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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/people/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2026 12:05:59 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
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					<title>The emotional cost of displacement</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-emotional-cost-of-displacement/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-emotional-cost-of-displacement/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 12:01:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi M.R.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Displacement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mental health]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/10/09093557/7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41519</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Making Waves]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arabian Sea and Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Coast, Coastal erosion, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Fishing, Floods, Health impacts, Human Rights, Oceans, People, and Villages]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“This was our home,” says 43-year-old Baby Titus, pointing to a green-painted house secured with a rusty lock. Waves were repeatedly crashing on the right side of the house. “The sea kept entering and receding, and it caused a short circuit inside the house. You would get an electric shock wherever you touched.” A road [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“This was our home,” says 43-year-old Baby Titus, pointing to a green-painted house secured with a rusty lock. Waves were repeatedly crashing on the right side of the house. “The sea kept entering and receding, and it caused a short circuit inside the house. You would get an electric shock wherever you touched.” A road past Kollamkode Church in Thiruvananthapuram leads to the Arabian Sea, where rows of houses like Titus’s line the shoreline. Many houses here have been engulfed by the sea. The remains of those houses, along with the granite boulders dumped into the sea for a seawall, are constantly battered by the waves, each surge crashing against them with a frightening roar. Kulathoor grama panchayat is the southernmost grama panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala. Its coastal wards, including Pozhipallivilakam, Mullassery, Kollamkode, Paruthiyoor, Pozhikara Beach and Pozhiyoor, have been facing severe coastal erosion for decades. Many of these wards have only seven or eight rows of houses remaining, out of about 100. Of those that remain, only a few are inhabited. Fearing the house was structurally precarious and hence, unsafe, Baby Titus now lives in a rented two-bedroom house next door with her husband and three adolescent children, paying ₹2,000 a month. The house’s owners have moved elsewhere due to flooding. Baby Titus spends the night listening anxiously to the sound of every crashing wave, wondering whether the sea is coming in — a reality shared by the families living along the coast. Baby Titus&#8217;s coastal home&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-emotional-cost-of-displacement/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>As tigers spill beyond reserves, India rethinks conservation</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-tigers-spill-beyond-reserves-india-rethinks-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-tigers-spill-beyond-reserves-india-rethinks-conservation/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2026 12:04:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[big cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tiger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wild Cats]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/18110753/Copy-of-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40999</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Forests, Grazing, Human Wildlife Conflict, Mammals, National Parks, People, Protected Areas, Tigers, Wildlife, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Forty-five-year-old Mahadeva Gowda was tending to his cotton farm in the village of Badagalapura in the southern Indian state of Karnataka when a tiger lunged at him from behind. He was caught unaware: He says he wasn’t aware that the forest department was trying to capture a tiger roaming through the areas. Before he realised [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Forty-five-year-old Mahadeva Gowda was tending to his cotton farm in the village of Badagalapura in the southern Indian state of Karnataka when a tiger lunged at him from behind. He was caught unaware: He says he wasn’t aware that the forest department was trying to capture a tiger roaming through the areas. Before he realised what was happening, the tiger swiped at his face, severely injuring his eyes and part of his face. After multiple reconstructive surgeries, Gowda has been left to live the rest of his life blinded, without eyes, his mouth only able to open partially, and his speech slurred. His wife, Indrani, says survival is extremely difficult for the family; Gowda was the household’s breadwinner, and now, he can’t work. He’s now become fully dependent on his wife for even his most basic needs. The incident occurred in mid-October 2025. Two weeks later, another farmer, 55-year-old Rajashekarappa, was grazing his cattle in a field when he encountered a tiger. It was fatal. Badagalapura and other villages that regularly report tiger encounters sit on the edge of the forest, placing them within what the forest department considers a “tiger landscape.” “Tigers have been present in this landscape for centuries and they constantly move here,” says S. Prabhakaran, who served as conservator of forests and oversaw operations at Karnataka’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve until earlier this year. The 1,456-square-kilometre park is home to between 154 and 175 tigers, according to a 2024 estimate by India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-tigers-spill-beyond-reserves-india-rethinks-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-tigers-spill-beyond-reserves-india-rethinks-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Reduced exposure to nature is linked to immune system diseases [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/reduced-exposure-to-nature-is-linked-to-immune-system-diseases-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/reduced-exposure-to-nature-is-linked-to-immune-system-diseases-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 15:13:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ayisha FarseenaIrfan Shakeer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanisation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/03143959/Golpata_Forest_Taki_3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40655</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Ecosystem services, Environment, Forests, Health impacts, Human Rights, and People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Homo sapiens appeared roughly 300,000 years ago. As outlined in naturalist Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species, this long transition occurred through continuous evolutionary pressures, shaped by interactions with surrounding microbial communities and natural environments. As species struggled and evolved within their ecosystems over time, natural selection shaped not only their physical traits [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Homo sapiens appeared roughly 300,000 years ago. As outlined in naturalist Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species, this long transition occurred