The HKH Snow Update 2025 highlights a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence 23.6% below normal — the lowest in 23 years. This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for nearly two billion people. All twelve major river …
TWENTY years after the women of UP's Chamoli district hugged trees to save them from contractors' axes, the echoes of the call "Chipko" still ring in the district's hills. With new challenges to be met, the women's fight to preserve the Himalayan ecology continues. The Dasholi Gram Swarajya Mandal, which …
SPRINGS in the Himalaya are drying up on a massive scale, says a detailed study of a 59,723ha catchment area in the Kumaon. The study conducted by geologists K S Valdiya and S K Bartarya of the University of Kumaon -claims that springs in as much as 40 per cent …
THE Himalayan yew Taxus baccata is in the news. Researchers at the University of Kansas have found that the yew contains the anti-cancer drug, taxol, in sufficient quantities for it to replace its cousin, the Pacific yew. Indian botanists fear that the graceful tree may become gradually extinct. American researchers …
The four recent major earthquakes of the Himalayan Convergence Zone, viz., the Kangra earthquake of 1905, the Bihar-Nepal earthquake of 1934, and the two Assam earthquakes of 1897 and 1950 were assigned magnitudes greater than 8 by Richter. Although estimates of areas vary, it is agreed that an extended rupture …
The traditional Indian strategy of resolving conflict by non-cooperation, the satyagraha, has been revived in the Chipko, or "Embrace the Tree", the movement to protect trees from commercial felling. This paper traces the development of the philosophy and the non-violent resistance activities from the beginnings of Chipko in the early …
Brief studies of microearthquakes in four separate parts of eastern Afghanistan reveal a high level of seismicity over a broad area. In general, the activity is not concentrated on well-defined faults, nor does it define new faults, but seismicity on or close to the Chainart and Sarubi faults attests to …
From Kashmir to Burma, where tigers once lived amid lush forests, a vast tract of land has been laid bare by the timber industry. In its wake have come landslides, drought and yet further poverty. The only hope for the hill people is a Ghandian like movement which villagers have …
Access to Energy and its linkages with poverty alleviation are well established and much talked about around the globe, especially in the developing world. On a recent visit to villages Jaltalla, Kotla and Khunnu- Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand these linkages seemed abstract in absence of inclusive and integrated approach to development. …
This film produced by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) explores increase in flood affected areas in India and analyses the Himalayan floods. It presents an agenda for change and shows how the country can combat the growing problems of floods. See Also CSE Report > The Wrath of Nature …
NWCF is a non-governmental, non political and not-for-profit organization conducting interdisciplinary research on interrelated issues that affect the use and management of water with specific focus on the Himalaya-Ganga region. The foundation was reincorporated with the District Administration Office Kathmandu in 2000 meeting the governmental requirements. Since its establishment, the …
Sunderlal Bahuguna is an Indian eco-activist and Gandhian peace worker, who has been one of the leaders of the Chipko movement, fighting for the preservation of forests in the Himalayas. Chipko means 'embrace' or 'tree huggers' and this vast movement has been a decentralized one with many leaders, usually village …
Chandi Prasad Bhatt is an Indian Gandhian environmentalist and social activist, who founded Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) in Gopeshwar in 1964, which later became a mother-organization to the Chipko Movement, in which he was one of the pioneers, and for which he has been awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award …
