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)
How do farmers perceive soil erosion?
A study in Telangana argues that farmers’ expertise is important while assessing the severity of soil erosion.
Dayakar Peddi
Kavi Kumar
Posted on 01 Aug, 2019 03:24 PM

Regionally and globally, soil erosion is a major contributor to total land degradation.
A farmer in Pochampally (Image:Saurabh Chatterjee, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Himalayan states call for green bonus and a separate ministry
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 31 Jul, 2019 05:35 PM

Himalayan states demand green bonus and separate ministry from Centre
The Himalayas (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Global freshwater fish species under grave threat: IUCN
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 24 Jul, 2019 05:01 PM

Alarming decline in global freshwater fish species: IUCN
Freshwater fish species across the world under grave threat (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Dibang hydel project gets approval
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 24 Jul, 2019 04:27 PM

Cabinet approves Dibang hydel project in Arunachal Pradesh
People protesting Dibang Hydropower Project (Source: SANDRP)
Gender in hydropower development: A long way to go
A study finds that hydropower organisations in India continue to maintain a culture of hierarchy, follow masculine norms and are insensitive to the needs of women and the marginalised.
Gitta Shreshta
Deepa Joshi
and Florian Clement
Posted on 22 Jul, 2019 04:44 PM

Large dams, back in the game?
Hirakud, India's oldest dam (Image source: India Water Portal on Flickr)
Water Future Conference: Towards a Sustainable Future
At Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, September 24 to 27 2019
Posted on 22 Jul, 2019 11:56 AM

A Future Earth Conference

Opening new frontiers in water system diagnostics and innovative solutions to mitigate the 21st-century global water crisis
Rajasthan's ancient yet ever-evolving water heritage
A book documents the enormous range of water harvesting systems still in use in Rajasthan.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 21 Jul, 2019 11:10 AM

The state of Rajasthan has an immense range of ancient and ingenious water harvesting systems, like the famous johads or step wells managed by communities in the arid Thar desert, which receives very low rainfall.
The design of Chand baodi (stepwell) in Abhaneri village, Rajasthan, was intended to conserve as much water as possible (Image: Unseen Horizons, Flickr Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0)
Budget allocation to Jal Shakti ministry reduced by 9.4 percent
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 10 Jul, 2019 12:01 PM

Government cuts budget for Jal Shakti Ministry by 9.4 percent; increases funds for rural drinking water mission 
Irrigation well in Randullabad, Maharashtra. Image credit: Manu Moudgil for India Water Portal
Adequate water most important for plant diversity
Study shows how rainfall and temperature affect variety of plants in major bio-geographic zones of India
Monika Kundu Srivastava
India Science Wire
Posted on 09 Jul, 2019 03:58 PM

New Delhi, July 9 (India Science Wire): India has a total geographical area of nearly 329 million hectares. The climate varies from the north to the south and east to west. However, in spite of this diversity, little is known about how climate affects the diversity of plants that grow in a particular area.
Image used for representational purposes only. Image source: India Water Portal on Flickr
Cultivating more millets to make food production climate resilient in India
A study finds that selectively increasing coarse grains/millets in crop production can greatly help in reducing the negative impacts of climate shocks on future food production in India.
Davis et al
Posted on 09 Jul, 2019 02:32 PM

Crop production is highly influenced by the sensitivity of crops to variations in climate and can have major implications for food supply and rural livelihoods. The effects of climate change are increasing in India, where extreme rainfall events have become more frequent and spatially more variable.
A millet crop ready for harvest in rural India (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Subscribe to Ecology and Environment
×