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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/western-ghats/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 09 Oct 2026 08:03:33 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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					<title>A study on African Bermuda-grass highlights gaps in bioinvasion policy</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-study-on-african-bermuda-grass-highlights-gaps-in-bioinvasion-policy/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-study-on-african-bermuda-grass-highlights-gaps-in-bioinvasion-policy/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 18:59:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lekha Bandopadhyay]]>
						</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/30/2026/08/24155323/Image-5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40384</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Forests, Himalayas, Natural Resources, Plants, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An alien surprise was waiting for Kuntal Saha, a taxonomist from the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, when he spotted some grass after stepping down from his vehicle near Tangmarg, a scenic town in the Baramulla District of Jammu and Kashmir in September 2024. “It was my first visit to Kashmir. I was simply enjoying the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An alien surprise was waiting for Kuntal Saha, a taxonomist from the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, when he spotted some grass after stepping down from his vehicle near Tangmarg, a scenic town in the Baramulla District of Jammu and Kashmir in September 2024. “It was my first visit to Kashmir. I was simply enjoying the breathtaking scenery when I noticed an unfamiliar Cynodon population growing along the roadside, says Saha, adding that they had earlier seen the grass species near the houseboat where they were staying in Srinagar. Grasses of the genus Cynodon are valued for their use as fodder and in developing turf for lawns. The genus also includes a sacred grass (Cynodon dactylon) called doob, durba, dubari etc. in Indian regional languages. Saha, however, spotted something distinct and this eventually became one of the most important collections of their field trip in 2024, part of a decades-long survey which began in 1995 when Saha’s mentor, Indian Forest Service Officer Manoj Chandran (now retired), collected an unknown Cynodon species from Tamil Nadu during his botanical explorations. “At that time, the specimen could not be fully appreciated because of its close resemblance to other Cynodon species,” explains Saha. Over the years, they kept collecting specimens across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. Based on this survey, the researchers recently reported that Cynodon nlemfuensis, the African Bermuda grass, which is native to Central and East Africa and introduced to India, has been naturalised in the Himalayas and the Western&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-study-on-african-bermuda-grass-highlights-gaps-in-bioinvasion-policy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-study-on-african-bermuda-grass-highlights-gaps-in-bioinvasion-policy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why Western Ghats states can’t agree on Eco-Sensitive Areas</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/why-western-ghats-states-cant-agree-on-eco-sensitive-areas/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/why-western-ghats-states-cant-agree-on-eco-sensitive-areas/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2026 19:06:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Simrinsirur]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Karnataka]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tamil Nadu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Western Ghats]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/10180504/View_of_Western_ghats_from_Rajmachi_point_Khandala_on_the_Mumbai-Pune_expressway-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40014</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas and Hewing The Regulatory Tree]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Conservation, Deforestation, Endemic species, Environment, Forests, Habitat Fragmentation, Shola-grasslands, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On July 27, the Union Environment Ministry issued the seventh draft notification delineating the Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) falling within the Western Ghats. The ESA restricts activity within the Western Ghats to preserve its biodiversity and geological integrity in the face of rising human activity. But even as experts argue the urgent need to finally [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On July 27, the Union Environment Ministry issued the seventh draft notification delineating the Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) falling within the Western Ghats. The ESA restricts activity within the Western Ghats to preserve its biodiversity and geological integrity in the face of rising human activity. But even as experts argue the urgent need to finally notify the ESA, states have been unable to reach a consensus about which areas the notification should cover. The Western Ghats stretch from the Tapti river valley in the Gujarat-Maharashtra border down across 1,500 kilometres south to Kanyakumari, crossing Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu along the way. This region is considered one of the world&#8217;s eight &#8220;hottest&#8221; biodiversity hotspots, hosting more than 7,000 species of flora and fauna. It is also extremely landslide prone, necessitating “special measures of protection and mitigation,” the draft notification says. But since it was released, representatives from Kerala, Karnataka, and Goa have reportedly expressed apprehensions over the economic consequences of restricting economic activity within the ESA zones. The tenure of the expert committee formed to guide the ESA notification process has been extended to 2027, to help settle these issues and finalise the area. Why some states are unhappy The latest ESA draft notification covers 56,825 square kilometres, largely retaining the area of its predecessor. Apart from banning mining, sand mining, quarrying, thermal power plants, and red category industries, the notification restricts the construction of built up areas to 20,000 square metres, and townships to an area of 