Bio-diversity

At the heart of the campaign were the fishermen and residents of the Negombo lagoon region – people for whom the wetland is more than land or water; it’s the lifeblood of their daily existence.

The crisis is not only ecological but cultural, symbolizing the collapse of protection strategies and the fragility of coexistence in a land where these pachyderms once roamed freely.

on this World Ranger Day, while the world scrolls through headlines, the forest remembers – not in words, but in silence. In every rustling leaf, in every tiger that crosses a camera trap, in every rhino calf curled beside its mother – it remembers those who guard it, so others may live.

Conservation of critical wetlands and promoting the reuse of treated wastewater through city specific reuse plans and were deliberated in the meeting.

In recent years, a series of proposed mineral extraction projects along this fragile stretch, particularly near Alampil Beach in Mullaitivu district, has triggered alarm among environmentalists, local residents, and civil society.

From green energy projects imposed without consent to policy decisions made in rooms where Indigenous voices are absent, these communities are too often excluded from climate solutions, displaced by them, and denied the resources to lead the way.

Meena’s work has not only built a thriving local economy but has also contributed to a 70 percent reduction in forest fires over the past year. What began as survival has become stewardship, and a local economy built leaf by leaf.

The poaching crisis extends to elephants, India's National Heritage Animal. In the Malayattoor forest division of Kerala, between 2013 and 2015, at least 18 elephants were slaughtered for ivory.