Common concerns

On a cold January night in Hyderabad, a fortnight ago, Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Environment and Forests, was led to an open-air dinner by folk drummers and body-painted tiger dancers as an appreciative audience of international academics and grassroots workers cheered and milled around him. Ramesh had become the toast of the evening after he asked the world’s top scholars working on issues related to the commons to help shape his ministry’s thinking.

Forest rights act under scrutiny

THE Union government is reviewing its landmark initiative, the Forest Rights Act, four years after enacting it. The aim is to find how to strengthen the law which was legislated to ensure the traditional rights of 100 million forest dwelling people in the country. Two high-level groups submitted their assessment in the first week of January.

Forest titles only on paper

Mendha lekha in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra was one of the first two villages in India to claim community ownership over its forests last December. Six months after they got their forest titles, the tribal villagers find bureaucratic hurdles are hampering their powers under the Forest Rights Act of 2006.

Two tribal villages get 2,349 hectares

Maharashtra is the first to recognize their rights over forests two villages in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra have become the first in the country to win community rights over forests under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. On August 15, Ramesh Bang, the state food and civil supplies minister, said the claims of Mendha Lekha and Marda villages over their village forests were accepted by the state

Touch that heals trees

A village killed its forest then revived it with herbal therapy

Firefighters all

Himachal Pradesh gives incentives to prevent forest fires The Himachal Pradesh forest department has decided to reward community initiatives in the state that are successful in averting forestfires. The annual reward would vary between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, depending on how successful a joint forest management committee is in checking fires.

Earth quake

Free cheers to the Forest Rights Act

Remote control

  R L Maravi patrolling the Koppedabri beat, Kanha  Photo-Agnimirh Basu Officers prefer urban postings. Forest guards are overworked, underpaid

Talking the walk

A daily wage worker, earning between Rs 100-150 a day, is posted to help each guard with patrolling, maintenance and cooking. Food supplies come from the nearest village market a few kilometres away. The guard and the worker share the food cost. There are small mercies, though. "At least we have walkie talkies now. When I joined the service in 1972, our only option was to walk to the range office," said forest guard Ramakant Mishra at the Indri camp.

Timber soldiers

Uniform approach