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 …

Uttarakhand sits on forest right claims settlement for two years in a row

With the state assembly election around the corner, the model code of conduct is the favourite excuse for non implementation of FRA

70% of ministry’s budget released, claims tribal affairs minister

Jual Oram claimed that about 16.78 lakh individual titles have been granted over an area of 55.43 lakh acres of forest land

Huts of knowledge: These tribal women in Odisha teach their next generation about forests through ‘kutir’ meetings

Apart from sharing traditional knowledge, the women at these meetings also spread awareness on ownership rights

40,000 trees cut near Odisha’s Talabira village to make way for coal mine

Local residents, in charge of forest for half a century, not taken into confidence before tree felling

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

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

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?

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

Final National Forest Policy to be out soon

Most comments in the draft policy concern with the dilution of the Forest Rights Act and opening up forest land for private players 

Kalahandi forest dwellers allege FRA violation by state forest department

Activists say that in 3 villages of Kalahand district, the Odisha forest department is imposing on the rights of forest …

10 highlights of the new draft national forest policy

On June 15, India's environment ministry placed the draft national forest policy in public domain for comments and suggestions. It is slated …

Pluck a problem

The government in Himachal Pradesh finds itself in a tight spot as a court order forces it to manage apple orchards on encroached forestlands

The inviolate plot

New parameters for identifying pristine forests may make them more vulnerable

Tigers buffered

Supreme Court order to notify buffer zones around reserves raises both hope and fear

Bamboo under siege

Gadchiroli villages relinquish forest rights to Ballarpur paper mill

Rural communities win right over bamboo, finally

Environment minister warns of legal action if forest officials refuse transit passes

Live from Mendha Lekha -Updates

Bamboo Liberation Day

Bamboo liberation day - new

Latest updates from Mendha Lekha

DTE reportage on bamboo