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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/plants/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2026 11:29:54 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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					<title>Online ornamental plant trade may be an overlooked pathway for invasive species</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/indias-online-ornamental-plant-trade-may-be-an-overlooked-pathway-for-invasive-species/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/indias-online-ornamental-plant-trade-may-be-an-overlooked-pathway-for-invasive-species/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Aug 2026 17:30:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ananya Singh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home gardens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive species]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/17135708/L1020330-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40205</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of the world’s top 100 worst invasive species was brought to India in the 19th century as an ornamental garden plant. But Lantana camara, which now occupies 40% of India’s tiger habitats, was not the only one. The ornamental horticulture industry is recognised as a key global pathway for introducing invasive alien species. A [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One of the world’s top 100 worst invasive species was brought to India in the 19th century as an ornamental garden plant. But Lantana camara, which now occupies 40% of India’s tiger habitats, was not the only one. The ornamental horticulture industry is recognised as a key global pathway for introducing invasive alien species. A new study examining India’s online ornamental plant trade has found that a majority of these plants sold online are alien species, many of which are known to be invasive or naturalised in other countries. The study, published in Environmental Conservation, also revealed that 57 species already declared invasive in India were available for purchase online, including Lantana camara and the highly-invasive Parthenium hysterophorus. Invasive alien species are recognised as one of five major drivers of global biodiversity decline. “They outcompete our native species and the cost is enormous,” said Kesang Bhutia, the study’s lead author and a graduate student at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru. “Not all alien plants are a threat. There is a continuum,” explained Bhutia. A newly-introduced plant cannot survive without human care. Some escape cultivation, enter native ecosystems and naturalise, reproducing independently. Others can go further to become invasive. As part of her research, Bhutia compiled an inventory of 1,856 ornamental species sold online using data from three of India’s largest online plant retailers that ship nationwide. Of these, 1,371 species (over 70%) were alien species, outnumbering the 480 native species on the list. Cross-checking&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/indias-online-ornamental-plant-trade-may-be-an-overlooked-pathway-for-invasive-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/indias-online-ornamental-plant-trade-may-be-an-overlooked-pathway-for-invasive-species/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>The carbon market bets on an invasive tree</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-carbon-market-bets-on-an-invasive-tree/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-carbon-market-bets-on-an-invasive-tree/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 16:21:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yash Sadhak Shrivastava]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prosopis]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/12135149/IMG_8312-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40072</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Gujarat]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biofuels, Carbon emissions, Carbon Finance, Carbon Offset, Carbon Trading, Climate Change, Climate Change Mitigation, Ecosystem services, Energy, Grasslands, Green Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Decades ago, in the Banni grasslands of Kachchh, an invasive tree was planted to solve one environmental crisis. Today, big companies are paying to convert the same trees into a charcoal-like substance to solve another problem. In January 2025, Google announced one of the largest biochar carbon removal deals to date, agreeing to purchase 1,00,000 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Decades ago, in the Banni grasslands of Kachchh, an invasive tree was planted to solve one environmental crisis. Today, big companies are paying to convert the same trees into a charcoal-like substance to solve another problem. In January 2025, Google announced one of the largest biochar carbon removal deals to date, agreeing to purchase 1,00,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal credits from Varaha ClimateAg Private Limited, a Gurugram-based climate tech startup. Biochar is a carbon-rich charcoal produced by heating organic matter in low-oxygen conditions, which can store carbon in soil for hundreds of years. By January 2026, Varaha had added Microsoft to its roster of corporate buyers, with Lufthansa, Swiss Re, and Capgemini also signing offtake agreements. Among Varaha&#8217;s initiatives is a project in Kachchh, Gujarat, combining carbon sequestration with ecosystem restoration. The problem the credits are meant to solve Prosopis juliflora was introduced to Kachchh around the 1960s to arrest desertification. The Banni grassland now has around 50% of its area dominated by this single invasive species, according to Khyati Thacker, a botanist who has spent over five years working on community-led ecosystem restoration in Kachchh and Saurashtra. Research shows the grassland produced up to 4,000 kg of fodder per hectare in the 1960s; by 1999, that had fallen to around 620 kg. &#8220;This Prosopis juliflora has destroyed the jungle, the native trees (such as Vachellia nilotica, Prosopis cineraria, Senegalia senegal) and the grazing grass,&#8221; said Kaiyan Rabari, a herdsman from Sangnara village, Kachchh. Around late 2022, a private&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-carbon-market-bets-on-an-invasive-tree/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-carbon-market-bets-on-an-invasive-tree/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>India’s afforestation needs a species lens [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-afforestation-needs-a-species-lens-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-afforestation-needs-a-species-lens-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 15:47:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pradeep Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[afforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[native plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rewilding]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/21130241/IMG_2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39497</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Madhya Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Forestry, Forests, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[During