The WWF’s latest Living Planet report paints a grim picture of declining fauna around the world. It notes that between 1970 and 2022, the size of monitored wild populations of vertebrate species fell a precipitous 73 percent. However, India featured in two positive sections of the report. Among the animals whose population increased is the tiger and, as this newspaper recently reported, India is poised to post another increase in their numbers soon. One ‘positive tipping point’ the report highlighted was the involvement of local communities in restoring johads, earthen check-dams that harvest rainwater in Rajasthan. As water availability increased, farm output recovered, women’s workload reduced and several men returned home from migrant work. Such an effective intervention must be replicated elsewhere across India—especially in a drought year like this one.
