ATREE News
Solving multiple challenges while considering biodiversity and human rights
Protection, restoration and better management of ecosystems through Nature-based Solutions (NbS) feature in many national commitments, including India’s, but there is scope for much more in climate change mitigation and adaptation, say authors of a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Making a mockery of environment impact assessment
The committee noted that “no formal procedures exist to learn from the comments” of expert appraisal committees. Yet the company’s accreditation has been renewed over the years on the ground that it scored at least 60% on the overall assessment.
Reforestation efforts provide hope, but more work needed on supportive policy and community involvement
Vast tracts of forests and green cover have, over the past few decades, given way to concrete jungles, with increasing urbanisation in India. Despite many initiatives, environmental experts say India still has a long way to go, when it concerns reforestation. Sharachchandra Lele is of the opinion that even though there are lots of ‘afforestation programmes’ in India, but the content (which species, i.e., single, exotic or mixed, local) and effectiveness of these programmes remains unknown.
28-YO Turned 30,000 Kg Waste Cloth Into Usable Products & Helped 40 Women Earn
Sanju joined the Ashoka Trust for research in ecology and the environment (ATREE) and led the Habitat learning project in 2016. There he trained teachers and students of government schools near the Vembanad Lake in Kerala for a period of two years. Vembanad Lake in the Alappuzha district is the second largest Ramsar wetland site in India and also one of the most diverse and flood vulnerable regions in the State.
Jaltol, an open-source digital tool to ensure water security in rural India
The Jaltol plugin by ATREE's CSEI provides remote sensing data — rainfall, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, changes in surface water/groundwater storage, land use/land cover — together on one platform. It is claimed to be available in an easy-to-use format, to help estimate the water balance.
See how #Jaltol works: https://bit.ly/3Dm9PPD
Scientists discover snail species in Meghalaya cave
"However, at present, we don't know whether our species is a true cave species. Further extensive surveys may reveal more interesting facts about natural history, its true distributional patterns, and so on." According to ATREE, a Bengaluru-based research institution on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, the micro snail species was discovered 170 years after the last such discovery was made.
Scientists discover snail species in M'laya cave, conduct study on mollusc across NE
Scientists Nipu Kumar Das and N.A. Aravind, both associated with the Bengaluru-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), recently discovered the new micro snail species, found deep inside a limestone cave at Mawsmai village in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district.
Pharmaceutical waste contaminates India's main rivers
India's major rivers are thick with heavy metals, dyes, toxic chemicals and pharmaceutical products. Priyanka Jamwal at says that the projects to clean up the Ganga can work only with decentralized treatment plants supported with incentives. "Treating industrial wastewater and sewage water before release into the Ganga river can be expensive."
Students given training to identify invasive species
Students of the Government Arts College here were given training as part of a citizen-science initiative initiated by ATREE and Keystone Foundation in Kotagiri to map invasive species in the Nilgiris. Speaking at the event, Milind Bunyan said that early detection and identifying priority species and habitats could help in the long-term preservation and restoration of threatened native ecosystems. As a first step, the project envisages mapping invasive species in the Moyar-Bhavani landscape in the Nilgiris, with plans to scale up the project based on the success of the initiative.
Scientists discover snail species in M’laya cave, conduct study on mollusc across NE
Nipu Kumar Das and N.A. Aravind, both associated with the Bengaluru-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), recently discovered the new micro snail species, found deep inside a limestone cave at Mawsmai village in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district.