Ecology and Environment

Featured Articles
December 16, 2022
Healthy soil critical to human health and for achieving SDGs
Soil research must focus both on technology development and implementation
The ability of soils to support soil functions or services is decreasing (Image: Katrin Park/International Food Policy Research Institute)
November 25, 2022
Categorising watersheds for freshwater ecosystem conservation in India
These maps at the watershed scales have been made to not only ensure inclusion of different freshwater ecosystems, their connectivity and hydrological processes, but can also provide a spatial context for conservation decisions.
A stream at Anini, Arunachal Pradesh (Image Source: Roshni Arora)
November 16, 2022
Improving community resilience in ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction in India
Adoption of hybrid solutions - grey and green structures appropriate for resilience building
Healthy wetland ecosystems help in reducing disaster risks and managing climate risks (Image: Pxhere)
October 30, 2022
Slow disaster: Political ecology of hazards and everyday life in the Brahmaputra valley, Assam
This book by Dr. Mitul Baruah presents a fascinating, ethnographic account of the challenges faced by communities living in Majuli, India, one of the largest river islands in the world, which has experienced immense socio-environmental transformations over the years, processes that are emblematic of the Brahmaputra Valley as a whole. This is an excerpt from the book.
Floods are recurrent phenomena in Assam (Image: Mitul Baruah)
October 6, 2022
Deteriorating landscapes and threatened ecosystems of Jammu and Kashmir
Rapid urbanisation and faulty land use policies are rapidly destroying forests, grasslands and wetlands in Jammu and Kashmir, India and the ecosystem value services they provide. Can these valuable ecosystems be saved?
Deteriorating ecosystems of Jammu and Kashmir, India (Image Source: tkohli at Flickr via Wikimedia Commons)
July 14, 2022
Ichamati: River of poetry is dying a slow death
The river is faced with the dual problem of flood plain encroachment and growing levels of water pollution
Illegal transverse check dams (Badhals) built on Ichamati near a village in Basirhat (Image: Prithviraj Nath @ TheWaterChronicles)
"In search of old ideas" - A discussion of the draft national water policy 2012, by Jayanta Bandopadhyay in The Telegraph
In this article published in the Telegraph Jayanta Bandopadhyay discusses the draft national water policy 2012.
Jayanta Bandopadhyay
Posted on 22 Feb, 2012 05:05 PM

Author: Jayanta Bandopadhyay

Article and image courtesy: The Telegraph
Rural water access: Governance and contestation in a semi-arid watershed in Udaipur, Rajasthan: A paper in EPW
Recent policy has encouraged a shift towards community management of water infrastructure through the creation of decentralised institutions.This also implies a shift from large to small structures and institutions. This however presumes the existence of a homogeneous 'community', and does not necessarily acknowledge the effect of various separate groups within such a community on these institutions. This paper published in Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) examines the impacts of this shift towards decentralised irrigation management on different groups residing in six villages in Rajasthan.
Lalitha Kamath
NC Narayanan
Posted on 21 Feb, 2012 05:19 PM

Study area

This study is carried out in micro-watershed No.19, which comprises six villages in Jhadol tehsil of Udaipur district in Rajasthan. A minor irrigation project completed in 1980 serves these six villages

Rainfall, storage levels in reservoir and groundwater use
Fellowship media briefing workshop : Tigers, tiger habitats and their conservation in India , CSE, April 25-26, New Delhi
Posted on 21 Feb, 2012 09:17 AM

Organizer: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)

cse

 

Description:
India hosts a majority of the world’s tiger population -- about 1,700 tigers, according to the May 2011 census. But a combination of threats is holding this meagre number to ransom, and poaching and trade in wildlife parts is just one of them. Shrinking habitat, conflicts with humans, growing tourist interference… the tiger has a lot to contend with. Policy intervention, protective legislations and international pressure have not made much of a difference, and if action is not taken effectively, the tiger will dwindle towards extinction.

