Climate change is impacting the world. It is the poorest who suffer the most. Yet often rural Indians are leading the way in sustainable advances and trialling schemes that – if rolled out on a macro scale – can create real change in the environment.
Environment
Using puppet power to spread messages
Thol paavai koothu, the long but fading tradition of leather puppetry in Tamil Nadu, is reinventing itself by bringing awareness about the declining number of small animals and the importance of conservation.
Tracking endangered northern river terrapins
Released and tracked - endangered northern river terrapins, bred in captivity, are closely monitored after being released into their natural mangrove habitat in the Sundarbans - thanks to India’s first-ever GPS tagging and tracking programme.
“All my effort over the years will be wasted”
The Kurichiya tribal farmer hailed as “India's living paddy gene bank,” Cheruvayal Raman, is desperate to find a home for his seed collection, so that indigenous varieties can be preserved and propagated.
Srinagar’s Lake Khushal Sar springs back to life
Thanks to a team of nature-lovers, decades of garbage is cleared from Lake Khushal Sar, spurring on more restoration of Srinagar's famous lakes and buoying the revival of lake-based livelihoods.
Azolla “water weed” becomes cattle superfood
With the cost of maintaining livestock a constant burden for most poor farmers, azolla goes from being a pesky water weed to a sustainable and cost-effective superfood for cattle.
Young twitcher becomes desert’s star birding guide
With a passion for birds, birding guide Musa Khan hopes his work will inspire other twitchers to become aware of rising bird deaths due to power transmission lines in the Thar desert.
UP’s young water evangelist
A young woman receives international recognition for her work ensuring 22 UP villages - and counting - get clean, safe water and learn how to fight against contamination.
Greening barren land – Bihar’s guava guru
Once a teacher fondly called ‘guruji,’ Satyendar Manjhi now turns barren land into guava orchards – all thanks to the inspirational advice of India’s ‘mountain man’.
Will Dhinkia lose its betel vines to steel plants?
Unwilling to give up their profitable betel farms, residents of Dhinkia are protesting against the acquisition of their lands for an industrial plant.