As told to Parliament (December 19, 2022): No evidence to link poor AQI in NCR with green cracker burning
Delhi-NCR air quality in October, November 2022 best in 7 years, Ashwini Kumar Choubey tells Lok Sabha
Betrayal via bamboo
Largest paper manufacturer is using most of the bamboo in Maharashtra, leaving little for residents
Bamboo freed
Maharashtra village India’s first to win right to harvest bamboo. Eyes now on other forest produce
Rejected forest rights to be reconsidered: tribal affairs minister
It may not be possible to reject land title claims filed under Forest Rights Act in future
Protectors dubbed criminals
Tribals in Madhya Pradesh celebrate festival to reclaim forests; officials say they are encroaching land
Odisha village takes up tendu trade, but finds no buyers
Government does not provide market linkages or support price after deregulating trade in the minor forest produce. It's a conspiracy, say activists
Displaced for nothing
First Asiatic lion, then cheetah: officials struggle to decide which animal to introduce, and when, in Kuno-Palpur sanctuary. But they evict …
Highs and lows
The government's vanaspati van scheme is good news, but for it to succeed small-scale farmers and local communities have to be brought in its fold
Grow more
There is no land to cultivate medicinal plants, neither are there any legal provisions, nor market access. At present, the risks involved are …
A Himalayan Tragedy
People who have no idea about forests step in to further trade, while the indigenous herb gatherers get exploited further
Herbal heist
Hand-in-glove with the forest department, traders of medicinal plants and herbs make hay while communities who depend on herb gathering for …
Age of dissent
Six villages in Madhya Pradesh reject Centre’s proposal to declare their forest a wildlife sanctuary
Wildlife NGO group gets flak for seeking curbs on forest rights of indigenous people
Application moved in Supreme Court by three wildlife NGOs seeks to reverse rights granted under Forest Rights Act, allege tribal rights activists …
New rules to make FRA effective
Tribal affairs ministry's draft rules under Forest Rights Act give more authority to the community in the process of settling forest rights
FRA guidelines to help forest dwellers freely trade in minor forest produce
Tribals and forest dwellers don’t need to obtain transit passes to cart away the produce; minimum support price scheme for MFPs to be in …
A tale of two interpretations
Aparna Pallavi recounts struggles of residents of a tiny village in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra to get ownership of forest resources
Super Market
Secretive. Exploitative. Is the market in Minor Forest Produce unmanageable? sopan joshi finds out
Don’t take away Gram Sabha’s powers under FRA: activists petition Modi
‘Central government's attempts to do away with consent of Gram Sabhas for diverting forests unconstitutional’
Ministers mount pressure to dilute Forest Rights Act
Tribal affairs minister asked to withdraw objections to Maharashtra’s Village Forest Rules that allow forest department take control over …
Baigas cheated of community forest rights
Madhya Pradesh village given rights over agricultural and residential land instead of forestland
Struck at the root
Livelihood of 2,000 families is threatened as the Maharashtra forest department tries to ban extraction of lotus roots
Don’t say bamboo
Aparna Pallavi travels to Gadchiroli district to find out why villages relinquished forest rights
Another village, this time in Odisha, gets official permit to sell bamboo
Though Jamguda was conferred community forest right two years ago, it was not allowed to cart bamboo out or sell it in the market
Saharias face exile, again
Displaced from Kuno wildlife sanctuary earlier, the tribe is being evicted again for a dam
Check Jharkhand’s degrading environment
Unscientific mining has caused rampant environmental degradation in the state in the absence of proper monitoring