Celebrating WSF 2004
When 80,000 people talk it makes noise. So it wasn't unusual for the fourth World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai to be snidely called a huge '…
Forests can keep our planet cool
Improving our forests and farm practices offers a low-risk path for climate mitigation, while securing the lives of traditional communities
Tribal ministry tells states to stop rejecting FRA claims on invalid grounds
In a letter dated June 27, Leena Nair, the then secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs had written to the chief secretaries of states raising …
Six-fold increase in forest fires as temperatures rise in many states
The Forest Survey of India’s large forest fires monitoring programme data shows that there are 192 large, active fires in the country today
Top committee for diverting forests recommends penalties for violating projects
The Forest Advisory Committee has said the environment ministry imposes “inconsistent and arbitrary" penalties
How not to grow trees
Planting a tree is now bound up in so much restriction and red tape that it is not worth the effort
Forest conservation receives government recognition
The 14th Finance Commission of India has reinforced the idea of incentivising states for keeping areas under forests
‘Give us our forest back’
An unprecedented people’s movement might have forced the Odisha government to cancel a beer factory project, but there are many unresolved …
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
India fails to protect property rights of indigenous and rural women, says report
None of the 30 low and middle-income countries analysed met the standards of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination …
Betrayed
Nepal's forest bureaucracy prepares for the funeral of the much-hailed community forest management programme
Wildlife Week: Improved fielding can help overcome sour relations at Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Human-wildlife conflict has led to strained relationships between villagers and forest staff
Forest Rights Act could play decisive role in LS polls: Report
One-fourth of constituencies in mainland India have FRA implementation as a core issue and can influence winning margins, finds a study
Government files petition seeking stay of SC order on FRA; hearing tomorrow
On February 13, SC had asked state authorities to submit affidavits explaining why evictions, wherever ordered, have not taken place
Rewind 2018: Development and fire eat up India’s forest cover
The country’s greenery suffered several blows in the past year as it was compromised for vertical growth and authorities could not curb …
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 …
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
Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (April 24, 2019)
Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
'Village forests have been pitted against community rights'
The proposed amendment of IFA is an attempt to keep power in the hands of the forest bureaucracy by playing up village forests against community …
'Sir… if we define forests, it could create many loopholes'
Union forest ministry’s reply to parliamentary committee’s query on absence of a clear definition of forests
Afforestation: money on the trees
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act could redefine forest governance. But will it protect the rights of forest dwellers?
Back to basics
Integrating indigenous knowledge in joint forest management projects is an essential prerequisite for the success of such programmes, but years …
MoTA raises objections to environment ministry’s FRA compliance circular
In the circular, the ministry had clarified that FRA compliance certificates would not be required in Stage I of the forest diversion process
India’s ‘missing’ forests: DTE analysis exposes big gap in latest national forest survey estimates
According to a DTE analysis, there are states where over 30-50 per cent of the land classified as forests is ‘missing’ from the …
Industries eye forest land for plantations
Wood-based firms want to convert forest areas to their own use for raw material. In doing so, they ignore the fate of millions of rural poor, who …