through continuous evolutionary pressures, shaped by interactions with surrounding microbial communities and natural environments. As species struggled and evolved within their ecosystems over time, natural selection shaped not only their physical traits but also their internal immune system. This evolutionary process equipped organisms with a sensitive and a complex system to combat pathogens and foreign agents encountered in their natural environments. Ultimately, it is fair to say that human existence is the direct product of nature shaping our biology. The long-standing relationship among humans, microbes, and their shared environment was double-edged, yet they complemented each other. However, driven by rapid urbanisation and shifting lifestyles, human populations are slowly becoming disconnected with nature. Extensive scientific research and data collection have demonstrated the adverse effects of this ecological disconnect on the human immune system, particularly among recent generations of children, in the form of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). Multiple factors impact inflammatory diseases Over the past two decades, the rising incidence (new patients) of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) has drawn increasing attention from global researchers and policymakers. These are heterogeneous groups of inflammatory pathologies of multifactorial etiology (conditions caused by multiple factors) and involve either simultaneously or sequentially more organs. Some of the common examples are Crohn&#8217;s disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and asthma. Unlike diseases caused by infectious&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/reduced-exposure-to-nature-is-linked-to-immune-system-diseases-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Heat plans must account for age and gender, says UN Women paper</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/heat-plans-must-account-for-age-and-gender-says-un-women-paper/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/heat-plans-must-account-for-age-and-gender-says-un-women-paper/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 12:25:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sharmila Vaidyanathan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heat impacts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heat stroke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heat wave]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heatwave]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/21102915/pexels-votso-sothu-53802751-35635150-scaled-e1784610000177-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39480</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Environment and Her]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Extreme Weather Events, Fossil Fuels, Global Warming, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health impacts, Human Rights, Impacts of Climate Change, People, and United Nations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India witnessed yet another record-breaking summer this year. As scorching temperatures become the new norm, a new technical paper calls for a more granular understanding of gender and age-specific risks of heat stress. The paper, Gender-differentiated and age-specific risks of heat stress in a warming world: Implications for equality and resilience, by Venge Nyirongo, Deputy [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India witnessed yet another record-breaking summer this year. As scorching temperatures become the new norm, a new technical paper calls for a more granular understanding of gender and age-specific risks of heat stress. The paper, Gender-differentiated and age-specific risks of heat stress in a warming world: Implications for equality and resilience, by Venge Nyirongo, Deputy Chief of Economic Empowerment and Policy Advisor for Sustainable Development at United Nations (UN) Women, highlights that heat stress affects men, women, children, adults and older people differently. Nyirongo explains that biological responses vary between men and women. While men have higher sweat rates than women, mortality from heat stroke and heat-related cardiac events is significantly higher among men. Heat impacts also emerge from the interaction of biological differences and gendered social roles, notes the paper. Strenuous physical work performed outdoors, primarily by men, raises internal body temperatures, placing them at greater risk of heat-related illnesses. For women, the paper notes, the impacts of passive heat exposure experienced indoors during heatwaves are a significant concern. It also points out that much of the agricultural work undertaken by women, such as transporting water or watering seedlings, is carried out during the hottest parts of the day, often without sufficient knowledge about heat impacts or access to cooling measures. “These patterns likely reflect both biology and social behaviour,” writes Nyirongo. He stresses the need for more data collection, monitoring and research to develop targeted heat adaptation measures across different demographic groups. “The paper underscores that a significant&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/heat-plans-must-account-for-age-and-gender-says-un-women-paper/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/heat-plans-must-account-for-age-and-gender-says-un-women-paper/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>A scientist’s search for dragons and damsels [Interview]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-scientists-search-for-dragons-and-damsels-interview/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-scientists-search-for-dragons-and-damsels-interview/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 May 2026 12:49:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[damselflies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dragonflies]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/05/28000548/Crimson-Marsh-Glider-banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38393</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Citizen science, Conservation, Ecology, Insects, Interviews, People, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“One third of India’s dragonflies likely extinct”, “Scientists sound alarm”, “35% drop in populations”. These were some of the headlines in the media over the last month, following the publication of the first-ever comprehensive study on odonates in the Western Ghats. Odonates are a group of predatory flying insects that includes dragonflies and damselflies. A [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“One third of India’s dragonflies likely extinct”, “Scientists sound alarm”, “35% drop in populations”. These were some of the headlines in the media over the last month, following the publication of the first-ever comprehensive study on odonates in the Western Ghats. Odonates are a group of predatory flying insects that includes dragonflies and damselflies. A taxon that otherwise rarely gets any press coverage was suddenly speculated to be going extinct. Pankaj Koparde, who leads the Chatur Ullu Lab in Pune, Maharashtra, which — as the name suggests — works on dragonflies (chatur in Marathi) and owls (ullu in Hindi), is the lead author of the paper. He is also an assistant professor at the MIT World Peace University in Pune. Mongabay-India met the researcher, who has extensively worked on this lesser-known taxon over the last decade and a half, to learn more about odonates and their conservation status in the subcontinent. In this interview, edited for clarity and length, Koparde introduces us to the fascinating world of dragonflies and damselflies, the growing citizen-science movement behind these tiny hunters, and what lies ahead for this understudied taxon. Pankaj Koparde leads the Chatur Ullu Lab in Pune and is an assistant professor at the MIT World Peace University. He has extensively studied Odonates, a group of predatory flying insects that includes dragonflies and damselflies, and their conservation status. Image courtesy of Chatur Ullu Lab. The Chatur Ullu Lab team, which studies dragonflies and owls in Pune. Image courtesy of Chatur Ullu Lab.