Between the towering Pir Panjal and Zanskar ranges in the Himalayas, lies one of the largest pasturelands called Thanpattan, spanning approximately 570 square kilometres. As I walked the pastureland in…
During a field visit in the Kumaon region of the Central Himalayas, a team of researchers was surprised to find clusters of white flowers growing on dead tree trunks and…
An undated video believed to be from an Indian forest recently went viral. A tiger, sitting quietly among trees observing something in the distance, roars and darts towards its target.…
In a relief to environmentalists and local indigenous population concerned about India’s hydropower ambition in the Dibang river valley region of Arunachal Pradesh, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the…
In the vast saffron-growing land of Pampore, a national highway (NH44) cuts through the middle. Ishfaq Ahmad, a saffron grower, is pondering the future of this land. His eyes are…
As soon as reports of cracks developing in houses started pouring in from Uttarakhand’s Joshimath town, in early January, the state and central governments swung into action and quickly set…
Alarm bells ring for the white-winged wood duck (WWWD). Declared the state bird of Assam in 2003, the on-ground conservation situation of the bird has not improved in recent years.…
The glaciers in the western Himalayas, source of water for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, have been melting at a significant rate due to the growing amount of black carbon aerosol…
Opening the courier packet, I was disappointed with how slim the latest book from Amitav Ghosh, The Living Mountain: A Fable of our Times, was. At 35 pages, it was…
It is late April 2022. At Namche Bazaar, a town in the Everest region of Nepal at an elevation of 3555 metres above sea level (m a.s.l), life, and business…
As much as 36% of 47 protected areas in the eastern Himalayas, especially those isolated higher up in the mountains, are highly vulnerable to climate change, a study has said.…
The Spiti Valley of Himachal is a trans-Himalayan desert where people survive on only one farming season. The Spiti river is the lifeline for agricultural communities in this region. But…
Drawing attention to the restriction of elephant movement due to development and infrastructure barriers, scientists studying genetic differences between elephant populations in the country have expressed concern over genetic differences…
About four decades ago, one winter morning, a 10-12-year-old boy was accompanying his father on horseback on the rugged terrains of Ladakh. They had set off from their hamlet Rumste,…
The Himalayas are witnessing an increasing threat of glacial lake outburst flooding (GLOF). Over the years, several GLOFs hit the Himalayas, causing massive destruction to the infrastructure, while also claiming…
The term 'gecko' might lead one to picture the drab brownish lizards ambling on the walls in homes, occasionally sticking out a tongue to grab insects and then disappearing into…
Citizen apps that help residents collect data, usually with smartphones, could help plug information gaps and track illegal wildlife trade in the biodiversity-rich Himalayas, a new paper says. Investments in…
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…
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…
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…
