In partnership with forest departments, communities across India have raised forests worth millions of rupees in the hope of getting shares in timber revenue. Now that forests are ready for harvest, officials make excuses or give pittance, Down To Earth reports

The forest service is losing its hold on its job—managing India’s forests. With an aggressive judiciary taking control of forestry decisions, the service needs to reinvent itself

How should a ‘forest’ be defined in India? The Union ministry of environment and forests is currently preoccupied with this question. Placing this process in context, DTE finds the custodian of India’s forests could become an even bigger landlord. Yet this deal could be sweet for the industry and bitter for the poor inhabitants of India’s forests.

The Northeast states are the country's bamboo reservoirs, although people there do not profit from this resource. Soon, as vast swatches of Mizoram, Tripura and Assam face a calamitous event - the flowering of the mautak bamboo that may lead to famine - can they turn this disaster into opportunity?

The minor forest produce market badly needs managers

Ban on felling becomes an instrument for Northeastern states to gain forest control

Despite government disinterest, traditional communities in Nepal made their hills lush and green. Now, a government circular threatens to jeopardise community forest management

The forest department intervenes to spoil a successful conservation programme of a Haryana village. An assement by Richard Mahapatra

From a wooded upland Jhabua became an example of extreme ecological degradation. The story of its recovery is remarkable

Loopholes in India’s forest policy have thrown up outlaws like Veerappan

Overexploitation, skewed pricing policies and inefficient utilisation have laid bare the bamboo's vast reserves. While local communities clamour for the resource, and possiblities of sustainable use abound, governments dole it out to industry. Arunachal, one of the last bastions of bamboo in the country, is under similar threat