Ecology and Environment

Meghalaya is faced with environmental challenges and serious natural resource degradation such as forest, land and water. This along with climate change has serious implications for natural resource-based livelihood systems on which the majority of its population depends.

Though drivers of deforestation and degradation follow a general framework and pattern, in many cases, they are region-specific.

Meghalaya has a predominantly agrarian economy.

There is a predictability to the narrative around North India’s air pollution. Air that is unhealthy all year-round becomes unbreathable during winter, largely due to particulate matter in emissions from farm fires in Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh.

Forest ministry solely in the hands of Centre: Environment Ministry

Threats to freshwater bodies in India are many and include pollution, flow modification, overexploitation and habitat degradation. Besides these, introduction of invasive alien species is a growing problem in India threatening freshwater biodiversity leading to a decline in native species and compromising the health of freshwater bodies.

What is an invasive species

India is all set to usher in a ‘pandemic generation’, with 375 million children (from newborns to 14-year-olds) likely to suffer long-lasting impacts, as per the State of Environment Report, 2021.

Proliferation of hydropower development in the Himalayas is leading to extensive land use changes in the river valleys and threatening the diverse and fragile Himalayan ecosystems leading to deforestation, fragmentation, soil erosion and loss of forest biodiversity. These are a cause for serious concern for local communities, whose lives and livelihoods depend on these forests.

Dr.