50&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/why-western-ghats-states-cant-agree-on-eco-sensitive-areas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Tunnel landslide raises fresh questions over mountain development</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/tunnel-landslide-raises-fresh-questions-over-mountain-development/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/tunnel-landslide-raises-fresh-questions-over-mountain-development/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 16:09:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[K.A. Shaji]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/14124059/the-incidentsite-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39279</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Less than a month before the second anniversary of the 2024 Wayanad landslides which fundamentally altered public understanding of landslide risks in the country and killed 298 people while leaving many more injured and homeless, another mountain slope collapsed in Wayanad district of Kerala. This time, the slip occurred at the exit section of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Less than a month before the second anniversary of the 2024 Wayanad landslides which fundamentally altered public understanding of landslide risks in the country and killed 298 people while leaving many more injured and homeless, another mountain slope collapsed in Wayanad district of Kerala. This time, the slip occurred at the exit section of the under-construction Anakkampoyil-Kalladi-Meppadi twin tunnel project. On July 7, 2026, following intense monsoon rain, a massive slope failure hit the tunnel project near Meenakshi Bridge at Kalladi, near Meppadi. The incident was initially described as a mudslide because a large mass of waterlogged excavated earth swept through the construction site. It was later identified by experts and officials as a landslide that originated higher up the slope, with the accumulated tunnel spoil adding to its destructive force. The collapse buried workers, vehicles and equipment, killing seven people. Two others remained missing after days of search operations. Investigations in progress Investigators are also examining whether the failure was aggravated by the contractor&#8217;s alleged non-compliance with directions to remove the excavated soil accumulated near the site before the monsoon. As per the reading on the hyper-local rain gauge at the research institute, Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology near the Kalladi-Meppadi tunnel corridor, the area received about 260 mm of rainfall over the preceding three days, saturating the already unstable hillside before the collapse. According to the district administration, the tragedy unfolded when earth, boulders and debris crashed onto the construction site, trapping workers engaged in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/tunnel-landslide-raises-fresh-questions-over-mountain-development/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous women build new livelihoods with hive boxes</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-women-build-new-livelihoods-with-hive-boxes/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-women-build-new-livelihoods-with-hive-boxes/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jul 2026 13:31:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beekeeping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[honey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[honeybees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollination]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollinators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[women]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[women in agriculture]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/03101916/Sigur_070725_7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38951</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Knowledge]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Environment, Food, Indigenous Peoples, Insects, Non-Timber Forest Produce, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Neelavathi (37), an Irula woman from Vazhaithottam village in Tamil Nadu&#8217;s Nilgiris district, has had several reasons to celebrate over the past few months — a new occupation, a higher income, and enough money to celebrate the annual festival at her village temple, Mariyamman Kovil. “I have already sold around six litres of honey,” she [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Neelavathi (37), an Irula woman from Vazhaithottam village in Tamil Nadu&#8217;s Nilgiris district, has had several reasons to celebrate over the past few months — a new occupation, a higher income, and enough money to celebrate the annual festival at her village temple, Mariyamman Kovil. “I have already sold around six litres of honey,” she says with pride. “Since I am the beekeeper at home, my family lets me keep the income for my own needs.” Apart from buying new clothes for herself and her kids, Neelavathi could buy two stone dosa griddles with the income from honey sales over time. Nine Irula women from the Sigur Plateau, including Neelavathi, gathered in a small community hall in Vazhaithottam to share with Mongabay-India their experiences of learning beekeeping. Over the past year, they have been trained to manage bee colonies in hive boxes, grow fruit trees that provide nectar for the bees, and harvest honey — an enterprise that has significantly boosted their household incomes. Women trained on beekeeping as a livelihood In April 2025, UNESCO partnered with the Nilgiris-based non-profit Keystone Foundation to bring its Women for Bees project to India. The Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve was chosen as the programme’s first site in the country, with activities launched across five locations in two states — Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Beekeepers at work in Nilambur, Kerala. In April 2025, UNESCO&#8217;s Women for Bees project debuted in India, at the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve, engaging 50 Indigenous women from Sigur, Pillur, Kuzhiyoor, Wayanad&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-women-build-new-livelihoods-with-hive-boxes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Study finds urbanisation is reshaping frog communities in the Western Ghats</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/study-finds-urbanisation-is-reshaping-frog-communities-in-the-western-ghats/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/study-finds-urbanisation-is-reshaping-frog-communities-in-the-western-ghats/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2026 15:14:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ananya Singh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanisation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/18134838/IMG_6079-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38724</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Biodiversity, Frogs, Western Ghats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In India, urbanisation and land-use changes are driving forest loss across biodiversity hotspots, including the Western Ghats which support over 250 amphibian species. A new study based in Udupi, a Tier-2 city at the foothills of the Western Ghats, suggests that urbanisation may not necessarily lead to species loss, but may be reshaping frog communities. