Leaving the women in the woods

Forest protection initiatives taken by villagers, though laudable by themselves, have proved to be a bane for women

Living energy

Bioresources, the energy and raw materials derived from plants and animals, could help end poverty.

A day with Shibu Karmakar

Nitin Shethi learns more than he had reckoned, from local wisdom

Sulia takes charge

Participatory management brings forests back

A delicious affair

During a trekking trip to the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, Chandra Prakash Kala discovers the succulent kafal fruit, which has found its way …

Divine protection

Kumaon villagers discover that gods are the best forest guards

Good Lord! No trees

Wood used in Jagannath’s chariot vanishing fast from Odisha’s jungles

False predictions

For years, energy experts and foresters have believed that the poor will eat away the forests of the developing world like locusts in order to …

Orphaned by apathy

Hidden from the outside world, this is the plight of the Van Taungiyas. They were hired during the British rule as resident labourers to plant …

Tadoba tiger reserve An unsafe haven

Phulmai's walk - a day in the life of a headloader

Headloaders - collectors of fuelwood in India's woodlands. On the one hand, seen as forest destroyers, on the other, they are the sole support of …

The energy divide

Chronic power deprivation in some districts raises serious policy issues

The challenge of the chulha

Surviving on wood

Collecting fuelwood provides a basis for survival for the poor around Dharwar

A junkyard in the sky

An average trekker uses as much firewood in a day as an average Nepali family would in a week.

Bhil traditions wither away with their trees

So dependent are the Bhils on trees, deforestation is eroding the very roots of their culture

Fuel for food

While energy consumption surveys have shown a very high level of firewood consumption, various forest departments have shown very low levels of …

Unexpected relief

Nobody expected farm forestry and exotics to become a major source of firewood

Staying legal, staying reasonable

A law can be effective only if it's reasonable

Hunger strikes forest’s exiles

Once called lords of the jungle, Baiga groups in Madhya Pradesh are starving on the margins of Kanha National Park. Shriya Mohan chronicles their …

She walks in oblivion

Society itself doesn't care to know about headloading

NO MORE WOOD

Back in vogue

Tall tree tales

INDIA'S EUCALYPTUS CRAZE- THE GOD THAT FAILED by N C Saxena Publisher: Sage Publications Price: Rs 275 (hardback)

The great energy divide