Certificate course on the Agenda for Survival, CSE, AAGC, June 1- 30, 2012, New Delhi
Posted on 20 Feb, 2012 09:50 AM

Organizer: Centre for Science & Environment (CSE),  
                   Anil Agarwal Green College (AAGC)

Venue: Anil Agarwal Green College
             38, Tughlakabad Institutional Area
             New Delhi–110062

CSE

Description:
This interdisciplinary month-long summer certificate course allows Indian participants to understand and critically evaluate issues that lie at the interface of environment & development; poverty; democracy, equity & justice.

International Conference on RDEIA- IACM 2012, CSIR, NEERI, March 28-30, 2012, Nagpur
Posted on 20 Feb, 2012 08:50 AM

Organizer: Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR),
                  National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI)

Venue: National Environmental Engineering Research Institute,
            Nehru Marg,
            Nagpur 440 020

      CSRI  NEERI 

Description:
International Conference on Recent Developments in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) & Integrated Approach for Carbon Management – Solutions, Technology Developments and Pollution Abatement (RDEIA-IACM 2012) will bring together the Indian and International R&D professionals and workers in the field of Environmental Impact Assessment, Environmental Science and Engineering, Green Chemistry and Green Technologies related to recent advances in Carbon Chemistry and to discuss new and exciting achievements in this field.

Towards greener development: EIA sector specific manuals brought out by the Ministry of Environment and Forests
This article collates and presents 26 of the 37 environment impact assessment (EIA) manuals brought out by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
IL&FS Ecosmart Limited
Posted on 19 Feb, 2012 07:20 PM

These manuals are aimed at expert appraisal committees, and hope to improve the quality of appraisal of projects. These will also provide a template for use by organisations and consultants developing the EIA reports.cover page of the EIA guidance manual-ship breaking yards

Social exclusion in watershed development: Evidence from the Indo-German watershed development project in Maharashtra - A LEAD paper
This paper examines social exclusion of resource-poor groups in developmental programmes targeted at them through the lens of watershed programmes.
Eshwar Kale
Posted on 18 Feb, 2012 03:08 PM

Marginalized communities are excluded from a say in the creation of policies. 

A bar chart illustrating level of participation in SHGs against landholding status

Climate change risk - An adaptation and mitigation agenda for Indian cities - A paper published in the journal Environment and Urbanisation
This paper outlines the much needed adaptation and mitigation agenda for cities in India where the urban population is likely to grow by around 500 million over the next 50 years.
Aromar Revi
Posted on 18 Feb, 2012 01:33 PM

The paper dwells on the likely changes that climate change is expected to bring in temperature, precipitation and extreme rainfall, drought, river and inland flooding, storms/storm surges/coastal flooding, sea-level rise and environmental health risks, and who within urban populations will be at risk.

The status of glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region - A report by the ICIMOD
This study by ICIMOD provides a comprehensive account of the number and status of glaciers across the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region.
Basanta Shrestha
Samjwal Ratna Bajracharya
Posted on 17 Feb, 2012 03:00 PM

The HKH region is one of the most dynamic, fragile, and complex mountain systems in the world as a result of tectonic activity and the rich diversity of climates, hydrology, and ecology. The high Himalayan region is the freshwater tower of South Asia and has the highest concentration of snow and glaciers outside the polar regions giving it the name Third Pole.

Balati glacier at sunset

Balati glacier, Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand (Source: Uttarakhand and I)

Framework for valuing ecosystem services in the Himalayas - An ICIMOD technical report
This document by ICIMOD outlines a general framework for economic valuation of ecosystem services in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region
Eklabya Sharma
Golam Rasul
Nakul Chettri
Posted on 17 Feb, 2012 12:12 PM

This has been a generic first attempt that can be fine-tuned and customised for each type of ecosystem and each kind of service value. Ecosystem services are defined by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as ‘the benefits people obtain from ecosystems'.

Mountains occupy 24% of the global land surface area and are home to 12% of the world’s population. Mountains have an ecological, aesthetic, and socioeconomic significance, not only for those living in the mountain areas, but also for people living beyond them. However, the importance of ecosystem services arising from mountains is not properly recognised. The HKH region is endowed with a rich variety of gene pools and species, and ecosystems of global importance. It is a storehouse of biological diversity and a priority region in many global conservation agendas. The region has many unique ecosystems that play a critical role in protecting the environment and in providing livelihoods for much of Asia and beyond.

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