my tenure as Divisional Forest Officer in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, I walked through a seven-year-old mixed plantation. According to the plantation journal maintained by the range office, 14 species had been planted at the start. On the ground, teak dominated — a few others persisted in scattered numbers, and some had disappeared entirely. Their [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[During my tenure as Divisional Forest Officer in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, I walked through a seven-year-old mixed plantation. According to the plantation journal maintained by the range office, 14 species had been planted at the start. On the ground, teak dominated — a few others persisted in scattered numbers, and some had disappeared entirely. Their decline was not recorded anywhere. It had been quietly absorbed into an aggregate survival statistic that still read as success. Plantation drives in India are often measured by the number of saplings planted and their survival rates, which portray an image of progress. But do these numbers reflect genuine ecological restoration or just denser tree cover? Indore district provides insight into this issue. Working Plan data from Indore Forest Division showed stable plantation targets, yet several native species fell to less than 1% of the tree population, a trend not captured in plantation reports or remote-sensing maps. This decline did not stem from felling operations or from a single visible event. Instead, it developed quietly, due to selective extraction, poor regeneration, grazing pressure, and climate stress. The greater issue is a management focus on numbers rather than on which species survive. Recognising this, the intervention emphasising Rare, Endangered and Threatened (RET) species raises a crucial question: Should forestry success be measured by total tree cover, or by the sustained presence of native biodiversity? The monsoon landscape at Shankargarh Hills in Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh, where community-led restoration is reviving native biodiversity. Image by Samarjeet Jadav.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-afforestation-needs-a-species-lens-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-afforestation-needs-a-species-lens-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why is Conocarpus being banned across states? [Explainer]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-is-conocarpus-being-banned-across-states-explainer/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-is-conocarpus-being-banned-across-states-explainer/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jul 2026 17:06:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban trees]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/18120118/51866377640_3033476cd1_o-e1784357092548-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39442</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Ecology, Environment, Health impacts, Plants, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In March, the Karnataka High Court directed the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) to consider the issues highlighted in a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking the removal of all Conocarpus trees planted across the city. The high court advisory on Conocarpus, a genus of trees introduced to India from the Gulf, where it has been [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In March, the Karnataka High Court directed the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) to consider the issues highlighted in a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking the removal of all Conocarpus trees planted across the city. The high court advisory on Conocarpus, a genus of trees introduced to India from the Gulf, where it has been extensively used in urban landscaping, comes on the heels of prohibitory orders enforced by the state governments of Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. In August, 2025, based on a report by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), the Government of India issued a national advisory to all states and union territories to stop the plantation of Conocarpus erectus (buttonwood) and Conocarpus lancifolius (damask) with immediate effect, flagging ecological and public health concerns. The report compared the Conocarpus species with invasive plants such as Lantana camara and Parthenium hysteroporus. How did Conocarpus take over urban India? There are two species of Conocarpus trees found in India, Conocarpus erectus and Conocarpus lancifolius. Of these, Plants of the World Online (POWO), a global digital database of the world’s flora, only recognises the introduction of Conocarpus erectus to the country. However,  Achyut Banerjee, a plant invasion biologist and assistant professor at Azim Premji University, Bhopal, says both species, including Conocarpus lancifolius, followed a similar route into the country. “They were brought from their native range to Gulf countries for urban landscaping, and then introduced to India from there,” he said. Over the past decade, Conocarpus has mushroomed in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-is-conocarpus-being-banned-across-states-explainer/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cities need tailored restoration, not mass tree planting</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/cities-need-tailored-restoration-not-mass-tree-planting/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/cities-need-tailored-restoration-not-mass-tree-planting/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 15:07:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/17093622/DJI_0476-Restored-grazing-commons-of-Bagepalli-scaled-e1784263951510-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39376</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond the Hype and Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Ecology, Forests, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thousands of Bengaluru residents came together late last month in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for planting the largest number of tree saplings in a single day. Nearly 1.5 million saplings were planted across 240 acres in the drive organised by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), with funding from multiple corporate social [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thousands of Bengaluru residents came together late last month in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for planting the largest number of tree saplings in a single day. Nearly 1.5 million saplings were planted across 240 acres in the drive organised by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), with funding from multiple corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and support from environmental organisations. A growing number of ecologists, however, say the enthusiasm for mass tree planting in cities has outpaced the science behind it. This tree plantation drive, billed as one of the country&#8217;s largest urban greening exercises, was designed using the Japanese Miyawaki method of dense native tree planting, a method that is popular but also has been criticised for overstating its effectiveness. “The idea is to make Bengaluru greener. There is global