New Ramsar site designated in Bihar could benefit local fishing community
Ram Shankar Sahni, a 45-year-old fisherman at Kabar Taal, a lake in Begusarai district of Bihar, is quite happy with the situation of the wetland this year. Usually, it has…
Three cities of Bihar continue to wait for cleaner air
Seventy-year-old Raj Kumar Yadav suffers from breathlessness and was admitted to a hospital twice in three months. He often wakes up in the dead of night spending hours coughing and…
Saving Darbhanga’s wetlands from encroachment and apathy
Almost a decade ago, when Narayanji Choudhary first decided to work to save ponds, by creating awareness in his home region of north Bihar, he didn’t think that one day,…
New frog species from unexplored Jharkhand and Bihar brings cheer
A new species of small burrowing frog has been discovered from the Chota Nagpur plateau in Jharkhand. Scientists have named it ‘Magadha Burrowing Frog,’ (Sphaerotheca magadha) after the ancient kingdom of…
A social venture on the road to improve lives, reduce emissions with electric rickshaws
Jugnu Prasad manoeuvres silently through the congested streets in Varanasi in the northern India state of Uttar Pradesh. While heavy air pollution and the sputter of fossil fuel-powered vehicles engulf…
Ganga is shifting away from Patna
“In last 20 years Gangaji has moved too far from here, perhaps our sins have caused this. We pollute it so much and dig its heart (for mining) day and…
Farmers become citizen scientists to adapt to climate change
Farmers in three countries, including in India, have turned into citizen scientists, helping generate data on crop varieties that adapt best to potential climatic changes. In a study spanning India,…
Gangetic river dolphins in the Indian Sundarbans struggle with swelling salinity
India’s national aquatic animal, the endangered Gangetic river dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica), is rarely visible in the waterways of the Indian Sundarbans. A study sheds light on the rise in salinity…
Gharials of Gandak: A population back from the brink faces development pressures
Lalsa Yadav gushes with a big smile on his face every time he spots a gharial in the river Gandak, that flows through West Champaran district of Bihar, bordering Nepal.…
Durga puja art exhibits spur dialogue on conservation
Underpinned by the message of “good-over-evil”, Durga puja or the worship of goddess Durga, is one of the most important event in the religious calendar in east India. In contemporary times,…
Bihar’s wetlands are on a ventilator, but there is still hope from the ground
Seventy-year-old Narayan Sahni reminiscences the days when he used to catch around 8-10 kilograms of fish from the Kanwar Lake in Bihar almost every day. The catch was enough to…
Conservation benefits humans and wildlife in Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve
Mithilesh Kumar has been employed as a member of the patrolling team of the Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) in Bihar for the past six years. He earns a monthly salary…
A drying Ganga could stall food security and prevent achieving SDGs
Millions of people residing in the lower reaches of the Ganga basin in India may face food shortage in the next three decades, if the iconic river continues to lose…
Less firewood at home means better health for the family
While air pollution in metropolitan cities like Delhi has hogged the headlines over the past few years, we don’t know much about how our emissions from various activities are affecting…
Fracking or food: The oncoming dilemma for water-stressed agricultural areas
Shale oil or gas extraction by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) could intensify pressure on water resources in some of the shale reservoirs in India that are located in water-stressed and groundwater-depleted areas,…
Will India be able to meet its renewable energy targets by 2022?
At an event in New Delhi recently, New & Renewable Energy Secretary Anand Kumar announced that India would achieve its target of 175 gigawatts (GW) of installed renewable energy capacity…
Special series
Wetland Champions
- [Commentary] India establishes the largest network of Ramsar Sites in South Asia
- [Commentary] Wetland champions: Promise from the grassroots
- The story of Jakkur lake sets an example for inclusive rejuvenation projects
- Welcome to Tsomgo lake: Please don’t litter
Environment And Health
- As heatwaves projected to worsen across India, do vulnerability assessments and heat action plans suffice?
- Assam’s North Lakhimpur treats 40 years of legacy waste in just nine months
- Varying levels of microplastics detected in sea salt produced across India
- Decline in pollinators linked to half a million premature human deaths every year, shows study
Almost Famous Species
- The gharial attempts a second comeback with help from the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary
- Understanding the role of local communities in the conservation of critically endangered rhino rays
- Citizen scientists help discover a blind catfish species hidden inside Kerala’s aquifers
- Flying is riskier for female katydids, finds India’s first insect radio telemetry study
Eco Hope
- [Interview] Conservation scientist Joli Rumi Borah on integrating traditional knowledge in research
- [Interview] Scientist Ruth DeFries on deforestation: There isn’t one driver, there’s a different context in different places
- India budgets for mangroves and wetlands
- Working with biomaterials to add to the sustainable energy mix
India's Iconic Landscapes
- Experts call for coexistence, sustainable development as tiger population is close to saturation
- Ain’t no mountain high enough: alien invasive plants increasing in higher elevations
- Unplanned, faulty buildings tremble under weather events in the fragile Himalayan regions
- Nourishing soils of Kashmir’s karewas crumble under infrastructure
Beyond Protected Areas
- The art and science of elephant whispering
- Scientists develop a toolkit to identify high conservation-value areas
- Call to save rare snake habitat follows red coral kukri sightings in Bangladesh
- Small cats in big trouble: Why we need to save these elusive endangered species
Conserving Agro-biodiversity
- How a drought-prone village in Maharashtra attained agricultural success with millets
- Thirunelly’s seed festival celebrates traditional climate-resilient seeds and farm produce
- [Explainer] Why is 2023 the International Year of Millets? What do we achieve by celebrating such years?
- Nations adopt Global Biodiversity Framework amid concerns over watered-down targets
Just Transitions
- Bauxite mining in Jharkhand is impacting soil fertility, people’s health
- Incentives to boost demand, increase in e-buses in Tamil Nadu’s latest EV policy
- Electricity transition in India’s renewable-rich states needs to accelerate, says study
- [Interview] Ajay Kumar Rastogi on leading India’s first just transition task force
