant-harriers-emerge-as-unlikely-gardeners-of-grasslands/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Feb 2026 13:53:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[migratory birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollination]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollinators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[raptors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seeds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife monitoring]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/13115959/52673351842_f26f96ca49_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36882</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Ecology, Grasslands, Habitat Fragmentation, Habitat Loss, Migration, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Harriers are best known for their low, buoyant flight in a zig-zag, back-and-forth pattern while hunting for prey, and their spectacular ability to pass food to each other in mid-air. They are diurnal raptors, birds of prey active during the day, that have uniquely adapted to open natural ecosystems such as grasslands and wetlands. Part [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Harriers are best known for their low, buoyant flight in a zig-zag, back-and-forth pattern while hunting for prey, and their spectacular ability to pass food to each other in mid-air. They are diurnal raptors, birds of prey active during the day, that have uniquely adapted to open natural ecosystems such as grasslands and wetlands. Part of the Accipitridae family, these birds feed on small birds, rodents, reptiles, and insects. India’s fragmented savannah-grassland ecosystems serve as the wintering grounds for six of the 16 harrier species present globally. The subcontinent is home to the world’s largest roost of the near-threatened pallid harrier (Circus macrourus) and Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus). Most ecological studies on harriers in Asia have been limited to mapping their migration routes, roosting sites, population trends, and food preferences. In a recent paper published in Oikos journal, scientists from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) have demonstrated that migratory harriers contribute to the regeneration of India’s savannah-grassland ecosystems through a secondary seed dispersal method known as diploendozoochory. Diploendozoochory is an indirect seed dispersal mechanism where carnivores that prey on seed predators unintentionally consume the seeds in the digestive tracts of their prey and later expel them intact and viable for germination. Between October 2016 and April 2023, the research team collected 3,216 pellets (regurgitated mass of undigested food) from prominent wintering sites of harriers and recorded viable seeds of 137 plant species from these pellets. Seed dispersal is a fundamental process that shapes the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/migrant-harriers-emerge-as-unlikely-gardeners-of-grasslands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Reading the Aravallis through maps and law [Analysis]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/reading-the-aravallis-through-maps-and-law-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/reading-the-aravallis-through-maps-and-law-analysis/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Feb 2026 15:38:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abi T. VanakKripa M.K.Milind BunyanSachin Pernacca Sashidhar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[S. Gopikrishna Warrier]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aravallis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[construction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ecosystem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat degradation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[land management]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/09110022/AP22350157934244-scaled-e1770615046628-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36794</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Ecology, Environment, Grasslands, Industry, Land Rights, Mountains, Pollution, Villages, Water, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Across western and northern India, the Aravallis appear in fragments: a rocky ridge at a town’s edge, a grazed grassland, a seasonal stream, a low dune system holding the desert in place. Individually perhaps unremarkable, but together they form one of India’s most important ecological systems: open natural ecosystems (ONEs). Many of these landscapes are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Across western and northern India, the Aravallis appear in fragments: a rocky ridge at a town’s edge, a grazed grassland, a seasonal stream, a low dune system holding the desert in place. Individually perhaps unremarkable, but together they form one of India’s most important ecological systems: open natural ecosystems (ONEs). Many of these landscapes are also embedded in cultural and religious traditions, encompassing orans, sacred groves, and Vedic river systems such as the holy Saraswati. Yet, this vital geography recently faced an existential threat. On November 20, 2025, the Supreme Court of India adopted a definition proposed by the Central Government that limited the Aravalli ‘Hills’ to those rising more than 100 meters above the surrounding land and the ‘Range’ to two or more such hills located within 500 metres of each other. Though framed as a technical clarification, the rule redraws the landscape by excluding significant terrain from protection. However, the legal tide has since turned. After staying its own order in December 2025, the Court on January 21, 2026 extended the stay further. The Bench directed the Additional Solicitor General and the amicus curiae to suggest names of environmentalists and scientists with expertise in mining and related fields. This would result in a court-supervised expert committee to assist it with ongoing proceedings. The immediate danger may have been put on hold, but the question of implications of the definition remains. A spatial analysis by researchers from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), across&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/reading-the-aravallis-through-maps-and-law-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Birds are declining even in undisturbed grasslands, raising climate concerns</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/birds-are-declining-even-in-undisturbed-grasslands-raising-climate-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/birds-are-declining-even-in-undisturbed-grasslands-raising-climate-concerns/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Feb 2026 15:44:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manish