warming, so we want to start this movement with the city,” BDA chairman N.A. Haris told Mongabay-India before the event. He said the plantations, spread across lakes, nala buffer zones and public spaces, are intended to reduce the urban heat island effect and build the city&#8217;s climate resilience. Authorities say every sapling will be geo-tagged and monitored for survival. But mass tree plantation is hardly a quick fix to urban green loss. “What exactly are we trying to achieve? Is it setting a record or greening the city? If it&#8217;s ecology, then what environmental problem are we trying to solve?” asks Rajkamal Goswami, a scientist at ATREE who studies forests and biodiversity dynamics. For Goswami, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/cities-need-tailored-restoration-not-mass-tree-planting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A machine learning-powered chatbot to guide tree plantation in the Himalayas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-machine-learning-powered-chatbot-to-guide-tree-plantation-in-the-himalayas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-machine-learning-powered-chatbot-to-guide-tree-plantation-in-the-himalayas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 13:26:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AI for Good]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/15222318/Rajiv-Gandhi-Van-Samvardhan-Yojana_Mahila-Mandal-e1784134737669-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39318</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh and Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Forests, Himalayas, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, Technology, Technology and Conservation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2022, Pushpendra Rana and his colleagues projected using a machine learning model that Himachal Pradesh would spend $100 million (approximately ₹95 crores) between 2020 and 2030 on planting trees that were unlikely to survive. They published the findings in the journal World Development. But Rana, a serving Indian Forest Officer, didn’t just stop at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2022, Pushpendra Rana and his colleagues projected using a machine learning model that Himachal Pradesh would spend $100 million (approximately ₹95 crores) between 2020 and 2030 on planting trees that were unlikely to survive. They published the findings in the journal World Development. But Rana, a serving Indian Forest Officer, didn’t just stop at drawing attention to the wasteful tree-planting practices in his state. Over the next four years, he focused on developing a restoration decision-support tool to aid in more successful tree planting in the country. Rana partnered with RootIQ Labs Pvt. Ltd., a New Delhi-based artificial intelligence company, to develop WhereToPlant Bot, a chatbot that can predict the survival probability of saplings in a given location based on different climatic and environmental parameters. This chatbot can be accessed by anyone with a Telegram account. Once they share their location pin, it uses machine-learning models to quickly respond with a survival probability score and a star rating for any and all plants for the particular planting site, ranging from ‘no chance’ to ‘high chance’. The chatbot is currently exclusive to Himachal Pradesh, where it has been functional for over a year. The state forest department, mahila mandals (women collectives), yuvak mandals (youth groups) and self-help groups have taken its guidance to plant saplings, Rana told Mongabay-India. More than 200 women&#8217;s groups and 50 youth clubs used the tool in the field. DFOs and restoration practitioners as part of the Rajiv Gandhi Van Samvardhan Yojana (US$10.14 million community-driven plantation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-machine-learning-powered-chatbot-to-guide-tree-plantation-in-the-himalayas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>The insect that syncs up with the football World Cup</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-insect-that-syncs-up-with-the-football-world-cup/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-insect-that-syncs-up-with-the-football-world-cup/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 14:12:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nabarun Guha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cicada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[insects]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/14110800/World-Cup-cicada-insect_-scaled-e1784008437972-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39269</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam and Meghalaya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecology, Elephants, Forests, Insects, Plants, Reserved Forest, and Villages]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As the football world cup began in the United States, Canada and Mexico this year, in one part of India, an insect emerged, as it does, every four years, in sync with the sporting event. However, this year, it was found beyond its typical home range. Aptly named the World Cup cicada, the insect, Chremistica [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As the football world cup began in the United States, Canada and Mexico this year, in one part of India, an insect emerged, as it does, every four years, in sync with the sporting event. However, this year, it was found beyond its typical home range. Aptly named the World Cup cicada, the insect, Chremistica ribhoi, has been recorded in Meghalaya in Northeast India. This year though it was spotted in the neighbouring state of Assam during a field assessment around the Rani Reserve Forest conducted by wildlife biologist Pulakeswar Basumatary, with Langtuk Terang, Assistant Professor, Pragjyotish College, Mann Kumar Thapa, a research scholar at Royal Global University, M.Sc. student Lakhinandan Dutta and butterfly researcher Rajat Joshi. Basumatary told Mongabay-India, “Until now, Chremistica ribhoi was known only from Saiden village and Lailad, near Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district. The 2026 sighting across the Rani-Garbhanga-Basistha Reserve Forest is the first record of the species in Assam, and a real extension of its known range.” However, while it has been scientifically recorded now, the local communities always knew of the cicada in Assam. “The Rabha community of Satargaon, in the Rani area (of Assam), say they had been seeing this cicada before the year 2000. That&#8217;s earlier than the first scientific record from Meghalaya. The species was almost certainly always here, just undocumented,” said Basumatary. Periodical cicadas are among nature’s most precise timekeepers. Their mass emergence is triggered largely by soil temperature and humidity cues built up over years underground.