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-scientists-search-for-dragons-and-damsels-interview/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Pollution and poor infrastructure remain barriers to cyclists in India</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/pollution-and-poor-infrastructure-remain-barriers-to-cyclists-in-india/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/pollution-and-poor-infrastructure-remain-barriers-to-cyclists-in-india/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 May 2026 17:22:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aisiri Amin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[city planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cycling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Road]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roads]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urban transport]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/05/08153957/1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38079</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Cities and Towns, Environment, Human Rights, People, Pollution, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, a district collector, a Union Minister, and a cycling advocacy group were motivated by the same thought: cycling for a pollution-free future. At the beginning of the year, BYCS India Foundation, a cycling advocacy group, urged major political parties to prioritise making Delhi a bicycle-friendly city. In August, Union Minister for Youth Affairs [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, a district collector, a Union Minister, and a cycling advocacy group were motivated by the same thought: cycling for a pollution-free future. At the beginning of the year, BYCS India Foundation, a cycling advocacy group, urged major political parties to prioritise making Delhi a bicycle-friendly city. In August, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Mansukh Mandaviya, echoed the sentiment, framing cycling as “a solution to pollution.” And in December, Andhra Pradesh’s NTR District Collector G Lakshmisha emphasised the importance of cycling not just for personal fitness, but to reduce emissions. With more research highlighting that cycling can reduce pollution and move towards net-zero carbon goals, there has been a push to promote the familiar leisure activity as a climate solution. However, a new study, published in Nature Cities, examined bicycling culture in cities of four low- and middle-income countries — Delhi and Chennai in India, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Accra in Ghana — and found barriers including lack of physical infrastructure as well as policy, implementation and gender gaps. India is the sixth most-polluted country, according to the 2025 World Air Quality Report by IQAIR, with Delhi ranking as the fourth most polluted city worldwide. “Whenever air pollution rises in Delhi, the conversation turns to reducing vehicular emissions. The government and the media advocate using public buses and bicycles instead of cars. But this is ironic because the government acts as an advocate, but nothing is done to improve the actual conditions that discourage their use,” says&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/pollution-and-poor-infrastructure-remain-barriers-to-cyclists-in-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Madhav Gadgil: the hub of a wheel, the voice of the Ghats [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/madhav-gadgil-the-hub-of-a-wheel-the-voice-of-the-ghats-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/madhav-gadgil-the-hub-of-a-wheel-the-voice-of-the-ghats-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Feb 2026 14:04:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Kurien]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Divya Kilikar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[silent valley]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/18105204/Madhav_Gadgil_at_Kasaragod_3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36946</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community based conservation, Ecology, Environment, Obituary, People, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the morning of January 8, as I walked along a beach in Kozhikode with my wife, Ramachandra Guha called with the news of Madhav Gadgil’s passing. He asked whether I might speak about Madhav’s relationship with Kerala — and, inevitably, about Madhav and me. My first instinct was hesitation. Surely there were many who [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the morning of January 8, as I walked along a beach in Kozhikode with my wife, Ramachandra Guha called with the news of Madhav Gadgil’s passing. He asked whether I might speak about Madhav’s relationship with Kerala — and, inevitably, about Madhav and me. My first instinct was hesitation. Surely there were many who stood closer to him. Madhav had the rare gift of drawing people. Through a call, a letter, an invitation, or a challenge, he would momentarily pull you closer. When the moment passed, you were left  altered by the encounter. I was fortunate to be drawn in more than once. My first such moment came in 1988 at a workshop in Bengaluru organised by our late friend Paul Kurian. It was there that I encountered Madhav alongside Joan Martinez-Alier and Ramachandra Guha. I was then a reluctant academic, working on political ecology in fisheries. My paper on energetics and the marine commons found unexpected resonance with Madhav and Joan, and their encouragement mattered deeply. That workshop also seeded key collaborations between Madhav, Joan, and Ram Guha, that would later shape Indian and global environmental thought. Madhav Gadgil presents at a workshop. Image by Aparajita Dange via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Our interactions continued sporadically but meaningfully. In 1989, Madhav invited me to a deliberation in Bengaluru as part of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Science Advisory Council. We discovered shared concerns — particularly about bottom trawling as an ecologically destructive technology unsuited to tropical seas, regardless&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/madhav-gadgil-the-hub-of-a-wheel-the-voice-of-the-ghats-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Madhav Gadgil – a scientist, mentor and an institution builder [Obituary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/madhav-gadgil-a-scientist-mentor-and-an-institution-builder-obituary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/madhav-gadgil-a-scientist-mentor-and-an-institution-builder-obituary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jan 2026 18:11:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[S. Gopikrishna Warrier]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Divya Kilikar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional Knowledge]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/08094040/Prof._Madhav_Gadgil_Thematic_Edit-a-thon_Yashawantrao_Chavan_Institute_of_Science_Satara_2017_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36401</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Forests, Obituary, People, Western Ghats, Wildlife, and Wildlife Protection Act]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India’s