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
The Private Forestry Plan Must Square With Forest Rights Act
In the central Indian forest-belt, where large numbers of villages have opposed timber felling, forest departments have sought not legal compliance.
A Zoonotic Disease in the Himalayas That Needs a Closer Look [commentary]
Scrub typhus, a zoonotic disease, transmitted by mite bites, is re-emerging as a significant but under-recognised public health threat in the rural landscapes of the Indian Himalayas. The disease thrives in rodent-rich environments, shaped by ecology and land-use changes, persists amid weak surveillance and declining healthcare access in the plantation areas. There is an urgent […]
After the Ngt Order, Safeguards Will Now Decide Great Nicobar’s Future
The NGT decision to uphold environmental clearance for the Great Nicobar infrastructure project marks a pivotal moment in India’s environmental governance.
Land Acquired for Strengthening Elephant Corridors, Pressurises Farmer Livelihoods
The acquisition of land for elephant corridors expands conservation beyond protected areas, placing pressure on agrarian livelihoods.
Gorillas are what we want to be, says Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka
Conservation leader Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka discusses the fate of Uganda’s mountain gorillas and community relations.
Gods’ Gardens
In Tamil Nadu, the relationship between humans and plants extends beyond utility into culture, tradition, and religion. Tree worship is among the earliest known forms of human devotion. In Sangam literature, the heroine of Natrrinai addresses the punnai tree (Alexandrian laurel) as her sister. Trees like neem, banyan, peepul, fig, and palmyra are still worshipped […]
Traditional Fishers Turn Rescuers in a Win for Declining Marine Wildlife
Coastal fishers in Tamil Nadu are forgoing hunting practices and instead increasingly rescuing dolphins, turtles, and dugongs during nearshore fishing operations…