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In India, urbanisation and land-use changes are driving forest loss across biodiversity hotspots, including the Western Ghats which support over 250 amphibian species. A new study based in Udupi, a Tier-2 city at the foothills of the Western Ghats, suggests that urbanisation may not necessarily lead to species loss, but may be reshaping frog communities. The study, published in Urban Ecosystems, suggests that urbanisation is altering amphibian communities by filtering out species according to certain traits such as body size, reproduction and habitat use. Species with specialised traits — such as arboreal (tree-dwelling) or fossorial (burrowing) frogs, direct-developing species (that hatch directly as frogs, bypassing the tadpole stage) or those with a larger body size — were associated with less-urbanised habitats farther from the city centre. In contrast, generalist species with more adaptable traits showed greater urban tolerance. “The study’s most novel finding is that urbanisation acts as a trait filter rather than simply a diversity filter,” said Aravind N.A., Senior Fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and the study’s supervising author. While traditional biodiversity assessments may conclude that urbanisation has either little or drastic impact based on species counts, trait-based analyses can reveal how landscape changes restructure amphibian communities, Aravind explained. “This finding is particularly important because it highlights hidden biodiversity changes that may precede measurable species losses,” he added. Although around 40% of amphibian species are threatened with extinction globally, little is known about how amphibian communities respond to urban pressures,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/study-finds-urbanisation-is-reshaping-frog-communities-in-the-western-ghats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Landslide survivors wait for a place to call home</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/landslide-survivors-wait-for-a-place-to-call-home/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/landslide-survivors-wait-for-a-place-to-call-home/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2026 17:42:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disaster management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[landslide]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[landslides]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relocation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/17143127/DSC4519-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38614</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Politics, Human Rights, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Almost two years after a massive landslide ripped through her home, Bushara Mujeeb still feels at sea. Between the grief of losing two dozen family members in the disaster and the struggle of supporting those of them who survived, she knows that things will never quite be the same again. But there is something to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Almost two years after a massive landslide ripped through her home, Bushara Mujeeb still feels at sea. Between the grief of losing two dozen family members in the disaster and the struggle of supporting those of them who survived, she knows that things will never quite be the same again. But there is something to look forward to. She’s been counting down the days till she moves into her new home, built specifically for survivors of the 2024 Wayanad landslide in Kerala. “Since the landslide, organising food, shelter, and clothing has been my biggest preoccupation. We’ve just been living moment to moment, trying to get past that trauma,” she told Mongabay-India in April, sitting in the district headquarters&#8217; community centre. On July 30, 2024, the three wards of Chooralmala, Punchirimattam, and Mundakkai were washed away within minutes when, upstream of the Punnapuzha river, a cascade of rocks and soil came crashing down after days of relentlessly heavy rain. The landslide destroyed 1,500 homes and killed 266 people. It also wiped away 25 hectares of forest and 600 hectares of agricultural land with coffee, tea, and cardamom plantations, destroying a major source of livelihood for affected families. Soon after the disaster struck, the erstwhile Left Democratic Front government-led by Pinarayi Vijayan made plans to build a state-of-the-art township to rehabilitate survivors who lost their homes. More than 100 families were handed keys and titles to their new homes in early April this year. “Moving into the new home will be a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/landslide-survivors-wait-for-a-place-to-call-home/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<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>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-search-for-climate-resilient-coffee-in-a-warming-world/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>New-to-science catfish sheds light on west-flowing rivers of the Western Ghats</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/new-to-science-catfish-sheds-light-on-west-flowing-rivers-of-the-western-ghats/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/new-to-science-catfish-sheds-light-on-west-flowing-rivers-of-the-western-ghats/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 May 2026 17:33:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lisann Dias]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aquatic life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bioindicators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fishes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freshwater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[river]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/05/18113811/Amblyceps-vayavy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38217</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecology, Endemic