The amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 will create new markets & jobs for poor communities

After amending Section 2(7) of Indian Forest Act, 1927, bamboo is no longer a tree. This enables the livelihoods of forest communities as well as …

Simply put: Odisha rejects more than 10,000 FRA claims

How Chhattisgarh’s Baiga tribe secured habitat ownership in the face of eviction threats

State initially tried to ward off petition to grant habitat rights to community by saying there is no ministry-prescribed format

Ripe for a green economy

Forests are home, say women of Kodalpali, Sinduria and neighbouring villages in Odisha’s Nayagarh; they can build the economy of the future

Uttar Pradesh grants 3 forest villages revenue status under FRA

Kaluwala, Sodhinagar and Bhagwatpur were given the revenue status, which means that the inhabitants, Tongia tribals, will now have access to …

‘Someone should speak on behalf of environment’

Shibani Ghosh, the author of Indian Environmental Law: Key Concepts and Principles, speaks to Down To Earth on the role judiciary plays in …

Forest rights in Bastar: Of tribals being ‘guests’ in their own woods

There is a strong need to recognise locals’ customary rights over forests in Bastar and enhance their capacity to conserve them

Baiga Tribes Get Habitat Rights for the first time in Independent India

Ramesh Sharma, Convener, Ekta Parishad gives an insight about the indigenous primitive tribes of India. Out of 76 primitive tribes Baigas …

Madhya Pradesh's call to bamboo investors reignites debate over forest access

Agreements for planting bamboo over 36,000 sq km of forestland take away the rights of the community, say forest rights activists

Congress socialist party?

Left-of-centre agenda must not be abandoned

Forest rights and wrongs in Sonbhadra

Forcible eviction of tribals in Sonbhadra exposes forest rights faultlines

Election boycott over mining

Residents protest iron mining in Maharashtra tehsil; authorities blame murder for boycott

Project Lion could displace Maldharis within Gir to create ‘inviolate space’

The proposal seeks to relocate 2,500 families of the community from the Gir protected area within 10 years

SC vacates Madras HC order staying issue of pattas to forest dwellers

The Madras High Court had passed an interim order in April 2008 staying the issue of pattas in Tamil Nadu without its permission

Study urges government to grant community rights to local forest dwellers

In tribal-dominated areas of the country, forests have always been traditionally managed by local communities

Price tag for tendu, bamboo

Government struggles to calculate cost of forest produce

Mining giant offers peanuts

Villagers make a bonfire of POSCO’s offer in newspaper

Walk the village talk

After raising the political profile of village councils, government wants to downsize them

Protectors dubbed criminals

Tribals in Madhya Pradesh celebrate festival to reclaim forests; officials say they are encroaching land

Caution: pastures ahead

Uttarakhand Van Gujjars allege forest officials assaulted women; probe underway

Rajaji National Park area villagers allege they tried to lodge two FIRs, but police did not register them  

West Bengal: Illegal acquisition of forest land for Turga and Bandu Pump Storage Projects, claim tribal residents

Gram Sabha consent not taken for transferring the land, says forum for tribal communities

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

How the struggle for forest rights united a nagar panchayat & divided another in Chhattisgarh

Tumbahra & Churiyara became one of the 1st nagar panchayats to receive CFRR titles

DTE Reportage: What will the rejection of Individual Forest Rights claims mean?

Down To Earth reports from the ground and places things in perspective