Radar Versus Optical: the Impact of Cloud Cover When Mapping Seasonal Surface Water for Health Applications in Monsoon-affected India
Gowri Uday, Abi Tamim Vanak, Abhishek Samrat, Anusha Chaudhary, Mujeeb Rahman PLOS ONE | January 24, 2025 This study evaluated data loss due to clouds in three Western Ghats (India) districts. These forest-agricultural mosaic landscapes, where water-related diseases are prevalent, experience the Indian monsoon. We compared surface water areas mapped by thresholding 10m Sentinel-1A SAR […]
First evidence of transovarial transmission of Kyasanur Forest disease virus in Haemaphysalis and Rhipicephalus ticks in the wild
Abi Tamim Vanak, Mujeeb Rahman Parasites & Vectors | January 17, 2025 Kyasanur forest disease virus (KFDV) is a tick-borne flavivirus causing debilitating and potentially fatal disease in people in the Western Ghats region of India. The transmission cycle is complex, involving multiple vector and host species, but there are significant gaps in ecological knowledge. […]
Open Letter: There Are More Than Just Trees and Forests to Be Conserved and Restored
T. Ganesh, Ankila Hiremath, Arjun Kannan, Sarala Khaling, Iravatee Majgaonkar, Seshadri K. S. Plants, People, Planet | January 15, 2025 Tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas have historically been neglected in global and local conservation policies. As a result, nearly half of their coverage has been lost. In 2023, the world’s most biodiverse savanna (Brazilian […]
EPW Review of Environment and Development
Sharachchandra Lele Economic and Political Weekly | January 13, 2025 In December 2021, we presented a Review of Environment and Development that focused on environmental governance—the institutional arrangements for making decisions—across various sectors: water and air pollution, infrastructure projects, climate negotiations, and the associated environmental jurisprudence. This time, we are delighted to bring to the […]
Luxury Consumption in India : Exploring the Environmental, Social, and Cultural Dimensions of Affluence
Sharachchandra Lele Economic and Political Weekly | January 13, 2025 Luxury consumption, so far seen as a problem of the global North, is now growing dramatically in India. We explore its complex dynamics, including definitions, drivers, impacts and responses. Luxury consumption has both material and symbolic value and is driven by various aspirations, amplified by […]
Democratising Forest Governance: Challenges Old and New
Sharachchandra Lele Economic and Political Weekly | January 13, 2025 Sixteen years after the Forest Rights Act, 2006, only three states have recognised a significant number of community forest resource rights, and only one of them (Maharashtra) has enabled their operationalisation. While the outcomes in Maharashtra have been impressive, violations abound elsewhere. Even where recognised, […]
What Standards Do and Whom They Serve: Fixing, Practising and Delivering Per Capita Water Supply Standards in Cities in India
Sachin Tiwale Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space | January 6, 2025 This paper examines how the per capita standards of water supply are fixed, practised and delivered in cities in India. The per capita standard of water supply is a key figure in deciding the quantum of water cities can extract from adjacent […]
Discovery of the Subfamily Microleptinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) From India and Thailand With the Description of Five New Species
Ranjith AP, Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan Journal of Hymenoptera Research | December 13, 2024 The ichneumonid subfamily Microleptinae is reported from India and Thailand for the first time. We describe four new species from India (Microleptes chiani Ranjith & Humala, sp. nov., M. gowrishankari Ranjith & Humala, sp. nov., M. sandeshkaduri Ranjith & Humala, sp. nov., […]
Community Forest Management
Sharachchandra Lele, Shruti Mokashi, Anuja Anil Date, Atul Joshi Oxford Bibliographies in Environmental Science | November 22, 2024 Historically, some form of local management of forests existed in many parts of the world in the precolonial era. Enclosures, invasions, colonization, or policies of postcolonial states led to the takeover of most of these forests and […]
Modelling the Banni Social-ecological System Using Participatory System Dynamics for Building Insights on Invasive Species Management and Stakeholder Engagement
Kabir Sharma, Mihir Mathur, Ankila J. Hiremath , Abi T. Vanak, Ramya Ravi , Madhura Niphadkar, Ovee Thorat , Ninad Jagdish Journal of Environmental Management | November 19, 2024 Invasive species are a significant driver of environmental change in social-ecological systems (SES) globally. Given that SES are inherently complex adaptive systems (CAS), they continuously reorganize […]
