Villagers in Bengal tap into palm sap to boost livelihoods
Sukhdeb Mandy is a sap tapper at Aambera village in Bankura district of West Bengal. The 28-year-old collects sap from date palm trees during the winter season. During the rest…
Faith and healing in the sacred groves of Madhya Pradesh
At least twice, the staid kalam tree (Mitragyna parvifolia), standing tall on a mound surrounded by farms in a nondescript village in the hilly areas of western Madhya Pradesh has…
The futility of the teak forest in Kandhamal
With a yellow towel wrapped around his shoulders, Ganesh Majhi, 54, of Deogada village, in Belghar gram panchayat of Odisha’s Kandhamal district, is angry about the teak trees in the…
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…
Will the latest amendment to U.P.’s tree act help the state’s green cover?
Reacting to the outrage over a proposal to cut more than 64,000 trees for a Defence Expo in Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh government has issued new norms to protect trees…
How far do hornbills disperse seeds?
Hornbills disperse more than 90 percent of the seeds of the fruits they consume, and the larger-bodied great hornbills and wreathed hornbills can disperse seeds more than 10 km away…
Why the ancient Myristica swamps need more protection
The low-lying valleys of the evergreen tropical forests of the Western Ghats harbour a rare, ancient ecosystem: the Myristica swamps. Comprised mainly of evergreen trees of the Myristicaceae family—one of…
New species remain hidden in the myristica swamps of the Western Ghats
It was a bright afternoon after two days of heavy rain in Kerala and Professor P. Manimohan’s two Ph.D. students K. P. Deepna Latha and K. N. Anil Raj were…
The invisible victims of an unfinished city
Nestled within the picturesque Western Ghats, the Lavasa township near Pune, Maharashtra is unlike any other hill city of India. As one drives up a smooth road amid the monsoon…
Why the city that never stops comes to a standstill when it rains
When the rain poured down on Mumbai last week, drowning the city in what now seems like an annual affair, it once again brought up the question – why is…
