Book Excerpt: A guide to the Peninsula’s indigenous floral wealth

Many in southern India are unaware that the region hosted and still hosts unique botanical life

Old forests are critically important for slowing climate change and merit immediate protection from logging

A majority of national forest area that is mature and old growth is not protected from logging

How the Ice Ages spurred the evolution of New Zealand’s weird and wiry native plants

Frosty and droughty climates posed direct physiological challenges to plants, but they also left them more exposed to browsing; they thus …

Is India’s biodiversity getting exploited without benefits to communities?

India’s biodiversity authority could put minds at ease by increasing transparency. Otherwise, the future of biodiversity remains grim in …

Why coal-fired power plants in Southeast Asia are facing opposition heat

Growing social and environmental opposition has delayed coal projects in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar

Widespread non-compliance as thermal power plants don’t meet water use norms

An excerpt from an ongoing study by non-profit Manthan Adhyayan Kendra brings out widespread non-compliance by thermal power plants with legally …

As renewable energy picks up, nuclear decommissioning market booms

Though India is yet to take up decommissioning, it has a fund worth Rs 1,975 crore to do the job in the future

Intoxicatingly delicious

With increasing urbanisation and changing food habits, very few people are aware of the mahua fruit and its oil, let alone its health benefits

The eco tree

Many tribal communities consume semal because of its medicinal properties. Others worship the tree. A clan of the Bhil tribe in Rajasthan …

Fruity twist to grandma's tale

The country fig can pass off as any other wild fruit. Little can one guess it has a cluster of fibrous flowers inside, loaded with prebiotic …

Textile therapy

A handloom trader experiments with traditional medicinal herbs for dyeing garments

Sri Lanka bans export of high-value medicinal plant

Mushrooms shield body from radiation

Over 60 species of plants that can survive extreme dehydration found in Western Ghats

Genes of these desiccation-tolerant vascular plants can be used to create high temperature tolerant variety of crops to improve climate resilience

CAQM’s focus on captive thermal power plants in Delhi-NCR a welcome step, but challenges ahead

Several industries Down To Earth spoke to were unaware of the new order or were perplexed about the technical feasibility of it in …

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (November 6, 2020)

Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal  

A bushful of medicine

Seabuckthorn, a plant with numerous medicinal properties, grows wild in India. Rural communities are the losers

Budget 2013: a missed opportunity

Finance minister's mool mantra—inclusive and sustainable development—may end up being empty words

A central meeting showed pushback against tech in power plants to reduce SO2 emissions. Here’s why it’s a bad idea

New IIT-D study has challenged need for flue gas desulfuphisation in thermal power plants

On the wild side

Residents of Garhwal swear by the taste and health benefits of a lesser known vegetable

Algae accused

Guggal faces sticky end

Ayurveda prescribes it for heart ailments; no data available on surviving plants

Herbs to heal cattle

In the absence of veterinary services, traditional medical practices for treating livestock remain popular in tribal villages

Thermal plants using old technology adding to India’s water stress: UN report

Country's per capita water availability has declined threefold over the past six decades

Blossoms with benefits

Heti flower adds variety to cooking when few options are available just before the harvest season in Maharashtra