This week’s environment and conservation news stories rolled into one.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch the latest high quality, original video stories from nature’s frontline in India.
To receive a weekly email roundup of stories, please sign-up for our newsletter.
A football tournament kicks off conversations about sports and climate
Experts call for urgent mitigation and adaptation measures to protect the future of sports amid a changing climate.
Can organic farmers’ markets encourage chemical-free farming?
Organic farmers’ markets in the Nilgiris district offer a platform for selling chemical-free produce directly to consumers.
[Commentary] Climate considerations drive innovation in India’s agriculture and MSME sectors
Agriculture and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are critical to India’s economy, providing livelihoods to millions and ensuring food security. Both sectors are increasingly threatened by climate change, impacting productivity, economy, and livelihoods. India is witnessing a range of innovative climate-conscious initiatives across both sectors. Organising and scaling these efforts could accelerate the transition to sustainability.
India’s disappearing wetlands are an early warning sign of drastic biodiversity loss
Between 1940 and 2014, India lost about one third of its wetlands to urbanisation. There are other alarming trends too – a majority of bird species in India are on the decline, signalling rapid habitat loss, including from ecosystems like open savannah grasslands.
Inside Kashmir’s human-bear conflict
Kashmir’s wildlife wing recorded over 2,300 bear attacks in two decades since 2000, some of which were fatal. While the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) is native to the region, its appearance in farms, orchards, and villages, is making residents anxious. These recurring interactions between humans and bears have kept wildlife managers on edge, trying to capture a wild animal while managing agitated people.
Climate change, habitat loss drive elephants to look for newer pastures
Experts suggest addressing the abnormal elephant activity and subsequent conflicts through a collaborative inter-state human-elephant management plan.
[Book review] Bringing alive the magnificent mountain mammals of the world
Conservationist M. K. Ranjitsinh’s new book delves into the habits and habitats of 119 mountain mammal taxa of the world. Mountain Mammals of the World is a wonderful, highly readable compendium of the larger mountain mammals of the world, living some 2000 metres above sea level.
The book is both exhilarating and academic as Ranjitsinh delves into the copious notes and observations he has made of animals seen across the world. He tells you how nature has endowed these animals with special features to withstand the harsh mountain weather.
[Commentary] From fallow to forest: Letting nature regenerate
In 2002, the author of this commentary, purchased 37 acres of fallow land in Erode, Tamil Nadu, focusing on planting native species, and practicing organic farming, to allow natural regeneration. Successes included planting hundreds of trees and saplings and harvesting rainwater, although they faced challenges such as labour shortages and drought.
