Cautioning against the “weakening” of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, India’s first and foremost legislation to protect the country’s wildlife, MK Ranjitsinh Jhala, one of the architects of the legislation,…
Perfectly camouflaged against the boulder-strewn streams in its high-altitude habitat, the ibisbill (Ibidorhyncha struthersii) has fascinated many nature enthusiasts and bird experts for centuries. It is known as the ‘wonder…
It’s early in the morning. Tourists visiting the Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, cross the Denwa river to reach the forests of Madhai. Gypsy cars (a model of off-road…
The Western Ghats of India are broadly divided into three subdivisions — the northern, central and southern — separated by the Goa gap and the Palghat gap respectively. Due to…
Fencing is a key conflict mitigation strategy in the Mysore Elephant Reserve in Karnataka, which sees regular cases of human-elephant conflict. Putting up fencing accounts for a significant proportion of…
On a January evening, standing on the precincts of the ancient Shree Dattatraya Temple, about 200 metres from the Kajli river in Maharashtra, 50-year-old Sidharth Kabnoorkar of Kondgaon-Sakharpa village told…
A new study published in Scientific Reports has mapped priority areas in the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve (SBR) that are highly suitable for mangrove conservation and restoration. The Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve…
India's finance minister has announced two major programmes for mangrove plantation and wetlands conservation in the country's latest annual budget, drawing a mixed response among the conservation academics who welcomed…
The water-loving evergreen tree, hijol, adapted to floodplains, has been traditionally managed over millennia as family and community forest in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin. A new study that works out the impact…
The implementation of nature-based solutions, or NbS — a hotly debated concept that has gained traction in recent years — is seen by many policymakers as a potential means for…
Prasanjit Mandal, 30, lives in Farakka, West Bengal, and his traditional line of work is fishing. However, these days, he also drives an autorickshaw to make a living. At times,…
Away from the city noise, the Sallar forest in southern Kashmir’s Anantnag district retains an essence of spring even in the harsh December winter. The diffused sun rays with fog,…
Wetlands, which connect land and water are among the planet’s most productive and diverse habitats. They play a significant role in shaping our biosphere. Wetlands in the coastal state of…
“Nobody wishes to be a killer. To be held responsible for any being’s death can be traumatising. Let alone an elephant, even the death of a dog, a goat or…
Extinction is the termination of all members of a species and it occurs because of environmental forces, overexploitation or evolutionary changes. What can fossils tell us about extinction? They provide…
Reflected in key goals and targets, ecological connectivity will be decisive, as countries move to implement the freshly minted Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which, among its key targets, calls for…
Asian elephants, despite needing 150 kilograms of wild fodder every day, are picky eaters, suggests a recent study in PLOS One by scientists from the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology…
At the 68th International Whaling Commission conference (IWC68) in Slovenia in October, member nations adopted a resolution to support international negotiations on a treaty to tackle plastic pollution. Countries will…
Mass flowering is an enchanting phenomenon that occurs across the world. In India, the neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) bloom, where swathes of the landscape become carpeted in flowers, is a well-known…
After two years of fear, illness, deaths and economic loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 was a year that brought rays of sunshine. When India, like the rest of…
