Bio-diversity

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.

Conservationists, activists, and newspaper editorials in India have long been expressing concerns about the “decline” and “neglect” of wetland ecosystems across India.

The establishment of a Mangrove Co-Management Committee brought together villagers, local governance bodies, and women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to spearhead conservation efforts.

In his letter, Gandhi urged the government to cancel the tenders issued for offshore mining blocks, emphasising the need for rigorous scientific assessments of their environmental and socio-economic impact.

The minister said that as Sri Lanka moves forward, the challenge remains clear: finding sustainable, humane solutions that protect both livelihoods and biodiversity for future generations.

A gene bank serves as a biorepository for preserving genetic material, such as seeds, pollen, and tissue samples, collected from various plant species. The primary objective is to protect these valuable resources from extinction and support research, conservation, and breeding efforts.