'Community rights must figure in the Forest Bill'
The raging controversy over the regressive draft Forest Bill has dumped the onus of defending it on minister of state for environment and forests …
On The Warpath
They prefer to be called the 'forest castes'. They are the 2,000,000-odd villagers living in some 10,000 villages across Orissa. After …
A belief in tradition
It was a unique ceremony for a unique award given to a unique rural community of India. In what is perhaps the first ceremony of its kind, …
‘Forest department is the encroacher’
When V Kishore Chandra Deo became the Union Minister for Panchayati Raj and Tribal Affairs three months ago, both the ministries were in inertia.…
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 …
Wealth of forests withheld
Forest departments across the country owe millions of rupees to communities. For 20 years communities toiled under the Joint Forest Management …
Disjointed and confused
Because it means too many things to as many people, joint forest management in India will remain elusive to all
Management for the locals
JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT - THE HARYANA EXPERIMENT· Madhu Sarin·Centre for Environment Education· Rs 245
Only males need apply
With an increasing number of joint forest management projects being implemented, it is vital that forest departments become more gender sensitive.…
Discordant notes dash empowerment dreams
A clash of opinions has put paid to all hopes of a consensus on the empowerment of people living in and around national parks and sanctuaries
Dang and blast
The anachronistic, and explosive, colonial formula of exploiting forests by denying the forest people their rights is still being followed to the …
Forests, fuel and fodder
From deficit to surplus: a success story of joint forest management from Sakwa, a tiny village in south Gujarat
Windowdressing forestry
Applause and international funding of a forestry project greenwashes the cruel realities of the people living there
Rights over forests
THE SAGA OF PARTICIPATORY FOREST MANAGEMENT IN INDIA· N C Saxena·CIFOR Special Publication, Jakarta, 1997
The lone crusader
From social worker, to government contractor, to politician, and then to the highest political station of the state. It has been an interesting …
The Eklingapura experience
A joint forest management initiative succeeded at Eklingapura mainly because foresters were able to respond to the needs of the community.
Bandwagon role for joint forestry
Though programmes involving villagers in the regeneration of forest lands have been successful, caution should be exercised while bringing new …
Afforestation project suspended as anti-poor
A scheme under which 75,000 families were to each get and maintain two ha of forest land has been put on hold following fears that it would …
Hand in hand
PEOPLE & PROTECTED AREAS: TOWARDS PARTICIPATORY CONSERVATION IN INDIA· Ashish Kothari, Neena Singh and Saloni Suri (Ed)· Sage …
A forest of controls
ALL ABOUT FOREST BILL AND FOREST LANDS Edited by S R Hiremath, S Kanwali and S Kulkarni Publishers: Samaj Parivartan Samudaya, Dharwad, and …
CYBERBABU OF HYDERABAD
Chandrababu Naidu ia known more for his obsession with technology and computers. Little is known about his watershed mission
Wanted: Better governance models for India’s forests
While the Forest Rights Act empowered Gram Sabhas to manage and conserve forests, the Joint Forest Management mechanism could not succeed due to …
‘The IFA amendment is a zero draft; all stakeholders will be involved later’
Director General of Forests, Siddhanta Das tells DTE that the proposed amendment in the Indian Forest Act is a mostly techno-legal exercise and …
THE KING OF SMALL THINGS
A civil engineer and a farmer, he knows the importance of the relationship between land and water. Small dams are his forte.