Sankar and his community dig canals to save Muthupet’s mangroves
Sankar grew up listening to stories of rain. For in Muthupet, where the 54-year-old’s family has been residing for about 250 years, it was the rainfall which nourished an extensive…
The elongated tortoise battles habitat loss and fire in its leaf litter home
Over 90 percent of the habitat of the elongated tortoise falls outside the protected area (PA) network in the Indian subcontinent. Experts in India and Bangladesh bat for community-based conservation…
Migratory openbill storks find safe haven in Andhra village
With the onset of monsoons, excitement sets in, in a community along India’s southeast coast. The Telukunchi village community in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, with vast swathes of wetlands, prepares…
One of the world’s most trafficked animals needs focus outside India’s protected areas
“I have been working in this area for 14 years as a snake rescuer. I never received calls for pangolins the way I received them in the last five months…
Bera’s free-roaming leopards walk on thin ice as tourism grows
Bera in the Pali district of Rajasthan is often nicknamed ‘Leopard Country’. Widely regarded as being home to one of the highest densities of leopards found anywhere, the otherwise shy…
Captivating carnivores: Saving India’s only pitcher plant
High up in the majestic hills of India’s northeastern state of Meghalaya lies an elusive and unusual carnivore: a pitcher plant. The species is known popularly as ‘monkey cups’ because…
[Commentary] Making communities central to conservation
Wildlife conflict is the flavour of the season. Almost everyday, we are exposed to scenes of the forest department struggling to handle jeering, stone-throwing, and hooting mobs while managing an…
Locals brace to fight for their Oran in Rajasthan
For centuries, the trees in Oran, or sacred grove, near the Samvata village in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer, have stood tall and untouched. Not a branch was cut, “not even for datoon (twig to clean…
Rare Gunther’s toad sighting highlights farms as biodiversity hotspots
“Forests are protected areas in name only. Sometimes we see better protection of biodiversity in the adjacent agricultural lands,” said C.S. Saneesh, a research fellow at Spatial Interaction Ecology Research…
Lessons on coexistence with the environment from two tribal districts in Odisha
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic caused by a zoonotic virus SARS-CoV-2, experts warn that more such situations are imminent in the future, unless humans coexist with the environment, and…
