Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)

19/08/2026

Rapid socio-economic changes in Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, are transforming the region’s traditional agro-pastoral system, impacting livestock rearing and farming.

Read the article by Phalguni Ranjan, featuring Chandrima Home, a PhD alumna. She conducted this research while a doctoral scholar at ATREE. To access the article, use the link.
https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/free-ranging-dogs-changing-livelihoods-reshape-an-agro-pastoral-landscape/

17/08/2026

17/08/2026

Congratulations to all the winners of the moth art and moth photography events held in July 2026 as part of the National Moth Week celebrations.

We invited you to send us a picture of your moth art in whatever form suited you – as a digital piece, a canvas, a paper painting or just a pencil sketch. We also invited you to send us a photo of any moth you spot – in your garden, on a wall, near a streetlight, wherever.

We received a great response, and we thank each one of you for making these events a huge success.

16/08/2026

At UNCCD COP17, ATREE, in collaboration with MoEFCC and partners, will launch the first-ever guide to Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems of India, covering 24 distinct ecosystem types.

The launch will feature a special video message from Shri Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, followed by conversations with national and global experts on the future of grasslands, rangelands and drylands.

15/08/2026

Across villages in the Darjeeling hills of the Khangchendzonga landscape, biodiversity thrives outside protected areas – in village forests, farms and tea garden fringes. ATREE has been conducting immersive nature-guiding training since 2022, helping local youth carve out livelihood opportunities from an intimate knowledge of their rich biodiversity.

It has created a platform for these emerging nature guides to stay connected, share observations and exchange guiding opportunities. The youth are not only choosing to stay back in their villages and find livelihoods but are also becoming stewards of their forests and wildlife.

This journey was made possible with the generous support of the Oriental Bird Club, The Rufford Foundation and the Rural India Support Trust (RIST).

Khangchendzonga is one of the three Himalayan landscapes covered under ATREE’s The Himalaya Initiative, in close partnership with RIST.








-THI

15/08/2026

Across villages in the Darjeeling hills of the Khangchendzonga landscape, biodiversity thrives outside protected areas – in village forests, farms and tea garden fringes. ATREE has been conducting immersive nature-guiding training since 2022, helping local youth carve out livelihood opportunities from an intimate knowledge of their rich biodiversity.

It has created a platform for these emerging nature guides to stay connected, share observations and exchange guiding opportunities. The youth are not only choosing to stay back in their villages and find livelihoods but are also becoming stewards of their forests and wildlife.

This journey was made possible with the generous support of the Oriental Bird Club, The Rufford Foundation and the Rural India Support Trust (RIST).

Khangchendzonga is one of the three Himalayan landscapes covered under ATREE’s The Himalaya Initiative, in close partnership with RIST.

Rural India Supporting Trust
Royal Enfield
Global Conservation
Conservation International
Mastercard India
Mountains To Mangroves
ICIMOD
-THI
ATREE-Arunachal Pradesh
ATREE Academy

13/08/2026

ATREE disseminated the LakeRevive 1.0 tool, a portal that will help contractors, engineers, other professionals and civic activists to make decisions on suitable Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for lake rejuvenation. Scientific lake restoration requires moving beyond one-size-fits-all interventions and towards context-specific planning.

The tool is a decision-support tool that helps people select appropriate nature-based solutions. Check out the article featuring Priyanka Jamwal, Senior Fellow at ATREE, using the link.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/atree-unveils-lakerevive-tool-for-science-based-lake-restoration/article71318332.ece

13/08/2026

With urbanization rapidly expanding, the infrastructure is unable to keep up, resulting in declining water quality and reduced ecosystem services.

Hence, choice of intervention must align with the intended primary functions of the lake and the ecosystem services prioritized by city planners and stakeholders.

Read the full paper by Sumita Bhattacharyya, Priyanka Jamwal, Laurence Carvalho here: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/water/articles/10.3389/frwa.2026.1857439/full

12/08/2026

New research from the Max Planck Institute reveals that snails tune the chemical makeup of their mucus on demand. These findings could be relevant for designing new adhesives, wound dressings, or other bioinspired materials.

Check out the article by Anirban Mukhopadhyay on C&EN featuring Aravind N.A. from ATREE, using the link.
https://cen.acs.org/materials/biobased-materials/snails-use-chemistry-modify-mucus/104/web/2026/08