Wood substitutes threaten plywood industry
A CPWD proposal to ban use of timber in construction has generated friction between manufacturers of wood substitutes and plywood, with each side …
Dying repositories of the world's biodiversity
Rich in flora and fauna, rain forests are nevertheless ecologically fragile. Their loss due to human depredation could result in environmental …
Court ruling on tree felling worries officials
A dispute over a plot demarcation has highlighted the problem of protecting privately owned forests in Himachal.
The nature of human health
It's high time that we invested wisely in a robust environment, a prerequisite for public health
Wisdom from an obscure archipelago
In Down To Earth's first Country Report, ANIL AGARWAL and SUNITA NARAIN look at Papua New Guinea, its short but volatile transition to the market …
Fights for space
Once harmonious, the human-elephant relationship has taken an ugly turn. Faulty forest policies and nationwide destruction of elephant habitats …
Barren continent
After the destruction of Europe's conifers, it took millions of years for the regeneration of forests
Things fall apart: why do the ecosystems we depend on collapse?
From fisheries to forestry, there's a pattern to collapsing ecosystems and industries. If we can predict them, maybe we can avoid the damage.
More than 75% of Amazon rainforest near tipping point, may transform into dry savanna: Study
Researchers say it is not too late to act; reducing deforestation will protect the forest’s threatened parts and boost Amazon rainforest …
About 20,000 tonnes of Red Sanders were smuggled from India between 2016 and 2020: Report
Heartwood of Red Sanders is in demand in the domestic and international markets for making furniture, handicrafts and musical instruments
Brazil lost rainforest the size of Jamaica in 2019-2020: Institute
There was a 9.5 per cent jump in deforestation of the Brazillian Amazon since 2019, in line with President Jair Bolsonaro’s anti-…
Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (July 6, 2023)
Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
To save Tamil Nadu from water crisis, prevent deforestation in Western Ghats: study
The effect of deforestation is felt more during deficit years than monsoon surplus years
Punjab, Haryana among the states with least forest cover; the problem runs deep
Are we ignoring the mounting ecological deficit that the country accumulates year after year?
The world's carbon stores are going up in smoke with vanishing wilderness
The world has lost 10 per cent of its wilderness areas in the past 20 years and, with it, vast stores of carbon
Ensuring human survival
"The future of human civilisation could depend on our ability to defend and make sustainable use of biological diversity," he adds. FAO recently …
NGOs launch new war -- against deforestation
Non-governmental organisations in Ethiopia are working to create awareness among rural communities to protect the country's forest cover
Making science, technology serve the people
For R S Hegde, a primary school principal and rural technologist, science is useless if it remains confined to labs and libraries.
The land rush
STRUGGLE FOR LAND AND THE FATE OF THE FORESTS Edited by Marcus Colchester and Larry Lohmann Publisher: The World Rainforest Movement, Malaysia, …
Homeless blues
THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S REFUGEES. A HUMANITARIAN AGENDA·UNHCR, Oxford University Press, UK·Rs 625
Cementing Ties
Wherever there is construction, there is corruption. The foundation of most projects rests on commissions, bribes and kickbacks
Divide And Rule
Policies that alienate the people from control over their habitat can cost the country dearly in terms of green cover and air and water quality
The Root Of All Evil
Laws meant to protect the forests are doing exactly the opposite. Funds for afforestation programmes are pocketed by the corrupt and land remains …
Eaten hollow
The sal heartwood borer is all set to destroy sal forests in Madhya Pradesh. But this would not have been possible without the assistance of an …
How development loses meaning
The abstract noun 'development' is firmly a part of the public relations language governments use today. But after a recent ordinance passed by …