On a cold winter morning in late 2009, Dilip Konwar, a sprightly man in his late forties, scrambled up a bamboo ladder and peeked into the dark insides under the…
The entrancingly sweet fragrance of the panneer roja jogs my memories of my beloved aunt accessorising my plait with enchanting blooms from her suburban rose garden. Honey bees love them…
Located in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, the 100 square kilometre Sessa Orchid Sanctuary is home to more than 200 species of orchids including several endemic and rare…
Traditional healer Janakiamma (60) belongs to the Kurumba community. An indigenous community in south India, Kurumba is listed by the government of India as one of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal…
Only a smidge of Punjab’s geographical area is forested, a state in north India’s wheat-producing belt. Nurtured by people’s beliefs in these small forest patches are sacred groves –forest fragments…
More than two decades since he began unraveling secrets of the tropical savannahs – open grasslands with scattered trees – field ecologist Mahesh Sankaran continues to be fascinated with these…
Minom Pertin, Monsoon Jyoti Gogoi, and Nawang Gyatso Bhutia, butterfly enthusiasts and researchers, were on a routine trek of the Mishmi Hills in Arunachal Pradesh when they came across a…
Protection, restoration and better management of ecosystems through Nature-based Solutions (NbS) feature in many national commitments, including India's, but there is scope for much more in climate change mitigation and…
Scientists have unearthed Asia's first fossil record of mulberry from the Gurha lignite mines near Bikaner in western Rajasthan, a finding that they say, indicates the existence of a warm,…
As the blazing rays of the overhead sun signals noon, Jayanta Patra, a farmer in his 60s from Saratchandrapur village in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district, wraps up work in his four-acre…
A new study that examined the plant diversity and carbon stock of 39-year-old human created forest, Molai Kathoni in Assam, and a natural forest of comparable age, shows that a…
It is 7 a.m. but inside Borvan city forest, the last vestiges of the night still hang heavy. Birds chirp relentlessly and a few morning walkers try to sweat it…
A "whole-farm" approach or integrated farming systems that supplement traditional crops with farming vegetables, fruits, poultry or fish is re-emerging as a nature-based solution to boosting productivity in climate-stressed regions.…
All the children and men in a village taking a day off once a year to go fishing together may sound like a tale from bygone days, but this Kashmir…
In the village of Nongtraw in Meghalaya, one of the world's wettest region, honey is quite sought after by the Khasi indigenous community who go to the forest to collect…
New research reveals tea plantations can support biodiversity from native plants, wildlife and microorganisms when managed in an agro-ecological setting with sustainable, good practices. Scientists at Ashoka Trust for Research…
Most of the sandy beaches and bays of Goa, India’s smallest state, are dominated by tourism and fishing. Yet in the low tide pools along the a 100 km long…
Biodiversity, the variety of life across genes, species and populations, plays an integral role in ensuring food security, ecosystem function, and human well-being. Amid alarming reports of skyrocketing species extinction…
India’s draft mechanism to report on compliance to social and environmental safeguards to mitigate potential risks from implementing the UN's Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation program (REDD+), a vital…
Tigers once roamed the lands from Turkey in the west to the Amur river basin in the east, across south and southeast Asia all the way to the island of…