species, Environment, Fish, New species, Rivers, Western Ghats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new species of freshwater catfish has been described from the northern Western Ghats in Maharashtra and Goa. The species, Amblyceps vayavy, was formally described in the journal Zootaxa and is likely endemic to west-flowing rivers of the northern Western Ghats. Amblyceps is a genus of freshwater catfish with 24 identified species found in moderate [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new species of freshwater catfish has been described from the northern Western Ghats in Maharashtra and Goa. The species, Amblyceps vayavy, was formally described in the journal Zootaxa and is likely endemic to west-flowing rivers of the northern Western Ghats. Amblyceps is a genus of freshwater catfish with 24 identified species found in moderate to swift-flowing rivers in South and Southeast Asia. The only known congener, or closely related species, from the Western Ghats is A. accari, first described in 2016. The name vayavy (pronounced vah-yhav-yah) means ‘northwest’ in both Konkani and Marathi, derived from the species’ distribution in the northern Western Ghats. The first reports emerged in 2020, when a Mumbai-based citizen scientist, Neil Soares, found an Amblyceps specimen in the Kundalika River in Kolad, Maharashtra. It was previously unrecorded in the region, as the distribution of A. accari is restricted to the central Western Ghats. Balaji Vijaykrishnan, the lead author of the study and an independent researcher, said, “This genus was initially thought to be restricted to the northern parts of India. The discovery of A. accari in 2016 and A. crassioris in 2023 from the Western and Eastern Ghats, respectively, revealed that the genus is also present in both the south-western and eastern parts of the country. Amblyceps vayavy is the second species (of this genus) known from the Western Ghats.” Over five years, between 2020 and 2025, the team, which included Vijaykrishnan along with researchers Tejas Thackeray and Abhishek Shirke of the Thackeray Wildlife Foundation,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/new-to-science-catfish-sheds-light-on-west-flowing-rivers-of-the-western-ghats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cottony coats and comebacks</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/cottony-coats-and-comebacks/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/cottony-coats-and-comebacks/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Feb 2026 15:37:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anusha Krishnan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plants]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/24133321/Image-3_Neuracanthus_after-surface-fire-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37025</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Drought, Ecology, Monsoons, Plants, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The northern part of the Western Ghats, a UNESCO-recognised biodiversity hotspot known for its remarkable diversity of seasonal herbs, has a dramatic landscape. During the monsoon months between June and September, it experiences intense rainfall. Its open grasslands and rocky plateaus become awash in verdant green and then erupt into colour as seasonal plants leaf [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The northern part of the Western Ghats, a UNESCO-recognised biodiversity hotspot known for its remarkable diversity of seasonal herbs, has a dramatic landscape. During the monsoon months between June and September, it experiences intense rainfall. Its open grasslands and rocky plateaus become awash in verdant green and then erupt into colour as seasonal plants leaf and flower across its terrain. But once the rains withdraw in October, the terrain turns harsh, and until May, all the plants in this area face intense heat, drying winds, and recurring surface fires. Some plants have an unusual strategy to survive these extreme seasonal cycles, finds a recent study. They wrap their dormant buds in dry, cottony coats to help them survive the inhospitable months. Researchers have named this adaptation ‘Xerocoma’, deriving it from the Greek words ‘xero’ (dry) and ‘kóma’ (tuft). These structures occur as dry, cottony balls that form at the rootstock — the area where the shoot and root meet, either just above or just below the soil surface. What is Xerocoma? Just before monsoon sets in, as the plant&#8217;s buds begin to grow, the Xerocoma also elongates with the growing buds to completely envelop them during this critical period. Eventually, as young leaves emerge, the cottony mass of the Xerocoma loosens to allow the expanding leaves to grow. Mandar Datar, who is a professor at the Agharkar Research Institute in Pune, and an author in the paper, emphasises that Xerocoma is a distinct plant organ rather than a fungal association&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/cottony-coats-and-comebacks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<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>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists describe a new fishing spider species</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/scientists-describe-a-new-fishing-spider-species/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/scientists-describe-a-new-fishing-spider-species/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jan 2026 13:53:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rohini Karandikar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spiders]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/13112331/Adult-female-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36445</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution, Forests, New species, Rainforests, Rivers, Water, Western Ghats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Arjun Cherukutty, a research intern, learned about fishing spiders — large, semi-aquatic arachnids — during a discussion with an expert. Cherukutty, who worked with entomologist Jithu Unni Krishnan at the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), saw these spiders, soon after, on a field trip to the evergreen rainforests of the Western Ghats near Wayanad, Kerala. