‘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.…
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 …
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 …
At UNCCD CoP, Babul Supriyo talks JFM but remains mum on FRA
This, despite the fact that the Joint Forest Management model has become obsolete with the coming of the Forest Rights Act
Gudalur’s Gene Pool Garden is an example of participatory forest management
An enthusiastic conservation effort that was thwarted for want of funds, was finally converted into an eco-tourism centre through people’s …
Weak governance escalating deforestation in Tanzania: FAO report
Of the total land area (88.3 mn hectares) in the African country, 55% is under forest cover. According to 2017 estimates, deforestation occurred …
How not to grow trees
Planting a tree is now bound up in so much restriction and red tape that it is not worth the effort
Long overdue change made in new draft of Forest Policy
The new draft National Forest Policy takes into account the paradigm shift in present realities due to climate change
Afforestation: money on the trees
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act could redefine forest governance. But will it protect the rights of forest dwellers?
NGT directs Madhya Pradesh to frame guidelines for public consultations for forestland transfer to FDC
Also asks MoEF to issue directives to states on engaging communities in forest development activities of forest development corporations
Forest dwellers intensify protest
21 years on, profit sharing under joint forest management remains unclear in Maharashtra
10 villages to get forest benefits
Maharashtra to finally give JFM villages their due, but the share is bigger, say activists
10 Maharashtra villages to finally get Rs 74.5 lakh as benefits under joint forest management scheme
Detailed accounts of revenue earned from each village forest should be made public, says activist
Inter-ministerial panel for FRA: A giant step backwards, say experts
Forest experts raise concern over the Union environment ministry assuming central role in matters originally meant for the tribal ministry
Private funds for Madhya Pradesh forests: Beware of legal concerns, warn experts
MP government plans to hand over 37,420 sq km degraded forest to private companies for afforestation
How to plant trees for development
There is no economic value seen in forests, but there is value seen in the development project for which forestland is required
“Come elections, our forests are looted”
Angry villagers from the hotbed of political violence told Sayantan Bera, the day a new government took oath in West Bengal
Another Maharashtra village demands community forest rights
Tribal village Pachgaon to follow Mendha Lekha; to hold bamboo sale as protest to gain community forest rights
Chhattisgarh revokes: Forest dept no longer nodal agency for community rights
Chhattisgarh government reinstates the role of the forest department to coordinate claims that are to be filed by communities, …
Maharashtra villages agitate for share from forest produce
Stall auction of produce from the forests they protect under joint forest management programme; forest department owes them Rs 85 lakh
Is Maharashtra tendu trade rule amendment a trap for gram sabhas?
Forest department's move may be a ploy to retain control over trade in forest produce, say activists
Forest paradox
To give forest dwellers their due rights, forest governance must go beyond the environment and include the communities at stake
Maharashtra forest department gets flak for its August 15 diktat
Department has asked gram sabhas to pass resolution on Independence Day, accepting forest village status, which will mean relinquishing rights …
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