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 …
Forest war
Naxalism started as a movement against land alienation. Today it has become a popular movement against natural resource alienation, …
Applying science to tackle illegal timber trade
Illegal trade of timber is worth US $30-100 billion annually. Scientists have developed some innovative methods to curb it
China’s growing footprint on the globe threatens to trample the natural world
Chinese investment is driving an unprecedented investment boom in global infrastructure, but it is harming the planet
When alienation ruins
Sandalwood smuggling, epitomised by Veerappan, has become a collective phenomenon involving entire villages, which even the ban on sandalwood …
Unkindest cuts
Large-scale smuggling of timber from Nepal to Tibet threatens the pristine forests in the northern Himalaya
Turn off taps on poachers: Financial crimes linked to illegal wildlife, timber trade in EU going unpunished, flags report
Criminal assets remaining in the hands of poachers, giving them the liberty to invest in more illicit operations
Green action: Four arrested in Bihar for cutting down dozens of trees near major hospital
Trees were being felled and sold to timber traders for many months near Muzaffarpur’s SKMCH hospital, according to reports
Turtle smuggling continues: Forest officials seize 40 turtles from Odisha’s Malkangiri
Forest officials had seized 150 live freshwater turtles from a village in Malkangiri district June 4
Sandalwood moment for cows; Madhya Pradesh’s proposed law will be the last nail for livestock economy
Government's proposal to make abandonment of cows punishable will make it a pariah breed and would fuel widespread black market for trade, just …
Corruption in timber trade fuels deforestation, biodiversity loss
Illegal timber trade also gives rise to conflicts between local communities and logging companies
Himachal Pradesh forest staff to be equipped with arms to curb smuggling
The personnel posted in the checkposts in these areas can carry pistols, guns, revolvers or rifles to check illegal felling and smuggling of trees
Wood for scandal
While the Union government has finally permitted Tamil Nadu to export sandalwood, State monopoly of the trade is yet to be abolished
CAUTION:only loggers allowed
How do you destroy a forest? Cover it under Project Tiger and alienate the local people. An example from Bihar
A brigand called government
Whatever the outcome of the hostages crisis in Karnataka, stupid sandalwood protection laws will keep creating smugglers out of India's exploited …
African e-commerce platforms must address thriving illegal wildlife trade, urge international non-profits
Illegal trade in wild species undermines natural resources, threatens species with extinction, affects community livelihoods & can increase …
Large chunks of slender loris habitat already lost, need protected areas for endangered primate: Expert
Down To Earth spoke to Honnavalli N Kumara about the importance of conservation of the species and the existing threats to its population
India is third largest importer of illegally-logged wood: IUFRO
With an annual import value of over Rs 40 billion, the country accounts for close to 10 per cent of the global illegal wood trade
Protests over toxic gold mining at Nile: Will there be truce in Sudan
A vicious network of gold smuggling has over taken the region following the Russia-aided military coup in 2021
More land, less timber
Ban on harvesting of timber may not solve the problem of deforestation in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province
Making a killing
Only poachers profit from rules and regulations that alienate local people from natural resources
Here's how government is encouraging illegal trade in red sanders
A contradictory policy towards export of red sanders is fuelling illegality and hurting farmers
Trouble in Tripura
Restrictions on jhum cultivation, large-scale immigration and timber smuggling have made Tripura an environmentally poor state
'The forest mafia is very powerful'
AJAY S RAWAT spent six months in the Indo-Nepal terais to trace the methods of timber smugglers