Chandra Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[critical habitat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grazing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat degradation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livestock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow leopard]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/06135906/Himalayan-Snowcock_Kalzang-Gurmet-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36771</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Birds, Climate Change, Ecology, Grasslands, Habitat Loss, Himalayas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Before the sun rises over the jagged ridgelines around Kibber village in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul-Spiti district, 43-year-old Kalzang Gurmet is already on the move. On days when the monitoring site lies far from home, he leaves around five in the morning, walking across open steppe and rocky slopes for three to four hours. The early [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Before the sun rises over the jagged ridgelines around Kibber village in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul-Spiti district, 43-year-old Kalzang Gurmet is already on the move. On days when the monitoring site lies far from home, he leaves around five in the morning, walking across open steppe and rocky slopes for three to four hours. The early start matters. As the sun grows harsher, bird activity drops and sightings become fewer. “Subah ka time sabse achha rehta hai,” he says in Hindi. (“Morning is the best time.”) Kalzang Gurmet grew up in Kibber, studied history, completed a Master’s degree, and returned to the village. Since 2007, he has worked with the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), helping scientists document birdlife across one of the highest inhabited mountain landscapes in the world. Over the past two decades, Gurmet has played a key role in data collection and fieldwork. Along with Tanzin Thinley and other local field staff, he has walked the same transects summer after summer, counting birds in terrain where elevations exceed 4,000 metres and the growing season lasts only a few months. That continuity, the same places, the same methods, year after year, now tells a troubling story. The insights are documented in a study published in Ecological Applications in which the NCF researchers reports that bird densities declined across habitats, but the only statistically significant decadal decline was in the ungrazed steppe, the habitat facing the least direct human disturbance. Ungrazed steppe refers to high-altitude grassland kept free from livestock grazing,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/birds-are-declining-even-in-undisturbed-grasslands-raising-climate-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>What traditional Marathi literature reveals about savannahs</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/what-traditional-marathi-literature-reveals-about-savannahs/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/what-traditional-marathi-literature-reveals-about-savannahs/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Feb 2026 14:12:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sharmila Vaidyanathan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environmental history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marathi literature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[native plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[savanna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[savannahs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional Knowledge]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/03140621/%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B3_%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A3%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%B2_%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A3%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%A0%E0%A4%BE_%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%B3%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%97_%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B3%E0%A5%87_Small_water_pond_in_grasslandLaling_Dhule-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Ecology, Endemic species, Forests, Grasslands, Indigenous Peoples, Plantations, Plants, Trees, and Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It might have been just another coffee session between two researchers catching up on their work, but when Ashish Nerlekar noticed the mention of savannah specialist trees in Digvijay Patil&#8217;s historical references, the duo realised they were onto something new. “Digvijay’s research focuses on people’s perceptions of natural environments, and he was showing me some [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[It might have been just another coffee session between two researchers catching up on their work, but when Ashish Nerlekar noticed the mention of savannah specialist trees in Digvijay Patil&#8217;s historical references, the duo realised they were onto something new. “Digvijay’s research focuses on people’s perceptions of natural environments, and he was showing me some of his references from the western Maharashtra region, when I noticed savannah-specialist or indicator trees in them. That led us to systematically study traditional literature to understand the ecological history of savannahs,” says Nerlekar, Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, Michigan State University, USA. Patil is a PhD student in the Humanities and Social Sciences Department at the Indian Institute of Science Education Research, Pune. Over the next two years, they scoured through narrative poems, religious texts, myths, field notes, biographical and hagiographical accounts in the Marathi language, published between the 13th and 20th centuries C.E. They found several savannah-specific landscape descriptions and mentions of flora and fauna in oral and literary references. These findings refute the popular claim that tropical savannahs are a result of anthropogenic deforestation. The study, published in People and Nature has garnered wide attention and raised significant interest in unearthing the history of India&#8217;s savannahs. &#8220;While previous scientific research establishes the antiquity of Asian savannahs, and researchers have long been telling the general public and policymakers that these ecosystems are ancient, the misconception continues to prevail,” Nerlekar explains. Apart from providing an appropriate window into an ecosystem’s past, traditional literature also enables spreading&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/what-traditional-marathi-literature-reveals-about-savannahs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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