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Arjun Cherukutty, a research intern, learned about fishing spiders — large, semi-aquatic arachnids — during a discussion with an expert. Cherukutty, who worked with entomologist Jithu Unni Krishnan at the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), saw these spiders, soon after, on a field trip to the evergreen rainforests of the Western Ghats near Wayanad, Kerala. At that time, the team did not have the permissions to collect specimens from the wild for research. But six months later the spiders were seen again in an ecotourism resort in Wayanad. At the resort, the general manager David Raju, a citizen scientist, naturalist, and author, helped the team collect specimens of the fishing spiders to study. While the spiders are solitary organisms, they were found in dozens near the stream. This could be because the fragmented habitat provided a microniche for all the spiders found in the region. It also indicates the effectiveness in conserving the ecotourism spot. Cherukutty collected the spiders from both sexes, and along with Krishnan, conducted a detailed study of the new species, which is now named Dolomedes indicus sp. nov. The spider had been observed in some parts of India previously; the present study marks the first formal taxonomic description from India. Adapted to fish and swim Fishing or raft spiders have stringent survival conditions. They are mostly found along pristine, slow-moving water streams, within a temperature range of 18-24℃. Unlike other spiders that weave a web, fishing spiders spin a single silk thread with which they keep&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/scientists-describe-a-new-fishing-spider-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can climate change and human pressure favour deciduous forests?</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/can-climate-change-and-human-pressure-favour-deciduous-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/can-climate-change-and-human-pressure-favour-deciduous-forests/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jan 2026 16:41:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cashew]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human encroachment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mango]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rubber]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/09154516/BIRD_PALLKKAD_IRV06145-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36419</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecology, Forests, Mountains, Plantations, Plants, Reforestation, Trees, Water, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It is a well-documented fact that climate change, combined with multiple anthropogenic pressures, is drastically altering forest landscapes. A new study from the northern Western Ghats highlights how climatic factors such as water stress, along with chronic anthropogenic disturbances like biomass extraction, influence tropical forest community structure, richness, and composition. The study finds that overall [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It is a well-documented fact that climate change, combined with multiple anthropogenic pressures, is drastically altering forest landscapes. A new study from the northern Western Ghats highlights how climatic factors such as water stress, along with chronic anthropogenic disturbances like biomass extraction, influence tropical forest community structure, richness, and composition. The study finds that overall tree richness — and evergreen tree richness in particular — is lower in disturbed areas, while deciduous richness rises sharply under conditions of high disturbance and water stress. As a part of an on-ground restoration programme in Maharashtra, the researchers conducted baseline surveys of birds, amphibians, and reptiles in the northern Western Ghats to understand where the restoration should take place: “We wanted sites that were highly threatened, poorly protected, yet still retained significant biodiversity,” explains Rohit Naniwadekar, one of the authors of the study. The surveys revealed that low-elevation forests in the northern Western Ghats harbour unique biodiversity, with higher diversity of birds and reptiles than higher elevations. At the same time, only a fraction of these forests fall within the protected area network. “Low-elevation forests are largely not government-owned. Much of the land is privately or community owned and is rapidly being converted to cashew, rubber, and mango plantations,” Naniwadekar says. Whatever forest remains is often harvested periodically for fuelwood. Forests are cut, allowed to regenerate for about a decade, and then harvested again. “This cycle allowed us to identify low-elevation forests as both highly biodiverse and highly threatened — making them priority&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/can-climate-change-and-human-pressure-favour-deciduous-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>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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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photo tourism threatens rare galaxy frog population</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/photo-tourism-threatens-rare-galaxy-frog-population/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/photo-tourism-threatens-rare-galaxy-frog-population/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jan 2026 12:27:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human encroachment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[photography]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/02111149/Galaxy-frog-in-the-Western-Ghats-India-with-photo-taken-by-conservationist-Rajkumar-K-P-as-part-of-conservation-project-2-c-Rajkumar-K-P-ZSL-.jpg-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36319</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Endangered species, Extinction, Frogs, Photos, Protected Areas, Tourism, Western Ghats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Seven threatened galaxy frogs (Melanobatrachus indicus) are gone from a research site in the Western Ghats in Kerala after photographers seeking images of the rare, star-patterned amphibians destroyed their delicate forest floor habitat, according to a short article published in Herpetology Notes. Researchers found the seven tiny frogs beneath rotting logs at the site in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Seven threatened galaxy frogs (Melanobatrachus indicus) are gone from a research site in the Western Ghats in Kerala after photographers seeking images of the rare, star-patterned amphibians destroyed their delicate forest floor habitat, according to a short article published in