eminent ecologist Madhav Gadgil died on January 7. He was 83. His son Siddhartha Gadgil announced the death through a message to all those who had known and worked with Gadgil. His wife, Sulochana Gadgil, had predeceased him in July 2025. Gadgil died in his home city Pune in Maharashtra. He had done his [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India’s eminent ecologist Madhav Gadgil died on January 7. He was 83. His son Siddhartha Gadgil announced the death through a message to all those who had known and worked with Gadgil. His wife, Sulochana Gadgil, had predeceased him in July 2025. Gadgil died in his home city Pune in Maharashtra. He had done his Bachelor&#8217;s from Fergusson College in Pune and Master&#8217;s from Mumbai University. He went to Harvard for his Ph.D. on mathematical ecology and fish behaviour. However, Gadgil did not restrict himself to being a purist academic, but also wanted to learn from the field and use his knowledge for the benefit of people and communities. His initial work involved the studying of sacred groves in the Western Ghats, after which he moved to studying forest and environment policies. In more recent years, he had become widely known for chairing a panel on the conservation of the Western Ghats. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), former environment minister Jairam Ramesh described Gadgil as a “top-notch academic scientist, a tireless field researcher, a pioneering institution builder, a great communicator, a firm believer in people’s networks and movements, and a friend, philosopher and guide to many for over five decades.” Historian Ramachandra Guha, who had co-authored two books with Gadgil, summarises his unique qualities as a deep knowledge of his land and its people; profound intellectual originality; courage to oppose intellectual fashion; the ability to unite intellectual and practical agendas; strong democratic instincts; and an absence of cynicism.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/madhav-gadgil-a-scientist-mentor-and-an-institution-builder-obituary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>P.V. Shivaprasad talks about rice, food security and his fascination with plants [Interview]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/p-v-shivaprasad-talks-about-rice-food-security-and-his-fascination-with-plants-interview/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/p-v-shivaprasad-talks-about-rice-food-security-and-his-fascination-with-plants-interview/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jan 2026 13:18:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sharmila Vaidyanathan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agrobiodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate resilience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crop diversification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paddy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[traditional grains]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/01122600/Image-1_Shivaprasad-Lab-scaled-e1767250722512-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36313</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Food, Interviews, People, Plants, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[To say that rice is an important crop in India would be an understatement. India recently hit a milestone with its rice production. In 2024-25, the country’s rice output was 150 million tonnes, which is 13 million tonnes more than the previous year, marking the largest year-on-year increase in production. In 2025, India consumed about [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[To say that rice is an important crop in India would be an understatement. India recently hit a milestone with its rice production. In 2024-25, the country’s rice output was 150 million tonnes, which is 13 million tonnes more than the previous year, marking the largest year-on-year increase in production. In 2025, India consumed about 140 million tonnes of the grain, becoming the second-highest rice consuming country in the world. Amidst growing concerns of climate impacts and the challenges in cultivating rice, these numbers underscore the importance of protecting rice against all odds — and Padubidri V. Shivaprasad of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, is on a mission to do just that. Shivaprasad is a recent recipient of the prestigious Tata Transformation Prize 2025 in recognition of his efforts to produce climate-resilient rice varieties using small RNA modification and epigenetic regulation. His research involves tweaking gene expression by altering the proteins that package DNA (histones) or small RNAs (RNA molecules which are about 19-31 nucleotides long and ‘silence’ or regulate gene expression through various mechanisms), thus making changes without modifying the underlying DNA. Through these targeted interventions, the researcher aims to tap into the strengths of wild rice varieties to improve climate resilience and enhance the nutritional properties of cultivated lines. Established in 2022, the Tata Transformation Prize is announced by Tata Sons and the New York Academy of Sciences. The Prize recognises Indian researchers who are devising science-based solutions and innovative technologies to address some of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/p-v-shivaprasad-talks-about-rice-food-security-and-his-fascination-with-plants-interview/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Taking environmental storytelling beyond the screen in 2025</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/taking-environmental-storytelling-beyond-the-screen-in-2025/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/taking-environmental-storytelling-beyond-the-screen-in-2025/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Dec 2025 11:58:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sandhya Sekar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainfall]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/12/25190520/IMG20250607145238-scaled-e1766673828109-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36240</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecology, Energy, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, Mongabay-India continued to strengthen its position as a trusted source of environmental journalism, while expanding both the reach and real-world resonance of its reporting. Over the year, our stories travelled far beyond the website, shaping public conversations, informing policy and practice, and finding new audiences across languages, formats and sectors. Mongabay-India is the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, Mongabay-India continued to strengthen its position as a trusted source of environmental journalism, while expanding both the reach and real-world resonance of its reporting. Over the year, our stories travelled far beyond the website, shaping public conversations, informing policy and practice, and finding new audiences across languages, formats and sectors. Mongabay-India is the India-specific platform of the global environmental journalism organisation Mongabay. Publishing in English and Hindi, our work is rooted in evidence-based, field-driven reporting. We focus on environmental themes that are often under-reported or oversimplified in mainstream media, and use multiple formats on different platforms, to distill complex ideas. This approach has made Mongabay-India a go-to platform for a wide range of audiences, from daily commuters and students to researchers, practitioners and policymakers. Growing output, reach and formats In 2025, we told more stories, across formats and languages. We published more than 560 stories in English, and more than six million people