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-insect-that-syncs-up-with-the-football-world-cup/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Why looking at trees is a type of rebellion [Book Review]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-looking-at-trees-is-a-type-of-rebellion-book-review/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-looking-at-trees-is-a-type-of-rebellion-book-review/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 12:16:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aarushi Agrawal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trees outside forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban trees]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/13102344/2560px-hill-mynah-28gracula-religiosa29-leaving-its-nest-28806409492329-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39207</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Forests, Plants, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[According to an analysis by Down to Earth of the environment ministry&#8217;s advisory committee records, more than 2.8 million trees, on forest land, were approved for felling or recorded as felled across India between July 2023 and May 2026. About 90% of this felling has happened because of mining, hydropower and rehabilitation projects. Where efforts [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[According to an analysis by Down to Earth of the environment ministry&#8217;s advisory committee records, more than 2.8 million trees, on forest land, were approved for felling or recorded as felled across India between July 2023 and May 2026. About 90% of this felling has happened because of mining, hydropower and rehabilitation projects. Where efforts are being made to increase green cover in the country, we are starkly falling short. A recent study published in the journal Environmental Research Communications, which examines eight major government policies and programmes and their impact on tree cover, finds that only one showed positive associations with tree cover. Essentially, most government efforts are ill-informed and falling short. The more we consume news about this war against trees, the harder we fight. Until we can’t anymore. Until we’re exhausted and depleted. Writer and wildlife scientist T.R. Shankar Raman’s book The Trees of My Country: A Natural History of India in 50 Trees, with illustrations by Manali Patil, is a balm for those tired times. The book doesn’t try to advocate for trees or talk about their functionality and importance to human life. It doesn’t talk about why trees are needed and all the bad that will happen if trees are gone. It doesn’t make excuses on their behalf. The tactics tree lovers normally use to try to get the unaffected to care about trees are all thrown out the window. Here, trees deserve to exist because they are living beings. That’s reason enough. In not&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-looking-at-trees-is-a-type-of-rebellion-book-review/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-looking-at-trees-is-a-type-of-rebellion-book-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Scientists test turning aquatic weeds into liquid fertilisers</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientists-test-turning-aquatic-weeds-into-liquid-fertilisers/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientists-test-turning-aquatic-weeds-into-liquid-fertilisers/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jul 2026 11:59:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hirra Azmat]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasive species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[organic farming]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/07104509/retiredlife-scaled-e1783401379419-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39022</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Jammu and Kashmir]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Himalayas, Lakes, Natural Resources, Nature-based Climate Solutions, Plants, Positive Environmental, Sustainability, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The uncontrolled growth of aquatic plants has become a major environmental challenge in Dal lake, an important freshwater lake in the Kashmir Himalaya. A new study has tested a way to convert these excess plants into fermented liquid fertilisers, offering a potential solution to manage weed overgrowth while producing a useful agricultural input. Dal, a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The uncontrolled growth of aquatic plants has become a major environmental challenge in Dal lake, an important freshwater lake in the Kashmir Himalaya. A new study has tested a way to convert these excess plants into fermented liquid fertilisers, offering a potential solution to manage weed overgrowth while producing a useful agricultural input. Dal, a culturally and ecologically important lake in Kashmir, has been showing visible symptoms of eutrophication, with runoff from surrounding areas, untreated sewage, and other pollutants adding excess nutrients to the lake and leading to the rapid growth of aquatic plants. While aquatic vegetation can be useful as food, medicine, and fodder, overgrowth disrupts water quality, alters ecohydrology, and threatens native biodiversity. “While the overgrowth of aquatic plants and algae blooms follows a seasonal cycle, the underlying decline in water quality is palpable year-round. We’ve seen the lake struggle under the weight of these excess nutrients, which is exactly why we are focused on repurposing that biomass into something useful for our land,” Kowsar Majid, one of the study authors and a professor in the department of chemistry at National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, told Mongabay-India. The study was published in ACS Sustainable Resource Management journal in March 2026. The findings are a proof of concept, with further studies needed to assess costs, large-scale feasibility and regulatory approval before the approach can be adopted widely. Majid explains that most previous work on Dal lake biomass has focused on solid soil amendments such as compost, vermicompost or hydrochar.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientists-test-turning-aquatic-weeds-into-liquid-fertilisers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<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>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/when-trees-replace-grasslands-specialist-birds-lose-their-habitat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Delhi witnesses a travesty of ecological restoration [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/delhi-witnesses-a-travesty-of-ecological-restoration-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/delhi-witnesses-a-travesty-of-ecological-restoration-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jul 2026 16:10:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ankila HiremathVikram Iyer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/01141654/2_EarthMovers-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38879</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Delhi and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecology, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Plantations, Plants, and Reforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Delhi’s Central Ridge, a mosaic of forest and open savannah with patches dominated by species such as dhok (Terminalia pendula), is a landscape that would be a rare gem anywhere. The location of this remnant of the ancient Aravallis — spanning a little over 850 hectares in the heart of a sprawling urban metropolis — [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Delhi’s Central Ridge, a mosaic of forest and open savannah with patches dominated by species such as dhok (Terminalia pendula), is a landscape that would be a rare gem anywhere. The location of this remnant of the ancient Aravallis — spanning a little over 850 hectares in the heart of a sprawling urban metropolis — makes it even more special. Yet, for over a century, it has remained misunderstood and misconstrued. In the early 20th century, the planners of New Delhi sought to create a forested backdrop for the Government House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan). Successive waves of tree planting were carried out, but very few of the introduced trees survived because they were poorly suited to local conditions. The exception was the South American tree Neltuma juliflora (formerly Prosopis juliflora). Better known as vilayati keekar, it is now a widespread invasive alien tree across arid and semi-arid regions of India. Since its introduction to the Central Ridge, it has come to dominate the landscape, along with other invasive species such as gaajar ghaas (Parthenium hysterophorus), lantana (Lantana camara), and subabool (Leucaena leucocephala), which arrived more recently. Delhi&#8217;s Central Ridge in the dry season. Invasive plant species dominate the 850 hectares in the heart of the capital city. Image by Pradip Krishen. What are invasive alien species? Invasive alien species must meet two criteria. First, they must be non-native to a region. Typically, these are species intentionally introduced by people, though some introductions occur inadvertently. In India, many non-native plants originated&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/delhi-witnesses-a-travesty-of-ecological-restoration-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/delhi-witnesses-a-travesty-of-ecological-restoration-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>A carbon garden reimagines urban greenery</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-carbon-garden-reimagines-urban-greenery/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-carbon-garden-reimagines-urban-greenery/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2026 12:17:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shweta Thakur Nanda]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban climate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urban forest]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/26093407/1-Delhi-University_s-carbon-garden-Pic-Prof.-Dinabandhu-Sahoo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38816</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conserving Agro-biodiversity]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Delhi and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon Offset, Carbon Sequestration, Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Forests, Plants, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ginkgo biloba, popularly known as a “living fossil”, is among the oldest living tree species on Earth, with a lineage that dates back nearly 290 million years. The sole surviving member of an ancient group of trees that existed long before dinosaurs roamed the planet, it now stands witness to a new initiative in a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ginkgo biloba, popularly known as a “living fossil”, is among the oldest living tree species on Earth, with a lineage that dates back nearly 290 million years. The sole surviving member of an ancient group of trees that existed long before dinosaurs roamed the planet, it now stands witness to a new initiative in a quiet corner of Delhi University’s North Campus: the Carbon Garden. The Carbon Garden is not an ornamental green space; it is designed as an ecological intervention — a living system engineered to filter pollutants, sequester carbon and restore ecological balance in urban landscapes. At a time when cities such as Delhi are grappling with worsening air quality, the garden aims to offer a nature-based approach to mitigating pollution. Developed over three years, it houses a mix of plant species, including hydrophytes that thrive in water, xerophytes adapted to arid conditions, mesophytes that flourish in moderate environments, and ancient plant groups such as pteridophytes and bryophytes. The Carbon Garden has a mix of tree types, ranging from fast growing trees such as casuarina to native canopy builders such as kadamba or burflower trees. They are complemented by ground cover plants and shrubs as well as micro-organisms such as algae, bacteria and fungi. “The careful selection of plant categories play a vital role in maximising carbon sequestration,” says Professor Dinabandhu Sahoo, Head of the Department, Botany, at the university. “Microorganisms living on plant surfaces help break down toxic gases such as methane and carbon monoxide, converting them&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-carbon-garden-reimagines-urban-greenery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>India’s native dwarf honey bee faces a quiet urban crisis</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/indias-native-dwarf-honey-bee-faces-a-quiet-urban-crisis/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/indias-native-dwarf-honey-bee-faces-a-quiet-urban-crisis/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jun 2026 11:12:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nivedhika Krishnan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[honeybees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollination]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollinators]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/18183622/A_florea_colony-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38733</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Ecology, Impacts of Climate Change, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As Bengaluru’s temperatures peaked at 38.5°C in April this year, natural landscape architect Akshay Vidhate stood in his terrace garden among 30 varieties of flowering plants. The air was eerily quiet. He noticed the absence of the familiar buzz of wild honey bees in his garden. Vidhate turned an empty bottle into a makeshift feeder, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As Bengaluru’s temperatures peaked at 38.5°C in April this year, natural landscape architect Akshay Vidhate stood in his terrace garden among 30 varieties of flowering plants. The air was eerily quiet. He noticed the absence of the familiar buzz of wild honey bees in his garden. Vidhate turned an empty bottle into a makeshift feeder, filled it with a light sugar-water mixture, and hung it in the shade. “For the first few days, nothing happened,” he recalls. “Then, suddenly, there were bees everywhere. Now they arrive every morning, almost on schedule.” Vidhate’s experience reflects a slow shift unfolding across India’s urban landscapes — the transition from environments that naturally sustain wild, open-air bees to ones that increasingly require human intervention to keep ecosystem functions alive. Native bees face challenges in cities Global pollinator research has focused heavily on the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera), a cavity-dwelling species managed in commercial hives. However, pollination in India’s agricultural and urban ecosystems depend largely on free-living wild bee populations such as the dwarf honey bee (Apis florea) and giant honey bee (Apis dorsata). A dwarf honey bee collects