by MD Madhusudan, NS Prashanth & Pavithra Sankaran   (An edited version of this article appeared in Down To Earth on 24 July, 2019)   The Supreme Court petition filed by hardline conservationists questioning the constitutional validity of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) is stoking fears that recognising the land and other rights of […]

By Sharachchandra Lele & MD Madhusudan   (An edited version of this article appeared in the Hindustan Times of 15th July 2019)   Ever since the draft Forest Rights Act (FRA) was conceived back in 2004, hardline conservationists have opposed it tooth and nail. Their main claim has been that the FRA would lead, and […]

Historically in India, and across the world, mainstream conservation efforts have often been carried out largely using an exclusionary approach, which has come at a considerable cost to the land rights and livelihoods of the most marginalized and voiceless people. More recently, there has been widespread recognition of both the injustice of such an approach, […]

Life in Spiti is like reading a book. These stories make living there easier and create memories for a lifetime. Here are a few anecdotes about places and people of Spiti shared by the women of SHEN.  

Historically in India, and across the world, mainstream conservation efforts often have been carried out largely using an exclusionary approach, which has come at a considerable cost to the land rights and livelihoods of the most marginalized and voiceless people. More recently, there has been widespread recognition of both the injustice of such an approach, […]

I have a habit of reading while I am in potty. I am sure many you do this as well. More often it will be a newspaper or a magazine and rarely a book. Even if it is a book we can’t really finish more than a couple of pages while sitting there. But I […]

Sometime in the last week of March this year, I was winding up work at one of our study sites in Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, when there was a sudden burst of yellow and black and I was left blinking, smack in the middle of this huge shoal of convict surgeonfish. Naturally, I just had to record […]

One evening, after a long day of trekking in the mountains in Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh, our team retired to the basecamp. Our tents were the only ones set up in the valley at the time. However, that particular day was different—we had company. Two herders, along with their livestock, horses and guard dogs, had pitched […]

New 18-year study shows that despite increasing resistance, coral reefs in the Lakshadweep are not recovering well from climate change disturbances   The coral reefs of the Lakshadweep are not doing well. They haven’t been well for a while now. Just how badly they are faring  is something we are only just waking up to. […]

The decline of fish stock the world over is gravely affecting the balance of things in our seas. In India too, with the ever-rising, unregulated fishing, things aren’t looking too good.   Mayuresh is a PhD candidate with our Oceans and Coasts Programme and works on understanding impacts of overfishing on fish populations in India’s […]