Campus green spaces as refuges for biodiversity in the rapidly urbanising Himalayan landscape
As the urban Himalayan town expands into forests and nearby agricultural land, much of the region’s biodiversity is now confined to small and fragmented green spaces within urban areas. These patches, although small, provide essential ecosystem services to the citizens, support regional biodiversity and regulate local climate. Among these spaces, college and school campuses stand […]
Takes Two to Tango
While government records boast large numbers of recognised “community rights” titles, the reality on the ground tells a different story. For the FRA to truly succeed, what is required is a hybrid approach, one that blends community-led legitimacy with administrative support and clear timelines.
Grasslands: The Hidden Life
The article explores the microbial diversity across India’s main grassland ecosystems, ranging from the Banni and Terai to the Alpine Bugyals and Shola grasslands, urging visualization of soil health as connected to the global “One Health” framework.
Exploring Continuity and Change in ‘India’s Forests’
Environmental scholars should also produce a similar volume on wetlands, rivers and coastal ecosystems, that also have long histories of diverse human interactions, ranging from worship to destruction
Should MSP Become A Legal Right? Constitutional Debate Around C2 Formula
Beyond Honey Bees: Rethinking Urban Green Spaces for Pollinator Diversity
Beyond Big Parks: Why Everyday Green Spaces Shape City Life
When the Rains Miss ‘ashar’: El Niño, a Shifting Monsoon, and the Smallholder Sowing Window
On May 15, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast that the southwest monsoon would reach Kerala by May 26, five days ahead of the usual date. It arrived on June 4, three days late. That nine-day gap, at the coarsest scale the monsoon is tracked, an entire coastline rather than one farmer’s field, is this […]
What the Western Ghats Map Leaves Out
The piece examines the Centre’s State-by-State notification of the Western Ghats ecologically sensitive area (ESA), built on the Kasturirangan Committee’s 2013 split between “natural” and “cultural” landscape. It argues that the boundary excludes the most populated, plantation-dominated, and landslide-prone slopes from protection, and that the same areas also lack Community Forest Resource rights under the […]
The Neem Patent Case and India’s Next Battle Over Traditional Knowledge [commentary]
Most public discussion of biopiracy still focuses on the misappropriation of specific biological resources: a plant compound, a seed variety, or a fermentation culture. The legal response has focused correspondingly on access and benefit-sharing rules, prior art databases, and geographical indication protections. These instruments work, imperfectly, for that kind of theft.