Herpetology Notes. Researchers found the seven tiny frogs beneath rotting logs at the site in March 2020. Upon returning in August 2021, the team discovered that the 25 logs had been overturned, the surrounding vegetation was trampled, and all seven frogs were gone. An anonymous informant reported that multiple photographer groups had visited the site between June 2020 and April 2021. According to the informant’s account, photographers turned over logs to find the frogs, used high-intensity flash photography and handled multiple individuals without gloves — practices that can cause dehydration and stress to the frogs as well as risk disease transmission. Groups of four to six photographers would each photograph the same individuals, with sessions lasting approximately four hours. The informant reported that two small frogs died during photography sessions, though researchers could not verify this claim. The galaxy frog measures just 2-3.5 centimetres and lives only in the southern Western Ghats, where it nestles under logs and stones on the forest floor at elevations above 900 metres. Galaxy frog in the Western Ghats, India. Image by conservationist Rajkumar K.P./ZSL. “Named after their stunning resemblance to images of space, these beautiful yet rare frogs are unlike anything else on our tiny corner of the universe,” said K.P. Rajkumar, lead author&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/photo-tourism-threatens-rare-galaxy-frog-population/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>What expanding cities are doing to frogs and toads</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/what-expanding-cities-are-doing-to-frogs-and-toads/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/what-expanding-cities-are-doing-to-frogs-and-toads/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Dec 2025 16:00:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aisiri Amin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urban forest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanisation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/12/16112531/Painted-balloon-frog-at-Mallathalli-Kere-Credit-Seshadri-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36077</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Ecology, Frogs, Western Ghats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 1999, researcher S. Karthikeyan documented the fauna of Bengaluru, which included a list of 16 species of frogs. For a long time, this was the only documentation of the city&#8217;s anurans (frogs and toads) that people referred to. Now, over 25 years later, a comprehensive, multi-scale assessment of anurans in Bengaluru has documented 11 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 1999, researcher S. Karthikeyan documented the fauna of Bengaluru, which included a list of 16 species of frogs. For a long time, this was the only documentation of the city&#8217;s anurans (frogs and toads) that people referred to. Now, over 25 years later, a comprehensive, multi-scale assessment of anurans in Bengaluru has documented 11 species. Anura is an order of amphibians comprising frogs and toads. Anura is an order of amphibians comprising frogs and toads. While urbanisation is rapidly changing landscapes, little is known about its impact on smaller, less charismatic species such as anurans. “The process of urbanisation affecting biodiversity is well-known. There is a change in the ecological community, which may not always be a decline. But we lack such information about amphibians, especially from the Global South,” says Seshadri K. S., a Bengaluru-based researcher and lead author of the study, with the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). It’s estimated that more than half of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050, which makes documentation of urbanisation’s different impact on different species even more urgent, he adds. There is a clear data gap staring people in the face, Seshadri says. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he collaborated with the study authors and decided to take action. “We wanted to go beyond a checklist of Bengaluru and do a systematic study so that there is baseline data that can support further research and help track urbanisation’s impact on anurans,” he says. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/what-expanding-cities-are-doing-to-frogs-and-toads/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Scientists describe a new species of burrowing shieldtail snake</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/scientists-describe-a-new-species-of-burrowing-shieldtail-snake/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/scientists-describe-a-new-species-of-burrowing-shieldtail-snake/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Dec 2025 12:01:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vandana K.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Snakes]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/12/09003606/Fig1_Rhinophis_siruvaniensis_1_Umesh_PK-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35954</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Ecology, New species, Reptiles, Western Ghats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a monsoon day in 2015, as grey skies stretched overhead, tourist guide Basil P. Das and his father set out to tend to the plants in their coffee plantation in the village of Jellipara in Palakkad district in Kerala. As they began to till the soil in their three-and-a-half-acre farm, a small black and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a monsoon day in 2015, as grey skies stretched overhead, tourist guide Basil P. Das and his father set out to tend to the plants in their coffee plantation in the village of Jellipara in Palakkad district in Kerala. As they began to till the soil in their three-and-a-half-acre farm, a small black and cream-coloured snake wriggled loose from the earth. They had never seen it before. Das took a photo of the snake and sent it to his friend David V. Raju, a naturalist, who could not recognise the species. On Raju&#8217;s advice, Das handled the snake with a stick and put it in a flower pot with some soil. Over the next few days, he found a similar snake. The snake specimen was eventually handed over to Vivek Cyriac who runs the Shieldtail Mapping Project (SMP), a citizen science initiative to document shieldtail snakes. Now a decade later, it turns out that the Das family had found a new species of snake — Rhinophis siruvaniensis. &#8220;When I learnt it&#8217;s a new species, I was very happy because now I am a part of its history,” said