When she was a young girl, Sarojini Goyal of the Korba district of Chhattisgarh would often accompany her parents to the nearby forest to collect shoots, leaves, flowers, and fruits…
Stubble burning in Punjab has annually been cited as the main contributor to the smog in Delhi and parts of northern India in pre-winter months. Delhi’s air quality levels in…
United We Are Unstoppable is a book that started as an attempt to recognise and appreciate unsung heroes fighting against human abuse of natural resources and climate change. It attempts…
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…
In 2019, budding ethnobotanist Momang Taram and her friend Ojar Taku were scouting the Siang river valley in Arunachal Pradesh for flowering plants belonging to a specific family. “Then suddenly…
Tree walks and nature trails are a great way to connect with natural surroundings. Delhi's green spaces offer ample opportunity for tree enthusiasts, and the constant monitoring has also led…
In the past few weeks, four districts of eastern Vidarbha region in Maharasthra flooded. This is a region with four major rivers, dozen-odd dams, almost 50 percent river basin area…
On a lazy Sunday morning in June this year, with the pandemic keeping most people indoors, chaos ensued at Katahbari Pahar (hill) area in Guwahati - the rapidly urbanising city…
A decade ago, Manirul Saha grew just one crop a year on his small farm in the Sundarbans, the sea-soaked land some hours south of Kolkata. The 40-something sowed rice…
In Hinta, a village in the west Indian state of Rajasthan, Manju Soni, troops through lush wheat fields and adjoining homesteads adorned with animal motifs, stopping at wells where she…
Shifting cultivation continues to be a predominant agricultural practice in many parts of India, despite state discouragement and multipronged efforts to wean indigenous communities away from it. Their land, due…
The blowout at an oil well near Baghjan village in Assam took a turn yesterday (June 9) with a major fire outbreak at the well. For almost two weeks, the…
Bidarva Rajkhowa, a pig breeder, is a worried man these days. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t keep the dreaded African Swine Fever (ASF) away from his Rajkhowa Pig Breeding…
The members of Mumbai’s fishing community, the Koli community, have found a sustainable answer to their economic woes brought forth by the lockdown. The lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra…
Alongside a global pandemic, India prepares to fight yet another battle for food security. Unlike the micron-sized virus, however, the new threat is millimeters in size but millions in number:…
India’s lion census, supposed to be conducted in the first week of May, has been deferred because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But there is little doubt that the number of…
The temperature was touching -15 °C as the sun set in Tsaba valley in Ladakh. We were bunched inside a tiny bunker, all seven of us. Making the most of…
One of the crucial guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation, to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is obligatory hand hygiene - to wash hands with…
Esekki leans on his broad staff as he speaks, keeping a watchful eye on his flock of sheep to make sure they didn’t stray too far. “The grasslands used to…
Do biodiversity losses aggravate transmission of infectious diseases spread by animals to humans? The jury is still out but several scientists say there is a 'biodiversity dilution effect' in which…