What Would the ESA Tag Do for the Western Ghats?
Gautam Aredath Deccan Herald | October 10, 2024 The devastating landslide in Wayanad on July 30 is yet another reminder that abundant caution and ample restraint are essential when using land and natural resources, especially in sensitive geographical zones. Lesser understood effects of global climate change are aggravating both anthropogenic and natural factors that disturb […]
The Complex Process of Restoring Lakes in Bengaluru
Priyanka Jamwal, Hymavathi P The Hindu | October 6, 2024 A recent report by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) stated that not one lake of the 110 lakes it studied in Bengaluru meets potable water quality standards. Potable water is water that is safe for human consumption — i.e., water that can be […]
Mumbai’s Water Problem: Building New Dams Will Not Solve the City’s Poor Distribution Network
Sachin Tiwale Scroll | October 4, 2024 As levels in the lakes that supply water to Mumbai plunged to 5% this summer for the first time since 2019, the city’s municipal corporation has dusted off plans to build a dam on the Gargai river in Wada taluka of Palghar district, north of the city. The […]
Mahua and Its Products Need GI Recognition
Abhijit Dey Mongabay | September 26, 2024 The mahua flower, an integral part the Central Indian landscape, is a raw material used in delicacies and beverages for generations by tribal communities. A geographical indication (GI) tag awarded to mahua products can bring economic benefits for the communities that harvest the flowers, but the process has […]
Centipedes’ Global Odyssey
Seshadri K. S. Deccan Herald | September 21, 2024 It was a rainy night in 2015. We were conducting a frog camp in the remote village of Bisle, near Sakleshpur. One of the participants had spotted an arthropod eating a froglet. It was a House Centipede belonging to the order Scutigeromorpha. These predatory arthropods measure […]
Nature’s Artists: The World of Potter Wasps
Femi E Benny Round Glass Sustain | September 20, 2024 There are many types of wasps, each with unique behaviours and appearances. Paper wasps are known for their paper-like nests; spider wasps hunt spiders; and hornets and yellow jackets can be quite intimidating. Then, we have potter wasps, true artists in the insect world, creating […]
Narratives on the Wolf vs Its Life on the Margins
Abi Tamim Vanak Hindustan Times | September 8, 2024 The “big, bad wolf” — or at least a spectre of it — is back. Bahraich, a district in Uttar Pradesh, has witnessed a spate of attacks, purportedly by a pack of wolves, with at least ten persons (mostly children) killed and more than 25 injured. […]
Empower Communities to Fix Forest Governance
Gautam Aredath, Sharachchandra Lele The Hindustan Times | September 5, 2024 The Forest Rights Act 2006 (FRA), by recognising the rights of forest-dwelling communities to both access and manage their customary forests, offers a bottom-up vision of forest governance. Eighteen years on, progress in recognising these rights has no doubt been tardy. Only three states […]
AquaWISE – A Decision Support Tool for Greywater Treatment Solutions
Priyanka Jamwal, Durba Biswas India Water Portal | September 2, 2024 AquaWISE was developed as an evidence-based decision support tool for optimal deployment of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for greywater treatment in schools. The tool can minimise or eradicate the need for costly and time-consuming baseline data collection while also generating school-specific wastewater treatment NbS. AquaWISE […]
Reframing our Perception of Insects Moving Beyond “Creepy Crawlies”
Femi E Benny, Amritha Jaiprekash kurup Kerala Calling | August 17, 2024 Growing up in a small village in Kerala, we were closely connected to nature and taught to appreciate all living things, including insects. However, not all insects were treated equally. A vivid memory is the appearance of alates (winged termite swarms) at the […]
