Environment, Biodiversity & Climate Change

Chhattisgarh’s forest department is seeking expert assistance to save over 500 recently girdled trees in Udanti–Sitanadi Tiger Reserve through bridge grafting. The episode connects plant transport systems with habitat restoration, geospatial monitoring and the need to reconcile forest protection with legally recognised community rights. The proposed treatment is a rescue attempt; recovery has not been established. [1] [2]

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol completes 10 years on 15 October 2026, drawing attention to the growing climate impact of refrigeration and air conditioning. The agreement requires countries to gradually reduce hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), powerful greenhouse gases widely used in cooling equipment. India faces a major challenge as rising temperatures, urbanisation and incomes increase cooling demand. With India's HFC reduction commitments beginning in 2032, the issue highlights the importance of energy-efficient cooling, alternative refrigerants, climate finance and the India Cooling Action Plan for achieving sustainable development and climate goals.

The Gujarat government has announced the Viksit Gujarat Data Centre Policy 2026-29, targeting investments of about ₹6 lakh crore and the creation of 7.5 gigawatts (GW) of data centre capacity — claimed to be the highest in the country. The policy offers tax and duty exemptions, power and water guarantees and building-norm relaxations, mandates that 51% of electricity for core operations come from green energy, and seeks to develop Dholera as a global data centre city. This article explains what data centres and hyperscale AI data centres are, the policy's incentives, the Reliance-Meta Jamnagar project, India's data centre landscape, and the associated energy, water and policy challenges.

The Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has proposed protection and tourism-development works around the Indira Point Lighthouse in Great Nicobar Island, India’s southernmost point. The project requires coastal-regulation approval because the proposed works fall in ecologically sensitive island coastal zones. It is important for UPSC because it links lighthouse tourism, coastal regulation, Great Nicobar’s strategic location, tsunami-induced land subsidence, maritime navigation and sustainable island development.

The Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL), through its Port Blair (Sri Vijaya Puram) directorate, has sought clearance from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Coastal Zone Management Authority and the Environment Ministry to undertake protection and development work — including a convention centre and a museum — at Indira Point, India's southernmost point on Great Nicobar Island. The site falls in the highly protected ICRZ-IA and ICRZ-IVA categories, where most construction is prohibited. This article explains what Indira Point is, the Island Coastal Regulation Zone framework under the CRZ Notification, 2019, why the location is ecologically sensitive, and the conservation-versus-development questions the proposal raises.

Madhya Pradesh enforcement agencies are preparing a coordinated crackdown on wildlife trafficking through railway routes after seizure data reportedly revealed organised interstate networks moving protected freshwater turtles from northern river systems to domestic and overseas markets. The issue is important for UPSC because it connects Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, CITES, river biodiversity, organised crime, rail-based trafficking routes and India’s conservation governance.

The Union Environment Ministry's expert committee under Sanjay Kumar is moving towards finalising the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) for the Western Ghats, possibly through a phased, state-wise notification, even as Kerala and Karnataka continue to resist. With the sixth draft notification of about 56,825 sq km set to lapse by end-July 2026, the long-pending conservation regime for one of India's richest biodiversity hotspots is again in focus. This article explains what an ESA is and its legal basis, the contrast between the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports, the journey of the six draft notifications, the biodiversity and monsoon significance of the Ghats, and the conservation-versus-development debate that has kept consensus elusive for over a decade.

The Zoological Survey of India has identified four sites on the west coast of Great Nicobar Island for translocating coral colonies and giant clams likely to be affected by the proposed Galathea Bay transshipment port under the Great Nicobar mega project. The development has revived UPSC-relevant questions on coral reef conservation, environmental clearance, ICRZ rules, Schedule-I species, tribal safeguards and the balance between strategic infrastructure and fragile island ecology.

The Great Nicobar Island Development Project has returned to the spotlight after government sources defended the roughly Rs 81,000-crore plan as a strategically vital national initiative, rejecting the charge that it is "one of the biggest scams" and a crime against the island's natural and tribal heritage. The sources clarified that the existing INS Baaz runway will not be extended to the planned 10,000 feet because of the ecological and tribal costs, and argued that India's wider maritime needs cannot be met by expanding defence assets alone. This article explains the project's components, the strategic geography of Great Nicobar, the logic of a transshipment port at Galathea Bay, and the environmental and tribal-rights concerns at the heart of the ecology-versus-security debate.

The first comprehensive Delhi Bird Atlas, released on 5 June 2026, ranks Delhi as the world's second-richest national capital for bird diversity after Nairobi, with 471 species on the city's bird list. Prepared by the Delhi Forest Department with Bird Count India as a citizen-science project, it maps the distribution and abundance of birds using a grid-based method and links Delhi's richness to the Aravalli Ridge, the Yamuna and Sahibi floodplains, and the Central Asian Flyway. This article explains what a bird atlas is, the Central Asian Flyway and global flyways, the species of conservation concern recorded, the citizen-science and eBird method, and India's framework for protecting migratory birds and wetlands — all mapped to the UPSC syllabus.

A cluster of Asiatic lion deaths in Gujarat's Gir landscape in late May 2026, linked to the suspected tick-borne disease Babesiosis, has revived the debate on whether India's only wild lion population is dangerously vulnerable. This article explains Babesiosis and Canine Distemper Virus, the single-population and genetic-bottleneck risk, the 2025 lion census, Project Lion, the stalled Kuno translocation, and the full conservation, legal and international framework for the Asiatic Lion.

The Maharashtra government has exempted a large iron-ore mining and processing project in Gadchiroli from wildlife clearance, stating the site does not fall in any tiger corridor — a claim that official maps and the NTCA-approved Tiger Conservation Plan appear to contradict. The project, involving diversion of 9.4 sq km of forest land by Lloyds Metals & Energy, overlaps the ecologically vital Tadoba–Indravati tiger corridor. This article explains what a tiger corridor is, the legal framework under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (Section 38-O), Project Tiger, NTCA, the difference between forest, wildlife and environmental clearances, the role of the Forest Rights Act and PESA, and the development-versus-conservation debate this case raises.