Video | “Share your groundwater story!”: World Water Day held annually on 22 March – United Nations

GROUNDWATER – MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE Groundwater is invisible, but its impact is visible everywhere. Out of sight, under our feet, groundwater is a hidden treasure that enriches our lives. Almost all of the liquid freshwater in the world is groundwater. As climate change gets worse, groundwater will become more and more critical. We need … Read more

Sustainable use of biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge: Securing economic benefits for tribal communities – Kerala & Tamil Nadu

The book explores the possibility of sustainable use of biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge with economic benefit for the communities and countries that have conserved them for generations. By S. GOPIKRISHNA WARRIER THERE is an irony related to biodiversity and economics. Communities that live in close contact with biodiversity-rich forests are economically poor, whereas people … Read more

Rock Art Studies (Asiatic Society Kolkata): Continuum of the art tradition “evident among pre-literate and indigenous ethnic entities” – Central India & Kerala

Rock art studies in India is not only restricted to the Palaeolithic period, it extends even beyond it. In the Indian subcontinent the caves and rock shelters were inhabited and used by people over many periods, throughout which the rock walls were used as a convenient canvas to visually express and transmit their idea, ethos, aspirations … Read more

Sacred groves: Traditional practice and modern ecology

Sacred groves are maintained by many tribal communities across India like the Santals and tribal communities in the Nilgiri mountain range of Tamil Nadu, adjoining Wayanad District, and the Kaani community Kanyakumari region on both sides of the border between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Some of their ancestral forests, sacred streams and mountains are now … Read more

Balancing demands of development and maintaining the integrity of the biodiversity hotspot: The draft notification of Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) – Kerala

The draft notification of Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) covering about 56,825 sq. km has been put in public domain by the Union Environment and Forests Ministry. The notification, dated March 10 [2014], along the lines the Ministry had announced earlier, has left the demarcation of the ESA in Kerala to the State authorities … Read more