Turmoil in the park

No return of the native

Wizened old Jidemadamma has to depend on her neighbours for meals. Her son and daughter-in-law have gone to Kodagu to collect pepper from trees and will not be back before two weeks. "They took the children along because I cannot move around much. Earlier, all of us stayed together here. Now there is nobody," says the septuagenarian, sitting outside her hut in Kaneri Colony, one of the 62 hamlets in Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (brt) Wildlife Sanctuary in southern Karnataka.

Sal and siali leaves sustaining tribal Orissa

As the summer draws to a close, there is a distinct gaiety in most parts of Orissa. There is a spring in the steps of people as they go about preparing for the Jagannath Utsav. In Majhiakhand village of Nayagarh district, a group of people have been assigned the task of taking care of a basket full of earthen balls.

Book The economics of biodiversity conservation valuation in tropical forest ecosystems

Piecing together problems with conservation in India

Orissa villagers protect forest, reap benefits

A hill in Orissa's Ganjam district used to be barren about 20 years ago. In 1985, the state forest department planted saplings, including Acacia and Eucalyptus, as part of its state-wide social forestry programme. Villagers of Sasan Ambagaon took it upon themselves to take care of the saplings and are now reaping benefits of a 'forest' there. The forest is spread over 32 hectares in the village.

Debate over effects of biomass extraction in forests

Forest rights rules inconsonant with act

will the new forest rights rules empower forest communities? There are mixed responses to the recently released draft of the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Rules, 2007. Announced on June 19, the rules are meant to operationalise the parent act. The Union ministry of tribal affairs has sought comments. Activists say the rules are not in harmony with the act. The focus of the act is to empower the forest rights holders, but, they say, the rules just

FAO report blames developing nations for deforestation

The seventh biennial issue of the 'State of the World's Forests 2007' (sofo 2007) by the un's Food and Agriculture Organization (fao) criticises poor countries for deforestation. Released in March 2007, the report does not acknowledge the role that rich countries play in wiping out the poor's forests. Weak on data, the report has been blamed by experts for wrongly defining forests. Vague criteria

Orissa <i>kendu</i> leaf workers end strike

on april 24, 2007, kendu leaf (used for rolling bidis) workers in Orissa ended their strike after the government fulfilled two of their demands. They had started the agitation on April 18 asking for, among other things, a hike in wages and salaries.