pollen from a eucalyptus flower in Bengaluru. India’s agricultural and urban ecosystems depend on wild bee populations such as the dwarf honey bee and giant honey bee. Image by Bharath Kumar A.K. Between these two species, the native dwarf honey bee serves as a foundational ecological safety net. “The size of a pollinator is often proportional to the size of the flower it pollinates,” explains&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/indias-native-dwarf-honey-bee-faces-a-quiet-urban-crisis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Valuing the diversity that feeds us [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/valuing-the-diversity-that-feeds-us-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/valuing-the-diversity-that-feeds-us-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jun 2026 16:18:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[S. Gopikrishna Warrier]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[S. Gopikrishna Warrier]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genetically modified crop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seed conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seeds]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/12144943/AP22143499795663-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38616</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Food, Organic Farming, Plantations, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There was a native mango tree in the front yard of our home that my father bought for the family in the mid-1970s. He had retired from government service and had returned to Thrissur. It was a big, sprawling tree which bore copious fruits every year. When the mangoes were small, tender and clustered in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There was a native mango tree in the front yard of our home that my father bought for the family in the mid-1970s. He had retired from government service and had returned to Thrissur. It was a big, sprawling tree which bore copious fruits every year. When the mangoes were small, tender and clustered in bunches, my mother had them plucked for pickle. As they ripened, she turned the fibrous fruits with tough skins into a sweet curry, which we poured on to our rice and ate at lunch.  We had to cut the mango tree in the early years of our stay in that house. We realised soon enough that though the tree was in our compound, it was perceived more as a local public property. Youngsters threw stones to make the mangoes drop, to pick the fruits. Their aim missed most of the time and the casualty was a broken roof tile in our home. And we could not afford replacing roof tiles ever so often.  I do not know if the mango tree was of the Chandrakaran variety that researcher Femi Benny wrote about. Needless to say, the stories about native varieties disappearing and giving way to market-friendlier varieties are talked about very often. Almost all old families in Kerala will recite names in Malayalam that described the fruit appropriately. For instance, one native mango variety was called Tholikayappan, which means bitter mango skin.  The story that many elderly would mention is that many of these varieties&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/valuing-the-diversity-that-feeds-us-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Rethinking forest restoration beyond tree cover [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-forest-restoration-beyond-tree-cover-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-forest-restoration-beyond-tree-cover-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 12:19:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dhanapal GovindarajuluJohan Oldekop]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[afforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dryland conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat degradation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tree plantation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/08095349/AP21185326184454-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38560</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Ecology, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Global Forest Watch, Habitat Loss, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Since its launch in 2011, the Bonn Challenge has mobilised commitments to restore more than 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030, including India’s pledge to restore 26 million hectares. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) as a process that seeks to regain ecological integrity [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since its launch in 2011, the Bonn Challenge has mobilised commitments to restore more than 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030, including India’s pledge to restore 26 million hectares. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) as a process that seeks to regain ecological integrity while enhancing human well-being. In practice, this means that ecosystem restoration should improve biodiversity, wildlife habitats and corridors, watersheds, and other ecosystem services. It should also strengthen local livelihoods, particularly through the provision of non-timber forest products and support for pastoral communities. Yet in practice, restoration is often narrowly equated with tree planting. This is partly because plantations can sequester large amounts of carbon, making them attractive for climate mitigation targets. India, for example, has committed under the Paris Agreement to create an additional carbon sink of 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes through afforestation and the expansion of tree cover. Many tropical countries use globally available forest-cover products to monitor and report restoration progress. However, these global products come with limitations because they are generated using different satellite imagery, training data, classification algorithms, and forest definitions. For example, the Global Forest Watch dataset, derived primarily from Landsat imagery, can produce substantially different estimates of forest extent and change compared with GlobeLand30, which is generated using Landsat and China’s HJ-1 satellite imagery. A recent global study comparing ten global forest datasets found that these maps agreed on only 26% of the globally mapped forest area. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-forest-restoration-beyond-tree-cover-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Why India&#8217;s tree-planting programmes are falling short</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/why-indias-tree-planting-programmes-are-falling-short/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/why-indias-tree-planting-programmes-are-falling-short/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2026 15:06:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aisiri Amin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agroforestry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tree plantation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/02181943/AP24202402198176-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38482</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroecology, Forestry, Forests, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For many countries, including India, increasing tree cover has become a core part of climate mitigation plans to improve biodiversity and ecosystems. ​From tree planting drives and festivals such as the annual Van Mahotsav, where India pledges to plant millions of tree saplings, to tree plantation programmes such as the Green India Mission (GIM), National [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For many countries, including India, increasing tree cover has become a core part of climate mitigation plans to improve biodiversity and ecosystems. ​From tree planting drives and festivals such as the annual Van Mahotsav, where India pledges to plant millions of tree saplings, to tree plantation programmes such as the Green India Mission (GIM), National Afforestation Programme (NAP), and Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF), afforestation is high on the priority list of solutions. However, a question that often arises is: how effective are these initiatives? A new study, published in the journal Environmental Research Communications, attempts to answer this question by examining eight major government policies and programmes and their impact on tree cover, focusing on trees outside forests (ToF). Many of these programmes operate with state funding, which means citizens’ tax money supports various initiatives. Therefore, it’s important to understand how this funding is actually being used, says Pooja Choksi, researcher and founder of Ficus Research Consulting, and co-author of the study. Moreover, India has one of the largest land and forestry-based Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — a country&#8217;s plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “This creates enormous pressure: achieving these targets requires significant behavioural and land-use changes from citizens, because only limited land is government-owned, and primarily forests,” she explains. This also leads to a critical question. “How will we realistically meet these NDCs using current (tree planting) programmes, especially when new programmes are introduced every few years?&#8221; Choksi asks. A plant nursery nurtured by the Forest Department in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/why-indias-tree-planting-programmes-are-falling-short/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>The slow exit of foraging in urban blue spaces</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-slow-exit-of-foraging-in-urban-blue-spaces/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-slow-exit-of-foraging-in-urban-blue-spaces/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 May 2026 14:27:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jyotsnika Tiwari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[foraging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fruits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[greens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urban forest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban lakes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wild foods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wild greens]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/05/22122945/East-Kolkata-Wetlands-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38313</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature-based Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Ecosystem services, Food, Plants, Trees, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It is 4 a.m. at the East Kolkata Wetlands. The city has not yet woken up, but a woman has already arrived at the lake&#8217;s edge. She wades in and starts collecting crabs, mussels, and fish, moving with the ease of someone who has done this many times. Once it is done, she changes into [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It is 4 a.m. at the East Kolkata Wetlands. The city has not yet woken up, but a woman has already arrived at the lake&#8217;s edge. She wades in and starts collecting crabs, mussels, and fish, moving with the ease of someone who has done this many times. Once it is done, she changes into dry clothes and is off to work as a domestic help in one of the new lake-view apartment buildings nearby. Before her shift begins, she will sell some of what she has collected, and cook the rest in the evening, with the women in her neighbourhood. Sukanya Basu, researcher and faculty at Azim Premji University, saw this woman and others like her across lakes and rivers in Kolkata, Kochi, Bengaluru and Mumbai during months of fieldwork for her study, Widespread Practices and Sustainability Benefits of Foraging in Urban Blue Spaces of India, published in Nature Cities journal, conducted with colleagues Brenda Maria Zoderer, Harini Nagendra, Peter H. Verburg and Tobias Plieninger. The study surveyed over 1,200 people (799 women and 391 men) who used these urban water bodies or blue spaces from March to September in 2023 and found that more than half of them frequently collected edibles from lakes, rivers and wetlands for personal consumption, selling, sharing and collective cooking. And yet, this practice is almost entirely absent from policy, planning and public imagination. Urban water bodies are valued as recreational amenities, ecological assets and for flood management, but never as food systems, which&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-slow-exit-of-foraging-in-urban-blue-spaces/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>The search for climate resilient coffee in a warming world</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-search-for-climate-resilient-coffee-in-a-warming-world/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-search-for-climate-resilient-coffee-in-a-warming-world/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 May 2026 10:25:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Meena Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate resilience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate resilience agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coffee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farm produce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/05/20232612/DSCF6417-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38279</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Food, Plantations, Plants, Sustainability, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Blending coffee and music comes naturally to Carnatic musician and coffee roaster Akshay Vaidyanathan. In 2019, he founded Kapikottai, a coffee brand he describes as a fun entrepreneurial experiment. A year later, he launched a new specialty coffee roast using Excelsa coffee beans, a less popular species of coffee.  While he introduced it as a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Blending coffee and music comes naturally to Carnatic musician and coffee roaster Akshay Vaidyanathan. In 2019, he founded Kapikottai, a coffee brand he describes as a fun entrepreneurial experiment. A year later, he launched a new specialty coffee roast using Excelsa coffee beans, a less popular species of coffee.  While he introduced it as a small, experimental batch, Vaidyanathan says, “It’s been an institution since then, and sells out fast. A lot of people don’t realise it is another species. They feel it’s just good coffee.”   That distinction may soon matter more than ever.  