read them on our website. We had 200 stories in Hindi and our Hindi reporting, in particular, continued to be shaped by ground-first storytelling, with almost a quarter of the stories reported and published first in Hindi. We also made many more videos — about 40% more this year — branching out to lesser-known regions and amplifying the lesser-heard voices. We had almost double the number of views compared to last year. The Mongabay-India English YouTube channel, where you can watch these videos, now has more than 27,000 subscribers. If you aren’t one of them,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/taking-environmental-storytelling-beyond-the-screen-in-2025/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Concerted efforts save an Indigenous donkey from oblivion</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/concerted-efforts-save-an-indigenous-donkey-from-oblivion/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/concerted-efforts-save-an-indigenous-donkey-from-oblivion/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Dec 2025 09:27:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Azera Parveen Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[indigenous knowledge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livestock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastoralists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional Knowledge]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/12/25004622/Ranabhai-Bharwad-is-a-Maldhari-or-pastoralist-who-rears-Halari-donkeys-e1766605076342-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36234</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Knowledge]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Gujarat]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community based conservation, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, People, and Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An all-white coat is what makes Gujarat’s Halari donkey stand out from other donkeys. An Indigenous breed named after the erstwhile Halar region of Gujarat where it is found, the Halari donkey has long been an age-old companion of the local pastoralist community, which migrates seasonally, and of potters — both of whom use the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[An all-white coat is what makes Gujarat’s Halari donkey stand out from other donkeys. An Indigenous breed named after the erstwhile Halar region of Gujarat where it is found, the Halari donkey has long been an age-old companion of the local pastoralist community, which migrates seasonally, and of potters — both of whom use the donkey to transport their belongings and wares. With changing times, however, the Halari donkey began losing its relevance, and as a consequence, its population started to dwindle. Concerted efforts to save the animal from vanishing have, however, borne fruit. The Halari donkey is slowly walking towards recovery, and for the first time, the breed has received official recognition for its Indigenous status. The Halari donkey is one of the four Indigenous donkey breeds in India, the other three being the Kachchhi donkey, also from Gujarat, the Spiti breed from Himachal Pradesh, and the Ladakhi from Ladakh. However, it was not registered as a distinct breed until as late as 2015. “Even after that, it was not counted as a separate breed in the 20th Livestock Census in 2019, so its numbers remained hidden within the broader category of donkeys,” says Ramesh Bhati of the Centre for Pastoralism (CfP), which has been working on the conservation of the Halari donkey for more than a decade. The Centre is an initiative of Gujarat-based non-profit Sahjeevan, formed to focus primarily on research and pastoralists’ livelihoods. The declining numbers of the species were first brought to light when Sahjeevan,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/concerted-efforts-save-an-indigenous-donkey-from-oblivion/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Vivek Menon becomes the first Asian chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission [Interview]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/vivek-menon-becomes-the-first-asian-chair-of-the-iucn-species-survival-commission-interview/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/vivek-menon-becomes-the-first-asian-chair-of-the-iucn-species-survival-commission-interview/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Dec 2025 11:08:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Divya Kilikar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[COP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[endemic species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global south]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IUCN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[species loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Threatened species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UNEP]]></category>
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Eco Hope]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Endangered species, Environment, Interviews, People, United Nations, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[By the late 1970s, rapid urbanisation and government construction plans for the national capital had put parts of the Delhi Ridge under threat. The northern extension of the Aravalli range, the Delhi Ridge, was the last reserve forest in the city. However, the Delhi Development Authority sought to develop it in the blueprint of Hyde [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[By the late 1970s, rapid urbanisation and government construction plans for the national capital had put parts of the Delhi Ridge under threat. The northern extension of the Aravalli range, the Delhi Ridge, was the last reserve forest in the city. However, the Delhi Development Authority sought to develop it in the blueprint of Hyde Park in London and Central Park in New York. “I remember leading a group of students from Delhi University and picketing the Delhi Development Authority building,” said Vivek Menon, co-founder of the Wildlife Trust of India, who was 20 years old when he, along with activists, students, and conservation groups mobilised to oppose deforestation of the ridge in 1987. Menon founded the NGO Shrishti in the same year, which helped formalise and sustain advocacy for the Delhi Ridge, and contributed to the notification of some sections of the ridge as protected forests. In the years that followed, over a career spanning nearly four decades, Menon earned the reputation of being one of India’s foremost wildlife conservationists. On October 15, 2025, at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., Menon was elected as the new Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission for 2025-2029, becoming the first Asian person to lead the commission in its 75-year history. On October 15, at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., Vivek Menon was elected as the new Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission for 2025-2029, becoming the first Asian person to lead the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/vivek-menon-becomes-the-first-asian-chair-of-the-iucn-species-survival-commission-interview/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Achyut Kumar Banerjee on curating a database of invasive plants in India [Interview]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/achyut-kumar-banerjee-on-curating-a-database-of-invasive-plants-in-india-interview/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/achyut-kumar-banerjee-on-curating-a-database-of-invasive-plants-in-india-interview/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2025 15:07:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive species]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/11/07132509/collage-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35396</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ecology, Environment, Interviews, People, Plants, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Invasive alien plants are species that do not occur naturally but have been introduced into a region, where they outcompete native species. Today, ‘invasive plants’ is a buzzword in conservation; however, until a few years ago, India lacked a consolidated database of alien flora. Around mid-2019, plant ecologist Achyut Kumar Banerjee began a collaborative venture [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Invasive alien plants are species that do not occur naturally but have been introduced into a region, where they outcompete native species. Today, ‘invasive plants’ is a buzzword in conservation; however, until a few years ago, India lacked a consolidated database of alien flora. Around mid-2019, plant ecologist Achyut Kumar Banerjee began a collaborative venture with fellow invasive biologists in India to set up a comprehensive database for alien flora in the country. After a year of intensive research, the Indian Alien Flora Information Database (ILORA) was born was born in September 2020. In this interview with Mongabay-India, Banerjee sheds light on the science of plant invasion and tells us why it is crucial to have a single forum for invasive plant species in India. Mongabay: Could you tell us about the origins of ILORA? Achyut Banerjee: I had just completed my PhD and had moved out of India. At the time, I was collaborating with a few scientists back home on ornamental plant invasion in the country, when we stumbled upon a familiar hurdle: a lack of data on Indian alien flora. Of course, there was data on what we call “charismatic” invasive species, the popular ones, such as Lantana camara and Parthenium hysterophorus. But for most of the other species, the data were rare. Parthenium hysterophorus, an invasive plant species that grows along roadsides in Bengaluru, Karnataka. When Achyut Kumar Banerjee began setting up a comprehensive database for alien flora in India, he found that there was a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/achyut-kumar-banerjee-on-curating-a-database-of-invasive-plants-in-india-interview/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>A lifetime of watching birds with a pencil, paper and patience [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/a-lifetime-of-watching-birds-with-a-pencil-paper-and-patience-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/a-lifetime-of-watching-birds-with-a-pencil-paper-and-patience-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Oct 2025 16:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[R.J. Ranjit Daniels]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ornithology]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/10/28130403/Baya_Salim-Ali-wrote-his-first-scientific-paper-on-the-nesting-behavior-of-this-bird_Photo-B-Vinoth-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Ecology, Forests, People, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“A cock sparrow perched on the nail near the entrance to the hole while the female sat inside on the eggs. I ambushed them from behind a stabled carriage and shot the male. In a very short while the female acquired another male who also sat ‘on guard’ on the nail outside. I shot this [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“A cock sparrow perched on the nail near the entrance to the hole while the female sat inside on the eggs. I ambushed them from behind a stabled carriage and shot the male. In a very short while the female acquired another male who also sat ‘on guard’ on the nail outside. I shot this male also, and again in no time the female seemed to have another male in waiting who immediately stepped into the gap of the deceased husband”. This is a note written by India’s legendary birdman Salim Ali in 1906-07 when he was a 10-year-old boy. Many years later Salim Ali wrote in his autobiography The Fall of a Sparrow, “I am rather proud of this note because though intended as a record of my prowess as a hunter and made long before I was conscious of any possible relevance, it has proved more meaningful in the light of present-day behavioral studies”. Science has unexpected beginnings More or less one year after this ‘experiment’ Salim Ali got his first opportunity to visit the Bombay Natural History Society with another bird that he shot down. It was a sparrow again, yet a different species; a yellow-throated sparrow (chestnut-shouldered petronia). The fallen sparrow led him into a world so full of life and mysteries that kept him active for the next 80 years. In his words, “the fortuitous incident of the yellow-throated sparrow opened up undreamt vistas for me. Thenceforth my reading tended progressively towards books on general&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/a-lifetime-of-watching-birds-with-a-pencil-paper-and-patience-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Sunny days, zero returns, climate change leaves women farmers tired and broke</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/sunny-days-zero-returns-climate-change-leaves-women-farmers-tired-and-broke/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/sunny-days-zero-returns-climate-change-leaves-women-farmers-tired-and-broke/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Oct 2025 11:31:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mahima Jain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heat impacts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heat wave]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human health]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/10/24000850/Women-rice-farms-1-Mahima-Jain-5-1-e1761244800587-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35185</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Food, Health impacts, Impacts of Climate Change, and People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Generations of women in Sampreetha’s family have worked on their rice fields. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Sampreetha, who goes by her first name, was pursuing a Master’s degree in agriculture. When her college closed, she returned home to Sakleshpur, Karnataka, and began helping on the family’s six-acre farm. She soon realised that paddy cultivation involved [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Generations of women in Sampreetha’s family have worked on their rice fields. