Every year the annual bird census is undertaken after the end of the northeast monsoon in Tamil Nadu. Usually it happens around Pongal. This year, more volunteers and students have come forward to take part in the Forest Department’s bird survey, as interest in studying birds has gone up....
After several years of water prosperity through the monsoon months, the alarm has been sounded globally that some periods of 2023 and all of 2024 could bring unpredictable climate due to the return of the El Nino phenomenon — extreme heat, drought, and in some northwestern states of India,...
The increasing man-animal conflict in the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border region of the Nilgiris recently sparked a debate on the two different approaches taken by the two states in handling the issue of a rogue wild elephant wreaking havoc with human lives and homes. Pandalur Makhna 2 (PM2), a young...
Farmers in The Nilgiris have been agitating against the proposed buffer zone around the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, fearing that it would prevent them from cultivating crops of their choice, constructing or renovating buildings and selling land. The Nilgiri Biosphere is spread over a vast area...
Achankulam tank on the outskirts of Coimbatore city has never gone dry in all these decades, even in times of drought. Being a large source of water for agriculture, manufacturing, and the services sector, it is important to keep the resource clean and flowing. But with growing urbanisation in...
As human settlements in the Nilgiris have expanded over the years into wild habitats, leaving animals with no place to go, the incidence of human-animal conflicts in the region has increased. In the past five years, more than 40 people were killed in animal attacks in the Nilgiris district,...
தமிழ்நாடு தேயிலை தோட்டக் கழகம் The Greens worldwide have a reason to rejoice as the Tamil Nadu state government has decided to close down and return more than 5,000 acres of tea plantations spread over seven divisions of the TANTEA (Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation Limited) back to nature...
The sight of roadside or mobile astrologers with a caged parakeet has almost become rare nowadays, thanks to the forest department’s crackdown aimed to protect the rare species facing extinction. The parakeet is a small parrot with green plumage, red curved beak and rose ring around the neck....
The verdant hills of the Nilgiris, rimmed with flowering hedges, and workers with baskets strapped to their heads amid blue skies and tall eucalyptus trees have been the background for umpteen romantic duets, sparking love and longing. But the green slopes of manicured tea bushes hide the harsh...
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department, in an intensified drive to protect wild animals, has strengthened its network of anti-poaching watchers and guards. Though their efforts to stop poaching of wild animals have started paying off, as evidenced by the recent fall in poaching incidents of animals...
