Villagers allege illegal tree felling in Melghat; forest dept denies claims
Village Gram Sabha sent a letter to principal secretary, Maharashtra forest department, on Jan 27, seeking action
High time climate justice reflects in India’s forest policy
It is clear that recognition of tenure rights not only supports the building of climate resilience among forested communities but also co-…
Van Gujjars: A repeat of historical injustice
The Uttarakhand High Court’s August 16 order on the removal of Van Gujjar families from the Jim Corbett National Park shows the deep-seated …
Social scientists, conservationists file application in SC supporting FRA
They say a wrong impression is sought to be created about the FRA, that it supports encroachment over forest land
Chhattisgarh panchayats pass resolution against coal auctions
Twenty tribal gram panchayats have demanded that rehabilitation and resettlement issues be resolved before coal mining can be allowed
Plantations, CAMPA loom large over community rights
Sal trees, which form an important source of livelihood for the tribal community, have been replaced with teak plantations in an Odisha village
Mizoram revoked FRA due to stoppage of funding from Centre since 2014
The resolution passed by the state assembly revoking the Act notes that the Union govt declined the state government's demand of Rs 10 lakh to …
Final arguments in FRA case to begin on November 26
The court admitted all Intervention Applications even as the Centre’s representative, the Solicitor General, remained absent
If passed, new forest policy will benefit private sector and hurt local ecology: experts
The draft policy talks about developing “public private participation models” for undertaking “afforestation and reforestation …
Cannot evict tribals from tiger reserves without their consent: NCST
Earlier, NTCA rejected forest rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 in tiger reserves
Uttarakhand district violates Forest Rights Act for Pancheshwar dam project
The Pithoragarh administration has not even formed district-level committee to implement FRA
Chhattisgarh cancels forest rights of tribals in Surguja
Activists claim the move was in response to the tribals’ protest against mining in their forest
Baiga tribals become India’s first community to get habitat rights
The administration used a gazette notification passed by the colonial British government, which recognised these areas as home of the Baigas, to …
Package POSCO
The Odisha government is trying to acquire land on a shoddily drawn compensation package
Green tribunal halts Mapithel dam in Manipur
MoEF asked to ascertain if project violates Forest Rights Act. State may now need people's consent to go ahead with the project
Gram sabha gets a boost
Supreme Court asks gram sabhas to see if Vedanta’s bauxite mine harms religious rights
Don’t say bamboo
Aparna Pallavi travels to Gadchiroli district to find out why villages relinquished forest rights
Rightful or rightless: Forest villagers in Saranda struggle to shed ‘illegal’ tag
Jharkhand forest department refuses to recognise rights of occupants of forest villages like Marchi gada in West Singhbhum
Villagers win brewing forest rights fight in Odisha
The Odisha government had to scrap a Rs 102 crore brewing project when resolute villagers braved the government and police to protect felling of …
Chhattisgarh govt begins process to grant FRA to Abujmarh tribals
Government to grant habitat rights to Abujh Marias, a particularly vulnerable tribal group that reside in the forest, considered a bastion of Naxalism
Information recharge: Meet Devansh Mehta of CGnet Swara
Devansh Mehta believes that people can be sensitised through incentives, be it as small as mobile top-ups
All about the first-ever global assessment on biodiversity
Down To Earth followed the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ from when it was a draft to …
Reforms in India’s forest sector stuck in reverse gear
The proposed amendment to the IFA reveals the mindset of policymakers regarding the forest sector has not changed
Claims under FRA being wrongfully rejected in Bengal
Claims that had been piling up since 2010 are now being rejected at the instance of the forest department
Now tribal affairs ministry FRA claim settlement number under cloud
Is there something fishy behind giving wrong data for over a decade and then disowning it?