What are the political drivers for land rights of forest-dependent communities?
Prakash Kashwan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Connecticut. His research and scholarship focuses …
Wild & fragile
The Western Ghats in the south of India have forests which are, for some plant species, their exclusive home on this earth. No wonder then, that …
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 …
Paper chase
PAPER is important, but so are forests. The proposal of the ministry for environment and forests to allow the paper industry to establish …
Where dry gardens wilt
India is one of the 17 megadiverse countries, with over 11 per cent of the world's plant species. Herbaria across the country store millions of …
"At what cost to the environment"
"The country's forest cover will be raised by five per cent during the Ninth Plan," said Suresh P Prabhu , the Union minister for …
Catch me a colossus
Catching Veerappan, who amuses himself upsetting the government cart, is like trying to cage a titan. The State is in no position to meet his …
The spirit of the sanctuary
Sacred groves - tracts of virgin forests - are vestiges of an ancient practice in which people protected a forest to avoid the wrath of its …
"There can be no development without women"
REACHING Doongri, a picturesque village perched 1,750 m above sea level in the Pindar valley in Chamoli district, is a daunting task. The nearest …
A tale of two peoples
Just as Brazil and Nigeria lie Geographically parallel to each other along the Atlantic, the fates of their seem sealed in a similar fashion. …
Wealth of forests withheld
Forest departments across the country owe millions of rupees to communities. For 20 years communities toiled under the Joint Forest Management …
Fig leaf for the business world
That is what the Montreal Protocol, meant to do away with ozone depleting substances, has become. India's phase out programme under the protocol …
We can't regard forests as something without human presence
RUBENS RICUPERO, 57, Brazil's suave and diplomatic minister for environment, has an unenviable job: charting the destiny of the beleaguered …
‘Tribal philosophy can’t be ignored beyond a point’
At a time when climate change is emerging as a reality, indigenous people are eager to give-up their low-carbon lifestyle and join the bandwagon …
Chipko: an unfinished mission
In 20 years, Chipko has acquired many facets, primarily as a conservation endeavour by the poor, a struggle for local control of natural …
‘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 …
On The Warpath
They prefer to be called the 'forest castes'. They are the 2,000,000-odd villagers living in some 10,000 villages across Orissa. After …
Opening up, but tread softly
April 2003 saw two diverse regions in India take a similar decision. Both partially opened the door to tourism in hitherto protected belts. One …
Forest conservation is too complex an issue to be resolved by executive fiat
The condition of India's forest and her forest dwellers is extremely grave. A fresh round of police attacks on tribal people -- four dead in Dewas,…
Aaj Ka Roadshow
Liberalisation in India has not only affected humdrum life, but also popular cultural forms. This is palpable in the changing dynamics of the big …
Logjam
Whenever the Supreme Court pulls the trigger, why does it miss the target? Because governments like those of the seven Northeast states work …
Forest war
Naxalism started as a movement against land alienation. Today it has become a popular movement against natural resource alienation, …
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 …
Need or greed?
The Union Ministry of Finance has recently alleged that green clearances are holding up the country’s infrastructure development and growth.…
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