When Biodiversity Science Speaks to Business, WHO Speaks for the Forest and the Sea?
The IPBES Business and Biodiversity Assessment is a landmark document. But its governance architecture quietly places the communities that generate biodiversity knowledge outside the room where decisions are made
Before the toast: The wild story of avocado
Avocados hold many stories, some of them untold despite all the craze surrounding it. The global love for this buttery fruit is impressive, but even more mesmerising is its long and complex journey — a saga of pollination and historical mysteries of dispersal that shaped the avocado tree into the fruit we relish today.
Getting More Bang For The Buck
The overnight rain had washed everything clean. At daybreak, eight of us, in two cars, drove out of Bengaluru, in search of a mammal that none of us had seen. It was July 2007. We had a hand-drawn map of how to reach the site. All was well until we missed a turn and ended […]
Scarcity amidst Plenty: The Story of a Spring in Rinchenpong
from afar, Sikkim seems wrapped in abundance. A land of clear streams, cascading waterfalls, and endless freshwater flowing through its hills. Every slope appears to hold a hidden spring; every spring seems to promise water. It feels almost impossible to imagine that scarcity could exist in such a landscape.
An Ecologist’s Diary: Exploring the Wild Heart of Uttara Kannada
Coastal Uttara Kannada is more than just one ecosystem; many habitats are nestled within this relatively densely populated region of the district. Just two days earlier, I wandered along a rickety wooden boardwalk in Honnavar, journeying deep into the dense mangrove forests that guard the coastline.
Preventing water contamination: How citizen data and chlorine monitoring can save lives
In Indore, sewage leaks and intermittent water supply increase contamination risks. Maintaining residual chlorine in pipelines can avert crises across cities.
Avoiding the Trap of Predatory Journals
In academia, publications are the primary currency for advancement. Whether it is a PhD student or a tenured professor, everyone plays the ‘publish or perish’ game. Publication is the logical culmination of the scientific research method. Publications close the loop from data collection and analysis to public contribution.
When the Seasons No Longer Listen
On a clear morning in Sittong, an elderly farmer Nima Tshering Lepcha walks down a narrow footpath that cuts through terraced fields clinging to the hillside. Twenty years ago, this land grew finger millet and barley-crops that fed families and shaped food traditions. Today, those same terraces are dotted with betel nut and black pepper […]
Aligning Religious Tourism With Ecology
The article is based on ATREE’s work piloting religious tourism guidelines in protected areas such as KMTR and Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. The team produced a report in 2023 in collaboration with WWF UK on the same (attached). The broader aim is to contribute to the NTCA adopting these guidelines for greater implementation as mentioned in […]
How Landscape Memory, Hysteresis Shape the Way Indian Cities Flood
In India’s cities, streets remain waterlogged long after the downpour has passed. These scenes are often dismissed as failures of their drainage systems, but hydrology offers one more insight: landscapes don’t respond to rain instantly or forget it quickly. Instead they respond to hydrological hysteresis, a ‘memory’ of past rainfall
