Forests

Featured Articles
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)
May 24, 2022
Droughts reduce India's GDP by 5 percent in twenty years
News this fortnight
India, vulnerable to droughts (Image: Pixabay; hbieser)
April 13, 2022
Forest fire incidences have increased ten times over the past two decades
Over 30% of Indian districts are prone to extreme forest fires, as per a CEEW study
More than 275 million people in India are exposed to extreme forest fire events. (Image: Naveen N Kadalaveni, Wikimedia Commons)
September 21, 2021
Shrinking forests, declining biodiversity - a ticking time bomb!
A fatal tick borne disease is on the rise in the Western Ghat states. Deforestation, declining biodiversity and increasing human animal conflicts are to blame.
The Western ghats forests, under threat (Image Source: India Water Portal)
April 28, 2021
Identification of drivers of deforestation in Meghalaya
There is a need to work on the development of protocols or models, enhancement of productivity and livelihood sustainability
Jhum cultivation in Nokrek biosphere reserve, Meghalaya (Image: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)
December 11, 2019
NGT orders 100 percent treatment of sewage entering rivers
Policy matters this week
Polythene bags and solid waste left behind as water recedes in the Ganga river. (Source: India Water Portal on Flickr)
Public hearing for green clearance a sham
There seems to be a rush to approve hydropower projects in Uttarakhand. In the absence of safeguards, this is likely to have adverse effect on the Himalayan ecology and the people.
Vimal Bhai
Posted on 21 Jun, 2018 04:36 PM

Supin, a tributary of river Tons and a part of river Yamuna gushes through the hilly tracts of Uttarkashi district. Like all rivers meandering through the lush terrains and forests of Uttarakhand, Supin too is being aggressively tapped for hydropower generation by the government.
Public hearing for Jakhol Sankri hydropower project did not take consent of affected communities on a sensitive issue that impacts their lives. (Picture courtesy: Vimal Bhai)
Delhi to amicably settle water dispute with Haryana
News this week
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 05 Jun, 2018 07:14 AM

Delhi Jal Board decides to withdraw all cases against Haryana to amicably settle water dispute
The parched Yamuna (Photo courtesy: The Indian Express)
Hangul needs better protection
Look beyond protected areas for conservation of endangered hangul in Kashmir, says a study.
S. Suresh Ramanan
Posted on 01 Jun, 2018 04:56 PM

For the long-term conservation of critically endangered red deer or hangul in Kashmir, it is necessary to take up conservation efforts beyond protected areas, a new study has suggested.
Efforts are underway to conserve hanguls. (Photo courtesy: Intesar Suhail, ISW)
Disappearing waters of The Himalayas
A photo exhibition focuses on the changing lifestyles of local communities in the Himalayas with changes in their environment.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 14 May, 2018 12:01 PM

Delhi’s Jor Bagh metro station is the site of an ongoing photographic exhibition with thought-provoking images and narratives exploring escalating water crises Indian and Nepal Himalayas face.
The photograph titled 'Nainital: Changing landscape in the Himalayas'. Image: Toby Smith, Pani-Pahar series
Western Ghats a source of moisture for monsoon
A new study points out that the evapotranspiration from the vegetation over the Western Ghats accounts for one-quarter of the rainfall over peninsular India.
Raghu Murtugudde
Posted on 05 May, 2018 04:55 PM

The mountain range that runs along the west coast of peninsular India from Tamil Nadu through Kerala, Karnataka, and Goa to Maharashtra is known as the Western Ghats and is very well known for its majestic beauty. It is also among the top eight biodiversity hotspots in the world.
Western Ghats provides moisture for rainfall. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Power play chokes Korba
The video tells the story of residents of Korba and nearby villages who are affected by the fly ash from power plants which makes Korba the fifth critically polluted area in the country.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 11 Apr, 2018 02:05 PM

Korba in Chhattisgarh is an industrial area which has a significant number of coal mines and thermal power plants. Fly ash is a byproduct of the thermal power plants and has become a significant problem for the residents of Korba now.
Fly-ash dust at CSEB thermal power plant in Korba.
Mangar Bani: NCR's green patch calls for help
With the threat of urbanisation looming large, the sacred grove of Mangar Bani begs for attention.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 27 Mar, 2018 02:39 PM

According to the local legend, Mangar Bani, a green patch between Faridabad and Gurgaon, was home to a Baba (a holy man), Gudariya Das Maharaj around 500 years ago. Popular among the local Gujjar herdsmen, the dominant community of the area, the Baba asked them to treat this forest as a sacred grove, the forested abode of a local deity.
Mangar Bani, with its trees, plants, birds and animals, is an ecological hotspot but it is finding it hard to keep builders and land grabbers at bay. (Image: Pradip Krishen, Facebook)
Centre fails to see the wood for the trees
The latest FSI report says India is getting greener. A closer look at the story behind the numbers says otherwise.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 13 Mar, 2018 03:38 PM

As per the biennial State of Forest Report (SFR) 2017 by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), the total forest and tree cover in India increased during the period 2015 to 2017 by 0.94 percent. The increase in the forest cover has been of the order of 6,778 sq km and that of tree cover was about 1,243 sq km.  
India’s forest cover stands at 21.54 percent while its dense forest cover is about 12.26 percent, as per the State of Forest Report, 2017. (Image: Tridib Choudhury, Wikimedia commons, CC BY SA-4.0)
Arsenic-affected village gets water after two decades
Kaudikasa village’s two decades of struggle with arsenic contamination in drinking water ends with a new government scheme.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 12 Mar, 2018 05:41 AM

Kaudikasa is a small village with a population of just 350 people in the Ambagad Chowki block of the Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh. Despite its small size, Kaudikasa village has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Severe health problems have been reported from the village, thanks to acute arsenic contamination in its groundwater.
Yuvraj Singh, a former sarpanch of Kaudikasa near the tube well reported to have the highest level of arsenic contamination.
Islands float on Delhi lake
Floating wetlands have been constructed on Hauz Khas lake in an attempt to naturally restore it.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 08 Mar, 2018 06:09 AM

Located in the Hauz Khas urban village in the busy metropolis of Delhi is an exquisitely landscaped lush green patch. This deer park, with spotted deer, peacocks and numerous birds, leads to an incredibly beautiful lake. As per a plaque at the site, the lake is a part of the medieval (13th century) city of Delhi Sultanate.
Phytoremediation principle is used to convert Hauz Khas lake into a water purifying wetland ecosystem. (Image: Tarun Nanda)
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