Das. The description of R. siruvaniensis, a new species of shieldtail snake, was published in a research paper in the journal Evolutionary Systematics in October 2025, authored by scientists and researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Wayanad Wild, a rainforest lodge and non-profit Kalinga Foundation. This study is based on three specimens collected from the Siruvani Hills, located in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/scientists-describe-a-new-species-of-burrowing-shieldtail-snake/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Asia’s last cave dwellers vanishing in the shadows of change</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/asias-last-cave-dwellers-vanishing-in-the-shadows-of-change/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/asias-last-cave-dwellers-vanishing-in-the-shadows-of-change/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Nov 2025 12:44:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[K.A. Shaji]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[caves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[erratic weather]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme weather events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat degradation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[traditional farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional Knowledge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanisation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wild foods]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/11/25111545/The-lone-forest-road-connecting-the-Cholanaickens-with-outerworld-e1764049667724-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35741</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Knowledge]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Environmental Politics, Food, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Tribes, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The path to Karulai in Kerala’s Nilambur forest winds through mist and silence. Beneath the canopy of teak and wild fig, the air smells of rain and rotting leaves. In a shallow rock cavity on the forest’s edge, a small fire glows, surrounded by men and women roasting wild yam. These are the Cholanaikkans, Asia’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The path to Karulai in Kerala’s Nilambur forest winds through mist and silence. Beneath the canopy of teak and wild fig, the air smells of rain and rotting leaves. In a shallow rock cavity on the forest’s edge, a small fire glows, surrounded by men and women roasting wild yam. These are the Cholanaikkans, Asia’s last surviving cave dwellers and one of the smallest tribal communities in the world. While the 2011 Census puts Cholanaikkan population at 124, the local tribal development office informs Mongabay-India that the population has likely gone up to 250 now. This, however, is down from around 400 in the 1960s. For generations, they have lived in this forest, hunting small animals and gathering tubers, honey, fruits, and wild roots. “The forest was once our mother,” said C. Vinod, a Cholanaikkan from the Manjeeri hamlet, now the first in his community to get a Ph.D. His research focuses on the vanishing culture and identity of his people. “Now she (the forest) cannot feed us or protect us. The streams dry up early, the fruits don’t come on time, and elephants no longer fear us. Life here is an everyday struggle.” A vanishing food culture For the Cholanaikkans, food is identity. Their meals are gathered, not cultivated. The forest once offered everything — Kandathiri (a Dioscorea species) tubers, wild banana flowers, mushrooms, and forest honey. A study by the Centre for Indigenous Food Systems found that their traditional diet contained far more micronutrients than the subsidised rice&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/asias-last-cave-dwellers-vanishing-in-the-shadows-of-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>A stairway from the ocean to the skies [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/a-stairway-from-the-ocean-to-the-skies-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/a-stairway-from-the-ocean-to-the-skies-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Oct 2025 09:30:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[C.P. Rajendran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanisation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/10/28215049/IMG_7878-scaled-e1761668490272-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35247</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecology, Endemic species, Environment, Mountains, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Western Ghats, also known as the Sahyadri or &#8220;benevolent mountains,&#8221; form a majestic 1,600-kilometre-long chain running parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula. This UNESCO World Heritage site spans six states — Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu — and is celebrated as one of the world&#8217;s most biodiverse regions. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Western Ghats, also known as the Sahyadri or &#8220;benevolent mountains,&#8221; form a majestic 1,600-kilometre-long chain running parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula. This UNESCO World Heritage site spans six states — Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu — and is celebrated as one of the world&#8217;s most biodiverse regions. The astonishing array of ecosystems, ranging from tropical rainforests and high-altitude shola grasslands to countless waterfalls and serene rivers, solidifies its status as a global biodiversity hotspot. The range earned the name &#8216;Ghats&#8217;, meaning &#8216;stairway&#8217; or ‘steps’, from its distinct step-like morphology, which can be broadly categorised into three altitudinal zones: the Highlands, Midlands, and Lowlands. Each zone is defined by its elevation, slope, and unique ecological characteristics. The Highland zone consists of high-altitude peaks and plateaus. It receives the highest rainfall and is characterised by shola grasslands and dense evergreen forests. The Midlands is a transition zone featuring lower-lying hills and forested slopes, marking a shift between the high elevations and the plains. The Lowlands comprise the lowest elevations and includes valleys and gentler slopes that gradually lead toward the coastal plains or the Deccan Plateau in its central parts. How does this mountainous terrain paralleling the west coast of India come into existence? Are they true mountains, comparable to the Himalayas or the Alps? Mountains like the Himalayas or the Alps are formed at the advancing edges of tectonic plates through the initial stage of subduction and the later stage of collisions. