3-minute talks on Water and Forests

In a much-appreciated format, ATREE’s young scholars give lively 3-minute speed talks about the research they are conducting across diverse landscapes using innovative methodologies.

Water, Land and Society

Nakul Mohan Heble questions the regulatory mechanism for urban water pollution in Bengaluru.

Nachiket Kelkar describes how the exploitative panidari system of fishing in the Ganges was overthrown by a social movement only to be replaced by an equally dangerous fishing mafia.

R Apoorva presents innovative methods to record how much water households consume so that judicious planning can happen at the city scale.

Vidyadhar Atkore shows that maintaining a few un-dammed river tributaries can help mitigate the negative impacts of dams on endemic fish diversity in the Western Ghats.

Forest Governance and Livelihoods

Urbashi Pradhan investigates why bees are disappearing even from an organic pesticide-free state like Sikkim, and finds that the old forest has declined and the new forest is empty of nectar.

Annesha Chowdhury finds that most tea estates in Darjeeling pay lip service to organic certification and unpacks the dimensions of leadership by a local steward on a uniquely sustainable yet highly profitable tea estate.

Poorna Balaji describes how subsistence farmers in Odisha are being forced to give up their lands for government CAMPA plantations.

Vikram Aditya warns that the Eastern Ghats are being lost to dams even before their rich biodiversity is fully known.

Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Society

Chandrima Home describes the “canine conundrum” in the Upper Spiti Valley where free-ranging dogs attack livestock, causing economic damages that are comparable with those of snow leopards.

Madhuri Ramesh shows that marine protected areas fail in highly human dominated areas with mobile species like turtles and makes the case for turtle conservation to get “fuzzy”.

Aniruddha Marathe’s study of ants in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh shows that understanding biodiversity patterns “one small question at a time” can help preserve species.

Barkha Subba models the impact of climate change on Himalayan frogs, taking into account their limited ability to migrate.