Why Massive Tree Plantation Drives Are a Disaster for Desert Ecosystems
Chetan Misher & Abi T Vanak Scroll | June 17, 2022 On World Environment Day on June 5, a record 1.5 lakh saplings were planted in Chushul, a remote village in Ladakh, ostensibly to preserve and protect this high-altitude ecosystem. A similar plantation drive was undertaken in 2018 when 4,000 saplings were planted in the Leh region […]
100 years of “saving” India’s soil: What needs to change?
Anuja Malhotra and Abi T. Vanak Mongabay | June 13, 2022 A movement to Save Soil in India is gaining traction not just in the media but also with political leaders, celebrities, and citizens alike who have proactively come forward in its support. Given that soil is crucial to our lives and livelihoods, such an awakening […]
A Multi-pronged Approach to Source Attribution and Apportionment of Heavy Metals in Urban Rivers
Priyanka Jamwal, Divya Nayak, Praveen Raje Urs, Mohamed Zuhail Thatey, Malavika Gopinath, Mohammad Idris & Sharachchandra Lele Ambio | June 8, 2022 Heavy metal (HM) contamination of water bodies is caused by both first generation (industries) and second generation (distributed sources, domestic sewage, sediments) sources. We applied a multi-pronged approach to quantify the contribution of […]
Niche shift in invasive species: is it a case of “home away from home” or finding a “new home”
Aravind N.A, Maanya Uma Shaanker, Poorna Bhat H. N., Bipin Charles, Uma Shaanker R., Manzoor A. Shah, Ravikanth G
The Great Vanishing
Mihir Godbole, Abi Tamim Vanak, Iravatee Majgaonkar & Nikita Sabnis Sanctuary Nature Foundation | June 6, 2022 “Grasslands are the ‘common’ lands of the community and while there have been robust traditional institutions ensuring their sustainable management in the past, today, due to take-over by government or breakdown of traditional institutions, they are the responsibility […]
Why Planting More Trees is a Lazy Solution to the Crisis of Climate Change
Karishma Shelar & Anuja Malhotra Scroll | June 5, 2022 The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in its sixth assessment report released in August, reiterated its analysis of the role played by human-induced activities in contributing to catastrophic heatwaves, droughts and cyclones. It noted that in 2019, the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere was […]
Tree Planting in Open Ecosystems Has Few Benefits
Iravatee Majgaonkar Hindustan Time | June 5, 2022 The idea of restoration and protection of the earth’s environment instantly elicits mental images of tree planting. The greener the environment, the healthier it must be. This is also in line with the commitment by the ministry of environment, forests and climate change of the Indian government, […]
Fifty Years After Un Environment Summit, Researchers Renew Call for Action
Maria Ivanova & Sharachchandra Lele Correspondence | June 1, 2022 On the eve of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, a group of 2,200 scientists signed a letter — now known as the Menton Message — to their (then) 3.5 billion neighbours on Earth. In one of the earliest examples of […]
Windmill takes wind out of birds’ sails
The Indian Express
Our Vision for Jaltol
We created Jaltol, an open-source tool, to offer easy access to data to help understand, diagnose and intervene better. Veena Srinivasan Medium | May 22, 2022
