AGARWOOD
From flavorful tea to perfume trees

Assam's tea growers, struggling under high production costs and low profit margins, have turned to growing agarwood, in the process helping to revive it from its endangered status.

#Horticulture #Agriculture #ASSAM
COASTAL ECONOMY
Seaweed farms promise livelihoods, biodiversity

With its potential to supplement incomes of fishermen and other communities along the nation's long coastline, seaweed cultivation is gaining momentum. Goa's first pilot farm is about to be launched.

#Livelihoods #Economy #Environment #GOA
SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
Udaipur ponders the impacts of tourism

The rapid growth of the industry has brought jobs and prosperity, but also threatens the city's lakes and hills. A new way forward is needed, with emphasis on sustainability and conservation.

#Tourism #Economy #RAJASTHAN
POWER LINES
Already nearing extinction, GIBs face a new threat

Apart from the loss of their habitat, migratory birds face a new threat from the growing number of renewable energy projects. The Great Indian Bustard has seen its numbers drop precipitously. 

#Energy #Wildlife #Environment #GUJARAT #RAJASTHAN
HUMANS AND ANIMALS
Wildlife-friendly land use: Would incentives work?

Many landowners around forests would set aside some lands in exchange for payments. Some see this as a promising conservation strategy, but others believe more nuance is needed.

#Wildlife #Environment #KARNATAKA
CONSERVATION
Beyond wildlife-ism and ecosystem services-ism

Faced with a multiplicity of values, mainstream conservation has tended to retreat to biocentrism, pragmatism or scientism. A broad-based, democratic environmentalism would be more tenable.

#Wildlife #Environment
BIO-DIVERSITY ACT
Withering public consultations
BIO-DIVERSITY ACT : Withering public consultations

Per Biological Diversity Act, 2002 before using any Indian biological material for commercial or R&D purposes, public consultation is needed via the local Biodiversity Management Committees, which the National Biodiversity Authority wants to do away with.

#Agriculture #Environment
SUSTAINABLE FOOD
Rays of hope for the ‘local’ in Meghalaya

Even as many pockets of the state, including its capital, battle the ravages of development and consumerism, a couple of villages visited by the author stand as examples of resilient local economies and lifestyles. Aditya Vikram Rametra describes what he saw here.

#Adivasis #Agriculture
ENDANGERED BIRDS
Where are the real tweets in India?

Numerous species of Indian birds are critically endangered. Only strict conservation laws can help them survive. Experts fear that many will be wiped off as the environment deteriorates.

#Wildlife #Environment
HUMAN-ANIMAL CONFLICT
Where leopards await human compassion
HUMAN-ANIMAL CONFLICT : Where leopards await human compassion

The lack of awareness about a traditionally peace-loving species, and inadequate safeguards to protect their natural habitats and corridors pose a serious threat to leopards in and around Guwahati.

#Wildlife #Environment #ASSAM
LAND, FOOD AND BIODIVERSITY
Why the land acquisition law is a threat to several others

The government’s push to the amended land acquisition law overlooks provisions in other acts that address closely related issues such as food security and conservation of biodiversity, writes Shalini Bhutani.

#Food Security #Land #Government #Laws
BIODIVERSITY
The tiny creature that has made the Assam zoo famous!

On 15 November, the Assam State Zoo opened its doors to three pygmy hogs, becoming the only zoo in the world to house this critically endangered species. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports on an ongoing project that’s trying to save the animal and its habitats in the face of all odds.

#Wildlife #Environment
REVISITING THE CHOPRA COMMITTEE REPORT
Will selective plans for the Ganga work?
REVISITING THE CHOPRA COMMITTEE REPORT : Will selective plans for the Ganga work?

Rejuvenation of the Ganga has purportedly grabbed a big share of the new government’s focus, but would plans ignoring the upper Ganga basin really be effective? Shripad Dharmadhikary discusses the findings of an expert body that could be crucial to the agenda.

#Climate #Energy #Wildlife #Environment
GANGA WATERWAY
Reviving the Ganga, at the cost of its ecology!

The Rs 6300-crore plans for development of the Ganga waterway from Allahabad to Haldia should be undertaken only after meticulous examination of its impact on various elements of river ecology. Debadityo Sinha explains why.

#Environmental Hazards #Water #Environment
SAVING THE WESTERN GHATS
Old trick, new attack
SAVING THE WESTERN GHATS : Old trick, new attack
The MoEF's decision to have one committee examine the recommendations of another with respect to the protection of the eco-sensitive Western Ghats has resulted in needless contradiction and defeat of the core environmental objective. Shripad Dharmadhikary analyses the reports.
#Forests #Environment #Government