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)
Centre launches Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain campaign, 2022
Policy matters this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 06 Apr, 2022 10:24 AM

Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain campaign, 2022 launched during the 3rd National Water Awards
Catch the rain where it falls, when it fall (Image source: IWP Flickr album). Photo for representation only
Access to resources eludes tribals
Water access in tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh: Challenges and lessons
Meenakshi Singh
Posted on 18 Feb, 2022 11:02 AM

Madhya Pradesh has the largest tribal population of the country, and 21% of its population is comprised of Scheduled Tribes (STs) as per Census 2011. The state has 46 recognised Scheduled Tribes, spread across the 52 districts in the state. Of this, three are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG).
Poor implementation of forest rights act hurts tribals (Image: Citizens for Justice and Peace)
Jal Shakti Ministry receives an allocation of Rs 86,189 crore in budget 2022-23
Policy matters this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 16 Feb, 2022 07:48 AM

Budget 2022-23: Allocation to the Jal Shakti Ministry increased to Rs 86,189 crore, from Rs 69,052 crore the previous year
Women fill water from a public tap in Karnataka (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
Grassroots implementation of Halma
Experiences of a Jhabua based NGO
Anjali Aggarwal
Posted on 15 Feb, 2022 08:37 PM

Jhabua, a tribal-dominated district with more than 85 percent population belonging to Scheduled Tribe (ST), is an agrarian district. Water security is, thus, a crucial element for its agriculture-based livelihood economy.
Tribals protect a community sacred grove (Image: Manish Vaidya, Hindi Water Portal)
Invest in organic and natural farming
CSE calls for making organic and natural farming a mass movement
CSE
Posted on 03 Feb, 2022 01:33 PM

Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) new report ‘Evidence (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India: Evidence (2004-20)
The agro-ecological movement has started gaining momentum (Image: India Water Portal Flickr)
Social inclusion and behaviour change key to wetlands action for people and nature
Need to pursue science-based and inclusive wetlands restoration initiatives
Wetlands International South Asia
Posted on 03 Feb, 2022 11:07 AM

Marking the first World Wetlands Day (WWD) since official recognition at the United Nations, Wetlands International South Asia celebrated the global event in the form of a public webinar on the theme ‘Wetlands Action for People and Nature’. The webinar was attended by over 120 participants from all across India and abroad and was also live-streamed.
Ramsar Site: Kabartal Wetland (Site no. 2436) - Kabartal Wetland, also known as Kanwar Jheel, covers 2,620 hectares of the Indo-Gangetic plains in the northern Bihar State. The Site is one of 18 wetlands within an extensive floodplain complex; it floods during the monsoon season to a depth of 1.5 metres. (Image: Credit: Wetlands International South Asia, 2015)
NGT stricter with Delhi, Haryana on restoring Najafgarh Jheel
Policy matters this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 01 Feb, 2022 02:49 PM

Enforce Najafgarh jheel restoration plan: NGT to Delhi, Haryana governments
Aerial view of the Najafgarh drain. (Image: Sumita Roy Dutta, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)
Assam: Technology used to map historical ponds of Darrang
The ponds are home to birds, reptiles and amphibians; study looks at their ecological relevance
Jyotish Ranjan Deka
Moni Kangkan Bordoloi
Pranjit Kumar Sarma
Posted on 27 Jan, 2022 10:54 PM

Smaller water bodies, such as ponds, are important not only for biodiversity (Oertli, Céréghino, Hull, & Miracle, 2009) but al
Lakhimpur pond (Image: Authors)
A ready reckoner on emissions
TERI and EDF develop a detailed air emission inventory
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Environmental Defense Fund
Posted on 25 Jan, 2022 10:18 PM

A detailed air emission inventory with a comprehensive list of pollutants within a pre-defined geographical area is beneficial for developing clean air action plans. It can also be used to test the effectiveness of pilot interventions towards air quality abatement.
Smokestacks at a power plant (Image: Flickr/ Nick Humphries)
‘Fleas’ flee the Pashan lake in Pune!
Restoration efforts focusing on desilting and re-contouring of Pashan lake have added to the deterioration of the lake habitat, threatening survival of organisms such as water fleas, warn freshwater biologists Mihir Kulkarni and Sameer Padhye.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 24 Jan, 2022 11:17 PM

The calm waters of Pashan lake in Pune city, seldom give us an idea of the hidden wonders they support. Freshwater habitats like this, harbour a wealth of biodiversity ranging from very tiny/ microscopic plants and animals to larger ones – that reside in and around the waters and depend on it for their food, reproduction and survival.
Pashan lake, threatened by urbanisation, doomed by restoration (Image Source: India Water Portal)
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