Grasping at grass

Missing timber for wood

Redemption from litter

Protectors dubbed criminals

The rift valley

Making slow headway

On April 3, the Supreme Court ordered states to declare buffer zones around their tiger reserves. A buffer zone is an area which is adjacent to the core area of a tiger reserve and is aimed at promoting coexistence between humans and wildlife. The limits of these areas are determined using scientific criteria and are set in consultation with the gram sabha and an expert committee.

‘Forests can’t survive without communities’

Why are you opposed to the proposed amendments to the Forest Act? Interviewee:  Apsara Chapagain

Colonial hangover persists

Parkinson’s Law of Triviality states that the time spent on any item on a committee’s agenda will be inversely proportional to its significance. This seems to be happening with the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The minister has moved a bill in the Rajya Sabha that seeks to amend the Indian Forest Act (IFA) of 1927.

Losers again

Proposed amendments to the forest Act will further weaken the position of forest dwellers

How government is subverting forest rights act

Two tribal villages in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra—Mendha Lekha and Marda— savoured victory when they won community rights over their forest resources in August last year. The rights conferred under the Forest Rights Act of 2006 include the right to collect and sell minor forest produce (MFP). These include tendu leaves used in beedis, and bamboo that have high commercial value and were under the forest department’s control. Winning the right to manage these resources meant economic liberation to the two villages.