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Sampreetha, who goes by her first name, was pursuing a Master’s degree in agriculture. When her college closed, she returned home to Sakleshpur, Karnataka, and began helping on the family’s six-acre farm. She soon realised that paddy cultivation involved a chain of menial, labour-intensive tasks, most of them carried out by women. Women farmers may not be familiar with the term “climate change”, but they constantly feel its effects on their bodies and in their pockets, she observes. “They don&#8217;t know the words ‘adaptation’ or ‘mitigation’. But they say, ‘it didn’t feel like this 10 years ago. Earlier, the rains came in June or July, but now they are late,’” Sampreetha says. Paddy cultivation supplies half the global population with staple food, but also accounts for 48% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from croplands. However, many call these “survival” emissions as they provide livelihood to millions of farmers across economies. India refused to sign the Global Methane Pledge at COP26 in 2021 held at Glasgow, UK, wherein countries promised a 30% reduction of emissions by 2030, since it threatened the livelihood of the large population of small and marginal farmers. Studies, however, show that these farmers are also now suffering because of climate change. With every 1°C rise in temperature, paddy yields declined by 10-15% leading to food and income insecurity across the regions, according to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Farmers stand&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/sunny-days-zero-returns-climate-change-leaves-women-farmers-tired-and-broke/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Giving forests and rivers the right to live [Book Review]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/giving-forests-and-rivers-the-right-to-live-book-review/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/giving-forests-and-rivers-the-right-to-live-book-review/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Oct 2025 13:47:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Usha Rai]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book review]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/10/22120606/Kotturpuram_Bridge_Adyar_River_Chennai_Jul18_DSC05376-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35136</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[India's Iconic Landscapes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Tamil Nadu]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, People, Rivers, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[British writer Robert Macfarlane’s latest book, Is a River Alive? is poetic in its description of forests, rivers, the natural world and the efforts of indigenous people and others to keep them and the myriad lives they sustain, alive. It unfolds across three landscapes — an Ecuadorian cloud-forest named Los Cedros; the wounded creeks, lagoons [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[British writer Robert Macfarlane’s latest book, Is a River Alive? is poetic in its description of forests, rivers, the natural world and the efforts of indigenous people and others to keep them and the myriad lives they sustain, alive. It unfolds across three landscapes — an Ecuadorian cloud-forest named Los Cedros; the wounded creeks, lagoons and estuaries of Chennai in India; and the wild interiors of Nitassinan, homeland of the Innu people, in Canada. Each of the landscapes has become a focus for revolutionary thinking of the relationship between humans and the environment. In all three places, rivers are understood to be “alive” in some fundamental way, and in each of these places the survival of the rivers is under severe threat — in Ecuador from gold mining, in India from pollution and in Nitassinan from dams. The book explores an ancient belief that rivers are not just for human use, but are living beings who (not which) should be recognised as such in imagination and in law. The journey has not only graphic and lyrical descriptions, but “is lit by many other minds and voices that should open hearts, spark debates and challenge perspectives” on rivers, forests and the role of big corporates in these landscapes. Central to the book is the belief that the fate of humans flows with that of the rivers. The book explores the Rights of Nature movement, which, over the past twenty years, energised by ecological emergency, has been inspiring environmentalists and local communities&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/giving-forests-and-rivers-the-right-to-live-book-review/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Protests for Indigenous land rights turn deadly</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/protests-for-indigenous-land-rights-turn-deadly/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/protests-for-indigenous-land-rights-turn-deadly/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2025 16:41:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water crisis]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/10/02162324/AP23046393149125-edited-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34889</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ladakh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Environmental Politics, Glaciers, Himalayas, Nature-based Climate Solutions, People, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Liaquat Ali, 27, never expected his hometown to descend into violence and turmoil over the span of a year. Last year, Ali was one of dozens who walked over 800 kilometres on foot from Ladakh to New Delhi to bring greater attention to demands for statehood and other constitutional safeguards in Ladakh. The peace march [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Liaquat Ali, 27, never expected his hometown to descend into violence and turmoil over the span of a year. Last year, Ali was one of dozens who walked over 800 kilometres on foot from Ladakh to New Delhi to bring greater attention to demands for statehood and other constitutional safeguards in Ladakh. The peace march was led by environmentalist and scientist Sonam Wangchuk – a vocal advocate for the application of the sixth schedule in Ladakh, which empowers majority tribal constituencies to formulate their own laws on land use, customs, and development. Ending the march on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary was a deliberate choice. Today, Wangchuk is jailed under one of India’s most stringent anti-terror laws after a hunger strike he led turned violent, and the license to receive foreign funding to his organisation was abruptly cancelled shortly thereafter. Wangchuk had acted in ways that were “prejudicial to the State and detrimental to the maintenance of peace,” the Ladakh administration alleged in a press release. Police opened fire and killed four protestors after a group of unidentified people set the BJP’s office in Leh ablaze on September 24. Wangchuk called off his strike and appealed for peace. “It’s depressing to think that this is what it’s come to,” said Ali, speaking to Mongabay India from Kargil district. “Yes, some protestors acted out of frustration, but the police’s response was inhumane,” he said. The incident on September 24 is the first violent turn the years-long protests for statehood have taken in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/protests-for-indigenous-land-rights-turn-deadly/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91 [Obituary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/primatologist-jane-goodall-dies-at-91-obituary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/primatologist-jane-goodall-dies-at-91-obituary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2025 16:19:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[S. Gopikrishna Warrier]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apes]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/10/02170322/jane-goodall-obit2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34882</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Mammals, Obituary, People, Primates, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Jane Goodall, internationally-renowned primatologist and conservationist died on October 1 in Los Angeles, USA. She was 91. Goodall earned the respect of the science and conservation community with her work. Rhett Butler, Founder and CEO of Mongabay writes in his obituary: “Over the course of six decades, she moved from an unlikely young researcher in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Jane Goodall, internationally-renowned primatologist and conservationist died on October 1 in Los Angeles, USA. She was 91. Goodall earned the respect of the science and conservation community with her work. Rhett Butler, Founder and CEO of Mongabay writes in his obituary: “Over the course of six decades, she moved from an unlikely