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/a-stairway-from-the-ocean-to-the-skies-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Male toads get a monsoon makeover to stand out from the crowd</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/male-toads-get-a-monsoon-makeover-to-stand-out-from-the-crowd/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/male-toads-get-a-monsoon-makeover-to-stand-out-from-the-crowd/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2025 13:52:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sandhya Sekar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[breeding grounds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toads]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/10/23120815/06_brown-female-and-yellow-male-in-amplexus-c-Stuckler-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35158</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka and Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Biodiversity, Ecology, Environment, Monsoons, Western Ghats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When the first monsoon rains hit the Indian subcontinent, temporary rain pools transform into a stage for the Asian common toad to meet and breed. Within hours, hundreds of toads converge to breeding sites and form “explosive breeding aggregations”, where males compete with each other and scramble for females. These toads are usually a dull [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When the first monsoon rains hit the Indian subcontinent, temporary rain pools transform into a stage for the Asian common toad to meet and breed. Within hours, hundreds of toads converge to breeding sites and form “explosive breeding aggregations”, where males compete with each other and scramble for females. These toads are usually a dull brown. For just the breeding period, males decide to put up bright neon signs: they turn golden yellow. Scientists call this “dynamic sexual dichromatism” — when one sex changes colour, temporarily, to signal readiness to mate. Every monsoon, male Asian common toads temporarily don their bright breeding hue in a rain pool, as they look for females. Image by Susanne Stückler and Doris Preininger. A group of researchers decided to decode this behaviour from a toad’s perspective. To find out how well the toads themselves recognise these colour signals, researchers Susanne Stückler and Doris Preininger teamed up with K.V. Gururaja  and Priti Hebbar in the foothills of the Western Ghats in Karnataka. Armed with a spectrometer, they recorded the skin colours of toads gathered at a rock pool: males in amplexus, a mating position, were yellow to the human eye; non-mated males were both yellow and brown; and females were all brown in colour. The data were then fed into a computer model that simulated toad vision, revealing how distinctly the yellow of breeding males would stand out to other toads. They found that the toad vision simulator could easily detect the contrast between yellow&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/10/male-toads-get-a-monsoon-makeover-to-stand-out-from-the-crowd/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>What is ecological succession? [Explainer]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/what-is-ecological-succession-explainer/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/what-is-ecological-succession-explainer/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2025 11:42:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Phalguni Ranjan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Renuka Kulkarni]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat degradation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habitat loss]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/29164910/Middle_point_of_Sundarban-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34398</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Environment Explained]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Forestry, Forests, Himalayas, Plants, Trees, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ecological succession is the gradual, natural transformation of ecosystems through a change in their organism structure and composition over time. This transformation happens in steps as organisms arrive in a predictable sequence over large timescales. It starts with the first or pioneer species settling in barren areas, initiating the process of ecological succession. They are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ecological succession is the gradual, natural transformation of ecosystems through a change in their organism structure and composition over time. This transformation happens in steps as organisms arrive in a predictable sequence over large timescales. It starts with the first or pioneer species settling in barren areas, initiating the process of ecological succession. They are followed by the intermediate species, and finally, stable and long-lived climax species that represent the end point of the process. At this point, ecosystems mature and stabilise and are self-sustaining. Operating silently in the background, succession determines how ecosystems recover from natural and human-induced disasters such as volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides, deforestation, fires, and more. What are the different stages of succession? Ecological succession is classified into two types — primary and secondary — determined by whether the ecosystem is new or disrupted by disturbance. Primary succession occurs in areas that previously had no biological life, like cooled lava flows, newly formed sand dunes, or land newly exposed by retreating glaciers. Here, hardy pioneer species such as mosses, lichens, fungi, and algae establish themselves first. These organisms can survive in nutrient-poor conditions and begin the slow process of creating and stabilising soil by breaking down rocks and organic matter. Very few primary forests remain today, due to constant disturbance from development and other human-driven activities. Most can only be found in very remote areas or isolated hills in the Himalayas, Western Ghats, and parts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where the old forests have&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/what-is-ecological-succession-explainer/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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