Theirs to mine?
This is the question angry and beleaguered tribals in Orissa and Jharkhand are asking, as mining companies set up shop in the midst of their land …
Forest war
Naxalism started as a movement against land alienation. Today it has become a popular movement against natural resource alienation, …
Bamboo rising
Five years after it was implemented, the Forest Rights Act finally takes root. Communities across the country rush to claim rights over forests …
Need or greed?
The Union Ministry of Finance has recently alleged that green clearances are holding up the country’s infrastructure development and growth.…
Saga of two villages
Sukhomajri was a dirt-poor village in Haryana. It started pulling itself out of its hole in the late 1970s, making a dizzying ascent to …
Goa must grow...but how?
On January 26, 2007, the government of Goa withdrew its newest blueprint for the development of the state, called the Regional Plan 2011. …
How government is subverting Forest Rights Act
Does this official data betray a conspiracy? Only 1.6 per cent of the 2.9 million claims approved under the Forest Rights Act recognise community …
Rights without benefits
Over 1.3 million tribals and forest dwellers have got rights over the land they had been using for years under the Forest Rights Act. This can, …
An evening in Paris
Over two weeks and two extra days, the Paris climate conference delivered everything the world expected. Impassioned speeches. Hectic, sleep-…
I was dropped because I stood for Western Ghats conservation: P T Thomas
P T Thomas, senior Indian National Congress leader and sitting Member of Parliament from Idukki Lok Sabha constituency, has been denied a ticket …
Gentle on critical pollution
After declaring 43 industrial areas in India as critically polluted and imposing a moratorium on their expansion, the Union Ministry of …
Deafening Noise
Constant exposure to noise can make one deaf. The major culprit is road traffic. Can one avoid noise? It’s difficult. Checking it, however, …
Polavaram fraud
The Polavaram dam on the Godavari could displace 400,000 people and submerge nearly 4,000 hectares of forestland. Most of the people threatened …
Lives of others
Wildlife is more of an academic concern except when the charismatic tiger is wiped out from a protected forest or our favourite fish vanishes …
The hunt for benefits
India is hailed as a pioneer in implementing the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity—fair and equitable sharing of …
Tribunal on trial
It has been four years since the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act was passed by Parliament for effective and expeditious disposal of cases …
Lavasa exposed
By its looks, the place could be mistaken for Portofino, a fishing village-cum-resort in Italy—multi-coloured buildings crowd a waterfront …
El Salvador recognises forests as living entities
The central American country has lost about 85 per cent of its native forests since the 1960s
Forest law amendment threatens existence of van panchayats
The amendment says that the government can take away the management rights in case it feels that the community is not managing the forest sustainably
Book notice: The last forests of Bangladesh
According to records, Bangladesh's forest cover has shrunk to a meagre six per cent from 20 per cent in 1927. The southern mangroves are perhaps …
Hunting has affected more than half of tropical forests: Study
Scientists in the Netherlands find a 70 per cent decline in mammal population in Western Africa, which is the biggest in the world
'Land'ing in trouble
While plans about alternatives to almost all currently used resources abound, no one is talking about managing one crucial resource: terra firma
State of confusion and double-speak
The 1995 report on state of India's forests baffles environmentalists with its curious explanations
A tree to tale
Exhibition>> Landmark Trees of India • by Yoav Daniel Bar-Ness • American Centre Delhi • April 15-29
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-…