Tamil Nadu must sustainably manage its rattans

The plants have seen huge commercial exploitation in the state and need restoration to safeguard their survival

Amazonian secrets

Hundreds of ridges that crisscross the rainforests of South America have helped flora and fauna proliferate, says a latest study

Invasive Alien Species

Think of an invasion, and the picture that comes to mind is usually that of planes and tanks, machines and men, shells and gunshots. But animal …

Uttarakhand opens biodiversity park in Haldwani to encourage conservation

The state’s rich botanical heritage is facing threats from climate change, degrading landscapes, habitat loss and development activities

To save the future

A change is needed in government policy to discourage the use of fossil fuels. Strict pollution control measures have to be implemented

Alarming situation

If fossil fuel emissions go unchecked, there is a possibility of sulphur dioxide emissions increasing four-fold in India by 2020

Paradise in peril

Galpagos, an archipelago straddling the equator 1,000 km west of Ecuador, is probably the world's best-known biodiversity zone. But alien species …

Growing fences

Burgeoning population and agricultural encroachment in the last half century have erected artificial walls within the Gond tribes. These ethnic …

Supergrass

Here is the latest on genetically-modified plants with enough power to neutralise some of the most potent pollutants we know today

Broad-spectrum antibiotics increase risk of obesity in children below 2

Study shows that children given broad-spectrum antibiotics were two times more likely to be obese than other children

Deep in trouble

The ecology of Scotland may undergo a major transformation due to climatic changes, says a report

Acid rain arriving soon in India

It wreaked havoc in Europe. Now scientists are worried that acid rain may soon acquire grave proportions in India. Acid rainwater may cause …

Nepal's poor carry it off

As the Himalayan country's forestry scheme for the poor reaps rich dividends, its government entrusts more degraded areas to the underprivileged. …

Desert blooms

Halophytes - plants growing on saline soil - could be India's Answer to the problems of salt desert and wasteland reclamation, besides Being …

The secret garden

Want to know about a lost variety of rice or a cure to asthma? Answers lie in the notebooks of schoolchildren and women of the Sundarbans and …

International bodies like WHO, FAO join hands at CITES COP19 to curb zoonotic diseases

Zoonoses defined as infectious diseases spread between animals and humans by food, water, fomites or vectors

Fading beauty

Changing climate conditions in the Northeast are wiping out the fragile orchids. Will other species follow?

Torn apart

Forest fragmentation can have detrimental effects on the flora and fauna, leading to a loss of biodiversity

Climate on a skid

Global warming is likely to be far greater and faster than previous estimates, says the latest report of the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction …

UN Crime Congress adopts Doha declaration on combatting wildlife crimes

International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime calls on members to recognise wildlife and forest crime as a transnational organised crime …

"Right should belong to scientists"

For the first time in India, the draft of the Plant Varieties Protection (PVP) Act is being finalised by the ministry of agriculture. India, as a …

Changing climes

Climate change is a very slow process, notoriously difficult to understand. Is it happening in India? Residents of some Himalayan towns, where …

The vanishing lakes

There is more water than land in north Bihar. The rivers that ramble down from the Himalaya feed numerous depressions scattered all over the …

Listen... plants too speak

As early as in 1880, Charles Darwin demonstrated that plants could sense light, moisture, gravity, pressure and possessed several other qualities.…