[Video] The barefoot ecologist who brought forests to life
For half a century, Tulasi Gowda’s life revolved around the saplings that she nurtured with much care and love at the Agasur nursery of the forest department as part of…
Artificial reefs breathe new life for Tamil Nadu’s fishing communities
Reefs do not come to mind when one thinks of India’s coastline as coral reef establishments are limited to the waters around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Palk Bay…
Water food cultivators in Madhya Pradesh face existential crisis
With the help of a bamboo pole, Rajesh Raikwad expertly navigates his kishti, a tapered flat-bottomed boat made of iron and painted blue and green, in the Kusum Sagar talaab…
Pramila Bisoyi’s journey from protecting India’s national bird to the corridors of power
When newly-elected Member of Parliament from the east Indian state of Odisha, Pramila Bisoyi spoke in the House in her mother-tongue Odia, it was the subject of many jibes. The…
Building community networks to save a rare turtle from extinction
In May 2019, hundreds of fish turned up dead in a river in Kasaragod, northern Kerala, reportedly due to low oxygen levels. Among the mass fish graveyard, sightings of an…
The curious case of India’s missing forest policy
How do you define a ‘forest’? What are the rules regarding inviolate forests? And when will India get its new national forest policy? Many questions loom even as India pursues…
A dose of eco-optimism: Stories of hope and inspiration in 2019
Don't lose hope. This is probably not the cliché you want to hear after what the past year has been like. Extreme weather events, wildfires, water crises, rampant deforestation, record…
Are states being rewarded enough for protecting forests?
When the 14th Finance Commission incentivised forest cover in states, with the aim of balancing ecology and economic development, the move was welcomed by civil society. The 14th Commission's recommendations,…
A community rallies around hornbill habitat to aid conservation
As you enter the Athirappilly-Vazhachal-Nelliyampathy forests in the southern Western Ghats, you're welcomed with a heavy whooshing sound from the canopies of large trees. For a moment, you might mistake…
How the yak rearing system in north Sikkim is coping with climate change
The pastoral yak rearing system in Sikkim in the eastern Himalayas is changing to cope with climatic changes that have led to snowfall getting thinner in the last 15 years,…
