Vhali Watcher: An app to set whale sharks free
For fisherfolk from Gujarat, finding a whale shark tangled in their nets is an unwelcome sight. They can’t legally harvest the protected species, yet the world’s biggest fish can wreak…
Environmental headlines
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Indo-Nepal Border Road rides roughshod on Uttar Pradesh wildlife habitat
Development projects across the country continue to disturb natural habitats, ecosystems and wildlife, leaving areas vulnerable. Tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries are under threat along the upcoming 1,715-kilometres long Indo-Nepal…
Increasing dry season fires in Kerala spotlight debate around man-made fires
When summer strengthens, it brings with it dry spells and the season of forest fires. Since January 2019, a number of fire incidents have been reported from Kerala. In the…
Conservation of Sikkim biodiversity needs re-strategising: study
A new study has attempted to work out conservation priorities for plant species in Sikkim, in the face of climate change projections. The existing network of ‘protected areas’ in the…
The barking deer enigma
Most forests in India are home to the Indian muntjac, also called barking deer. Found across southern India, including the Western Ghats, in the dry forests of central India, the…
Fixing agriculture a decade after cyclone Aila: A farmer recollects
It has been a decade since Cyclone Aila ravaged the Bay of Bengal. But paddy farmer Tapan Mondal, is wary of growing legumes and watermelon in the still-recovering soil of…
Forest fires impact typical Himalayan trees
The western Indian Himalayas, spread across Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, have always been known for their pines, cedars and oaks. These trees are so typical to the…
Traditional knowledge to the rescue in water scarcity-hit Assam
Sometimes, particularly during monsoons, the day starts around 4 a.m., earlier than usual, for Rati Ranjan Mondal in Assam’s Nagrijuli village on the Indo-Bhutan border. Mondal wakes up, after a…
March of industrialisation tramples Kutch’s coastal ecology
“Like fish trapped in a net,” Jam Ismael Ali smiled at the irony of the simile drawn to explain his own situation. One among the few remaining Pagadia fishermen in…
Global team unlocks chickpea’s genetic diversity for climate resilience
A global team of scientists, including from India, has unlocked the genetic diversity of chickpea (Cicer arietinum), world’s second most widely grown legume, pinpointing crucial genes for heat and drought…
