Inadequate compensation of villagers for ecosystem services weakens conservation efforts

Situation of villagers in Palampur village, Himachal Pradesh is a good case study 

Over 57k hectares of forest land diverted in Odisha, says new report

Most of the forest land (28,409 hectares) was diverted for 186 mining projects

Lack of political will, forest department opposition driving poor implementation of FRA, claims study

Forest Rights Act can help secure rights and ensure livelihoods to at least 200 million people including tribals, say independent researchers

Missing: One-third of India’s recorded forests

25.87 million hectares: That is the size of forest missing from the latest assessment of India’s green cover. Does this land exist? Is it …

Simply Put: Forest Act revision

Polavaram — displaced and nowhere to go: Tribal families robbed of rights, livelihood in resettlement colonies

The families depended on forest produce but have been moved far away from forest land

Villagers oppose declaring ‘orans’ as deemed forests, fearing loss of access and livelihood

Legal experts say declaring sacred groves as deemed forest will not hinder community rights

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (February 23, 2024)

Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal  

Bengal forest department calls Gram Sabha ‘illegal’; files FIR against 11

Villagers from the Gram Sabha gathered near Bamini falls on the eve of Birsa Munda’s birthday 

Indigenous communities must be at the centre of sustainable agrifood systems: FAO director-general 

Four-day event will also be accompanied by release of two reports on global forest sector and mainstreaming biodiversity

Missing forests: A third of recorded forest area not assessed in latest govt survey

India has a forest cover of 77.53 million ha. But recorded forests—the area under the forest department— with forest cover are only 51.…

How a creeper plant helps tribals in Odisha eke out a living

The tribal populations turn Siali creeper, found abundantly in the forests, into craft items that are sold in cities

The Forest Rights Act and self-help transformed this remote Odisha tribal village; here is how

Residents of Loyendia have regenerated forests and made a new dirt road within a decade of getting community forest resource rights

Investing in degraded forest land for the health of our economic system

Forest health is also intricately connected with human health outcome

Ripe for a green economy

Forests are home, say women of Kodalpali, Sinduria and neighbouring villages in Odisha’s Nayagarh; they can build the economy of the future

At least 420 million hectares forest lost since 1990: Survey

Impact of agricultural expansion on global deforestation almost 90%, says FRA remote-sensing survey

Right of forest inhabitants for claims against eviction not limited to Adivasi, backward communities: Supreme Court

Forest communities do not only consist of people from recognised Adivasi and other backward communities, but also other groups residing in the …

Chhattisgarh: Adivasis say FRA violated, as forest department marks trees for felling in 3 districts

Villagers now have the legal right to protect, regenerate, conserve and manage these lands

‘Review 150,000 forest rights claims rejected without reason’

Procedures violated; Rights body demands findings reports for Scheduled Tribe, Other Traditional Forest Dwellers claims

Empowered local governance key for forest restoration and management, finds study

Tree planting drives alone cannot help address climate crisis and biodiversity loss, it highlights

Green nod to 87 development projects in 2 years; 2.3 million trees to be felled: MoEFCC

Of these infrastructure projects, three highway projects will fall in Protected Areas

India was a tree planting laboratory for 200 years — here are the results

Colonial era experiments on forests between 1857 and 1947 offer important lessons on consequences of different approaches to restoring …

Proposed changes to Forest Conservation Act a larceny of village resources

Proposed amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, are a blunder arising out of ignorance towards constitutionally and legally-bound …

‘Lianas threaten Earth’s carbon sinks’

Field ecologist Alain Ngute explains how lianas have lower carbon sequestering capacity than trees & when they compete for sunlight in the …

Paper forests: India’s missing stretches of green

The most bad news is what the biennial forest survey report leaves unsaid