young researcher in the forests of East Africa to one of the most recognizable scientists and conservationists of her time. Her patient fieldwork at Gombe transformed primatology, overturning entrenched beliefs about the uniqueness of humans and forcing science to reckon with animal minds.” She was also an activist in her own way – turning her research findings and learnings into action. Butler continues: “She went on to found the Jane Goodall Institute, launch sanctuaries and community programs across Africa, and inspire millions through her Roots &amp; Shoots movement for young people. Her influence reached far beyond science: she became a United Nations Messenger of Peace, an advocate for animal welfare, and a tireless voice for conservation at a time of mounting global crisis. Yet through all of this she remained known simply as ‘Jane,’ a figure who insisted that hope was not naïve but necessary.” Jane Goodall in the 1960s. Image courtesy of CBS. “Jane Goodall&#8217;s, life was a testament to curiosity, compassion, and unwavering hope,” shares Mohan Alambeth, a retired forest official and conservationist. “In 1960, armed with little more than a notebook and binoculars, she entered the forests of Gombe and changed science forever. Her discovery&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/primatologist-jane-goodall-dies-at-91-obituary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>India improves performance on SDGs but lags on environment</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/07/india-enters-the-top-100-in-global-sdg-rankings-but-environmental-goals-lag/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/07/india-enters-the-top-100-in-global-sdg-rankings-but-environmental-goals-lag/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jul 2025 15:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashwini Kumar Shukla]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Access to clean energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Air Pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drinking water]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy access]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[india]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SDG]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SDG Index]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/07/04113705/1280px-Bana_making_chapatis_Mara_village_Morena_district_MP-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=33482</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy and The India Water Story]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Clean Energy, Climate Change, and People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For the first time, India entered the top 100 countries in the annual Sustainable Development Report, which assesses progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). India ranked 99th out of 167 nations in the 2025 report, up from 109 in 2024 and 112 in 2023, but the data reveals that sustainability challenges remain, especially [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For the first time, India entered the top 100 countries in the annual Sustainable Development Report, which assesses progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). India ranked 99th out of 167 nations in the 2025 report, up from 109 in 2024 and 112 in 2023, but the data reveals that sustainability challenges remain, especially in relation to environmental goals. This year’s report shows that only one-third of India&#8217;s SDG targets, meant to be achieved by 2030, are “on track,” while there is limited progress on others with some even slipping backwards. India is firmly on track with progress on two of the 17 SDG goals, No Poverty (SDG 1) and Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10). Progress on others, including Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), and Life on Land (SDG 15), is stagnating. Other goals, such as Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7) and Life Below Water (SDG 14), are showing moderate improvement. Most concerning is Climate Action (SDG 13), which shows a worsening trend, indicating that India&#8217;s efforts to take action to combat climate change and its impacts are not improving. The scores signal that without a dramatic policy shift and vigorous implementation, India risks falling short of the 20230 target to achieve the SDG goals. The annual report, released since 2016 is prepared by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) which operates under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General, to drive&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/07/india-enters-the-top-100-in-global-sdg-rankings-but-environmental-goals-lag/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>How Gopi Warrier helped build Mongabay India’s newsroom [Interview]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/how-gopi-warrier-helped-build-mongabay-indias-newsroom-interview/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/how-gopi-warrier-helped-build-mongabay-indias-newsroom-interview/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2025 15:00:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[journalism]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/06/04000411/india_250509_113352908x-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=32916</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Interviews, and People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the often fractious landscape of environmental discourse, S. Gopikrishna Warrier is a steadying presence. As the editorial director of Mongabay India, Warrier has spent the past seven years cultivating a newsroom that brings light, not heat, to India’s environmental challenges. His calm authority, born of nearly four decades in journalism and communications, has helped [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the often fractious landscape of environmental discourse, S. Gopikrishna Warrier is a steadying presence. As the editorial director of Mongabay India, Warrier has spent the past seven years cultivating a newsroom that brings light, not heat, to India’s environmental challenges. His calm authority, born of nearly four decades in journalism and communications, has helped steer Mongabay’s Indian bureau from an ambitious idea into a trusted voice across the country’s media and policy spheres. When Warrier joined Mongabay in 2017, he and Programme Director Sandhya Sekar began to build a reporting platform that could bring biodiversity into mainstream public conversation, not as an afterthought to economic growth or social development, but as something fundamentally intertwined with both. Under Warrier’s editorial guidance, that aspiration became reality. Mongabay India has since published thousands of deeply reported articles across English and Hindi, reaching readers from Kerala to Kashmir, and from coastal islands to Himalayan villages. Warrier’s career began well before climate journalism became a defined beat. Inspired by pioneers like Darryl D’Monte during his university days, he formally trained in journalism after studying zoology and English literature. He is quick to note that environmental journalism, as a concept, was largely undefined when he started out. His early reporting was shaped by a desire to understand the natural world and its connections to society — a theme that remains central to his work today. Gopi Warrier in Kerala in 2025. Image by Rhett Ayers Butler. His editorial philosophy at Mongabay is shaped by a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/how-gopi-warrier-helped-build-mongabay-indias-newsroom-interview/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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