Rohan Chakravarty's Blog, page 12

Respect for Wild Cockroaches Please

Wild cockroaches are nutrient cyclers, pollinators, and prettier than your kids! Meet the Indian Domino Cockroach in my column with Roundglass Sustain.

Groundwater Extraction and Polar Drift

Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine. Read more about the polar drift and its anticipated impacts on global climate in this report by Down to Earth. 

Greenwashing Conservation Organizations

Your friendly neighbourhood international conservation organization! Cartoon from The Hindu Sunday Magazine. 

Paris Climate Finance Summit

The recently concluded Paris Global Climate Finance Summit in a nutshell, starring French President Emannuel Macron and Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Motley. Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

Norway and Deep Sea Mining

Norway has moved to open up its waters for deep sea mining of geothermal metals, and earned widespread condemnation from environment groups in the process. Cartoon for DW Global Ideas. 

Cartoons for the Resilience Evidence Forum

I recently had the opportunity to draw live cartoons at the Resilience Evidence Forum held in Cape Town, joining virtually from India. Here's the gallery of cartoons created on various topics discussed and debated upon at the forum.
Africa and climate change:

The climate resilience trampoline


The dilemmas of standardizing measurements for resilience:


The underwhelming percentage of private investments in resilience:


Western definitions and their lack of applicability or relatability in other regions and cultures:

How war upsets climate resilience:

Globalized versus regionalized definitions and measurements for risk:


The role of art, music and culture in climate evidence and resilience:

Definitions of 'community' in climate resilience:


Climate change and Africa's right to development:

Standardizing measurements and metrics for resilience:

A huge thanks to Corina Angheloiu of the Global Resilience Partnership for the opportunity!

Spain's Flamenco with Climate Change

A look at the impacts of Spain’s flamenco with climate change, as it prepares to brace the worst drought in decades. Comic for DW Global Ideas.

Urban Biodiversity Map of Hydebarad

(click for a larger view)
Hyderabad's rock formations, older than the Himalayas, may well be a hindrance to real estate developers, but for biodiversity and nature enthusiasts, these very rocks are what makes the city's biogeography unique! Here's a map of the real 'pearls' of the Pearl City, its biodiversity. 
The illustration, that pays tribute to Cheriyal painting,  was done in 2021 for ICLEI and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, and has recently been released and displayed. It is available as a free download on the ICLEI South Asia website. I hope that the map will be a reminder to both citizens and the government of all that Hyderabad has at stake from the pressures of unplanned development and urbanization.
(With heartfelt thanks to Ms. Frauke Quader, the chairwoman of the Society To Save Rocks, for sharing her knowledge of the city.)

Kishoreda was a Grey bellied Cuckoo

Kishore Kumar was a Grey-bellied Cuckoo! What are your favourite Kishoreda songs? Drop them in the comments. Comic from Roundglass Sustain celebrating monsoon and the bird of the season!
To read a similar strip about Mohammad Rafi and the Magpie Robin, visit Roundglass Sustain here.

The Wildlife Map of Goa

To the tourist, Goa is probably just a checklist of beaches and forts on a week's itinerary, but to a wildlife enthusiast, Goa is an entire planet awaiting discovery! From cetaceans, pelagic birds and stunning invertebrates along the coastline to its west, to a multitude of endemic and endangered species in the hills to its east, with the unique laterite plateaus in the middle, Goa is a hidden biodiversity jewel of the Western Ghats!
Explore Goa's biodiversity with the Wildlife Map of Goa, illustrated for Mrugaya Xpeditions, an ecotourism and conservation education organization in Goa run by one of the best naturalists I know, Mr. Parag Rangnerkar. For prints, write to info@mrugayaxpeditions.com . Here are a few snippets from the map (click for a larger preview):