‘Forests can’t survive without communities’
Nepal’s Forest Act of 1993, which allows communities to manage their forests, is admired and emulated by governments and movements across …
Bamboo rising
Five years after it was implemented, the Forest Rights Act finally takes root. Communities across the country rush to claim rights over forests …
Balancing rights and responsibilities: community-based forest governance in Maharashtra
A small village in eastern Maharashtra sets an example of managing community forest resource in a sustainable way
Planting problems
Forest development corporations fell rich forests to raise plantations, undermining people's rights and biodiversity. It's time India introduced …
Indigenous communities must be at the centre of sustainable agrifood systems: FAO director-general
Four-day event will also be accompanied by release of two reports on global forest sector and mainstreaming biodiversity
Chhattisgarh: Adivasis say FRA violated, as forest department marks trees for felling in 3 districts
Villagers now have the legal right to protect, regenerate, conserve and manage these lands
Missing the woods: The story of India’s vanishing forests in 20 cards
Some 25.87 million hectares of forest is missing from the latest assessment of India’s green cover. Here are some cards that tell the story
Wildlife recall: Manas National Park's experiment with former poachers
Once in the grip of armed insurgency, a national park has lessons in wildlife management
Weak governance escalating deforestation in Tanzania: FAO report
Of the total land area (88.3 mn hectares) in the African country, 55% is under forest cover. According to 2017 estimates, deforestation occurred …
Ten years of FRA: only 3 per cent of forest dwellers’ rights recognised
Collective rights to undo historic injustice meted out to indigenous people remain completely ignored by the states, says Citizens’ report
Estimating the potential of community forest rights: What makes implementation challenging
Given the complexity of land and forest settlement in India and the poor quality of land records and maps available, generating an estimate is …
Forest Rights Act: From rights on paper to rights in practice
Local civil society organisations play a vital role in helping forest-dwelling communities assert and exercise their collective rights
Green fund rules notified: Some hits, major misses
The rules of the Compensatory (Afforestation) Fund Act 2016 are better than the draft but not impactful
Long overdue change made in new draft of Forest Policy
The new draft National Forest Policy takes into account the paradigm shift in present realities due to climate change
Afforestation: money on the trees
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act could redefine forest governance. But will it protect the rights of forest dwellers?
The Forest Rights Act and self-help transformed this remote Odisha tribal village; here is how
Residents of Loyendia have regenerated forests and made a new dirt road within a decade of getting community forest resource rights
Forest rights in Jharkhand: Too early to rejoice
Forest rights recognised in Jharkhand for the first time in 2 years, but do not give management rights
Building institutional foundations for community forest management
Forest commons can play a critical role in facilitating the resilience of India’s response to climate change
24 Chhattisgarh villages pledge to develop wildlife sanctuary on their own
Community leaders say they will increase forest cover and wildlife numbers by 150 per cent in five years in the proposed Udanti and Sita Nadi …
Kerala’s Kadars continue fight for assertion of their community forest rights
Their Gram Sabhas have passed resolutions under the Forest Rights Act as work has progressed on the Anakkayam Small Hydro Power Project
Chhattisgarh revokes: Forest dept no longer nodal agency for community rights
Chhattisgarh government reinstates the role of the forest department to coordinate claims that are to be filed by communities, …
A tale of two interpretations
Aparna Pallavi recounts struggles of residents of a tiny village in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra to get ownership of forest resources
A journey called change
Their struggle for survival and progress has shaped the understanding of environmentalism both at the national and global levels and influenced …
Half-way to autonomy
Decisions by Maharashtra’s top forest official can empower gram sabhas prepare plans to revive their forests, but a policy is awaited
17 million South Africans live on communal land — new study of a rural valley offers insights on how to manage it
Combination of satellite imagery and local perceptions provides valuable insights about the extent, causes and impacts of land change in communal …