Both Arabica and Robusta, the two species that dominate global coffee production, face mounting stress from rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns. Temperatures above 30°C reduce yields, affect bean quality and increase plant stress, particularly for Arabica coffee, which is more heat-sensitive than Robusta. India grows both varieties, though primarily Robusta, largely across the Western Ghats. With changing climate conditions, researchers and farmers are turning to alternative and lesser-known coffee species. Among them is Excelsa. An overlooked species gains new relevance Excelsa (C. dewevrei), native to parts of Tropical and West Africa as well as Southeast Asia, has long existed on the margins of India’s coffee landscape. The trees, often planted as boundary markers or for shade, can be found in South and Northeast India. However, they were never widely commercialised for coffee production.    As erratic weather patterns threaten coffee production, researchers and farmers are turning to more climate resilient coffee species like Excelsa (Coffea dewevrei).&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-search-for-climate-resilient-coffee-in-a-warming-world/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>The flame of the forest is fading; can it return?</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-flame-of-the-forest-is-fading-can-it-return/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-flame-of-the-forest-is-fading-can-it-return/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2026 15:14:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashwini Kumar Shukla]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flowers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palamu Tiger Reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[traditional farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional Knowledge]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/24111039/IMG_0269-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37862</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Jharkhand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Plantations, Plants, Trees, Tribes, and Villages]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“If the flower of the palash is fully bloomed, that means it will be a good summer, and it will rain well that year,” says Sarita Devi, sitting under a tree in front of her home. “And if it does not bloom on time, the rains will not be good either.” Sarita, 40, is a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“If the flower of the palash is fully bloomed, that means it will be a good summer, and it will rain well that year,” says Sarita Devi, sitting under a tree in front of her home. “And if it does not bloom on time, the rains will not be good either.” Sarita, 40, is a resident of Kundri village in Palamu district, Jharkhand. She belongs to the Dalit community. For generations, people here have predicted the weather through the palash tree. Their livelihoods also depend on it. The palash tree is used to grow lac, a natural resin produced by the insect Kerria lacca (rangeeni), which farmers harvest and sell in the market. On the palash tree, lac is produced twice a year: once in the rainy season (harvested in October–November) and once in the summer (harvested in June–July). For years, Sarita worked at the Kundri lac farm, widely described by officials as Asia&#8217;s largest lac plantation. Every October, she tied lac-bearing twigs to palash branches. Over the next few months, the resin slowly builds up on the branches and is later harvested and processed. “We used to do all the lac work,” she says. “Putting it on the trees, taking it off, peeling it, collecting it. It gave us very good employment.” In a good season, she, her husband Satnarayan Bhuiyan, 45, and their son Deepak Bhuiyan, 18, would earn between ₹50,000 and ₹60,000. Sarita is a resident of Kundri village in Palamu district who once depended on lac&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-flame-of-the-forest-is-fading-can-it-return/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Plugging data gaps in global plant diversity using citizen science</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/plugging-data-gaps-in-global-plant-diversity-using-citizen-science/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/plugging-data-gaps-in-global-plant-diversity-using-citizen-science/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Apr 2026 14:44:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anusha Krishnan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[data collection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mapping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[maps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[species]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/22093742/54845290113_dbf0dfa29c_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37800</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Citizen science, Climate Change, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Forests, Plants, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[What does a global map of plant life look like, and what happens when the data behind it is incomplete? A recent study published in Nature Communications in January 2026, describes such a map, built from field surveys, earth observation systems, and millions of observations recorded by citizen scientists around the world. This map now [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[What does a global map of plant life look like, and what happens when the data behind it is incomplete? A recent study published in Nature Communications in January 2026, describes such a map, built from field surveys, earth observation systems, and millions of observations recorded by citizen scientists around the world. This map now offers one of the most in-depth views of how plants function across ecosystems. However, the map also exposes something else. These are large, persistent gaps in the data that scientists rely on to understand the Earth’s vegetation, which means that quite a bit of the world’s plant life is still poorly documented. The study used 31 plant traits such as size, growth strategy, leaf characteristics, wood density, reproductive traits, and resource use to outline a global ‘plant economics’ spectrum. These characteristics, also known as functional traits, can help us understand how plant strategies change in response to climate and ecosystem stress. Currently, most global biodiversity data only tell us what species are found where; they don’t tell us what roles they play in carbon storage and ecosystem dynamics. Mapping these traits on a global scale gives us a spectrum of characteristics spanning fast-growing, nutrient-hungry plants to slow-growing, stress-tolerant ones and how these traits support plant growth, survival, adaptation, and persistence in an ever-changing world. This is especially important for informing models on energy, nutrient, and water cycles which are increasingly being used to plan infrastructure, agricultural, and energy strategies in a world faced with climate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/plugging-data-gaps-in-global-plant-diversity-using-citizen-science/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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