A man-made reservoir built 68 years ago for the residents of a planned city has been recognised as a wetland of international importance, even though silt has taken more than half of its water-holding capacity.
Wetlands
Barkhera, a modest wetland about 30 km from Jaipur near Shivdaspura, has long been a quiet favourite among birders, but this winter encroachment has become visible to the naked eye.
The Wildlife Trust of India says 35 wetlands across ten districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh were legally notified in April 2026, putting 1,243.8 hectares under statutory protection.
A herd of nine elephants, including two calves, wandered out of Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary and into the paddy fields around Khanapur taluk this week, in what officials say is the first elephant movement ever recorded in the Belagavi Forest Division.
Gujarat has restored 27,652 hectares of mangrove cover since 2023, edging closer to a 29,250-hectare target set for 2027, according to figures the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change presented this week.
The Guwahati-based conservation group Aaranyak has weighed in on the fight over how large a protective buffer should surround Kaziranga National Park, as Assam moves to shrink the zone from its current 10 kilometres down to as little as one.
Maharashtra’s GR No. SAVVI-2025/PR.KR.11/VANE-11, issued on 7 May 2026, explicitly prohibits tree planting in grasslands and wetlands — the first time a government resolution has put this in writing at scale. The same order that launched a 300-crore plantation drive also protects the ecosystems most at risk from it.