Forests

Achieving targeted sequestration from green cover seems impossible

India cannot achieve this Paris Agreement target without political commitment at both central and state government levels

Forests

Amended Tamil Nadu forest Act must be cautiously exercised

While forests under private ownership have already been destroyed with cash crops, if the provisions of the Act are further relaxed the state’s green cover will face serious threats

Forests

Water in forests: Finding the blue in the greens

It is time we rediscover forests as a ‘water commons’ to aid India’s fight against climate change

Forests

New awakenings in the trans-Himalaya

With threats to common properties multiplying and people’s traditional access to living systems being denied, the Forest Rights Act is making its way into the lives of people in the trans-Himalayan valley of Spiti

Forests

How alien invasive plant species threaten Western Ghats

Forest fires and man-eating tigers make for easy headlines but what about invading flora in a forest?

Forests

Tamil Nadu’s innovative methods of seed plantation

The state has been trying out a number of novel and unique ways to plant seeds of various tree species and ensure that they survive and make waste and barren areas greener

Forests

Will Jair Bolsonaro destroy the Amazon and its Indians?

It remains to be seen whether Brazil’s President-Elect will act on his pre-poll statements vis-à-vis Amazonia and its natives. Nevertheless, Brazil’s indigenous people must brace up for a long fight ahead

Forests

Van Gujjars: A repeat of historical injustice

The Uttarakhand High Court’s August 16 order on the removal of Van Gujjar families from the Jim Corbett National Park shows the deep-seated bias against forest-dependent people within India

Forests

A unique tree park for Chennai

With 300 species of trees, the ‘Forest Genetic Resources Tree Park’ will serve as a unique gene pool for Tamil Nadu’s threatened flora

Forests

This town in Karnataka has its very own Central Park

The Gubbi Tree Park, inaugurated recently by the Tumakuru Forest Division in Karnataka, has shone a light on creating state-of-the-art green spaces meant for civic as well as forestry purposes

Forests

Tumakuru sets a green example

The hilly and forested district in southeast Karnataka is giving new lessons to the rest of India on responsible forestry

Forests

Gujarat is misusing forest laws under garb of ‘sustainable’ development

Forest lands, over which rights of adivasis have been recognised or are pending recognition, have been usurped for carrying out plantations under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act

Forests

The Island of Turtles

BJP leader Tarun Vijay recently tweeted that Havelock Island in the Andaman Archipelago should be renamed as “Rani Lakshmibai Island”. Internationally-acclaimed professor of Linguistics, Anvita Abbi had written a letter to similar effect but with a different suggestion late last year. Read on

Forests

‘Tandarust Punjab Mission’ a welcome move, but will it work?

Given the state government’s past record, one can’t but help feel skeptical

Forests

What does Sustainable Development mean in an unequal world?

Reflections from the Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development 

Forests

A weed and a tale

In the forests of Kanyakumari, an invasive species has been proliferating since the 1960s. It is time to remove it altogether

Forests

Letting go of the colonial hangover should be the goal of the new forest policy

Forest department in India needs to reverse its role from being the owner and regulator of forests to becoming a facilitator in community-managed forests

Forests

Some forest questions

The State of Forest Report 2017 does provide important nuggets of insights into what is happening today

Forests

A tree grown outside forest is a tree protected inside forest

Can we do away with permits, allow forestry-based economy to grow and still increase forest cover, protect wildlife and conserve our ecology?

Forests

Of inclusive conservation and exclusionary orders

Forest-dwelling communities have the capabilities and desire to contribute to wildlife conservation, so why are we dismissing them?

Forests

Pine forests are depleting natural water resources in the Himalayas

Recent studies in Almora show that the groundwater recharge rate in oak forests is 23 per cent, compared to a measly 8 per cent in pine forests