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 …
Simply Put: Right to Rock, Paper, Scissor
Babus' FOI-pas?
Most wanted
Policy of encirclement
Interview with Ujiyar Singh Dhurve, a Baiga tribal leader from Madhya Pradesh
What is the significance of habitat rights for the Baiga tribe? Will this move benefit the degrading jungles? A local leader tells Down To Earth
In a first, Odisha studies potential forest land under FRA
New estimate offers ‘baseline for planning and effective implementation of forest rights Act recognition’
A dharna here, a court victory there: How Rajasthan villages try to keep their land from solar firms
Encroachment of pastureland was possible because government doesn't recognise them as village commons, say locals
Shelterless Kashmiri pastoralists denied benefits of Forest Rights Act
The migratory population is unable to repair their damaged huts as the government sits on claim forms
Bengal forest department calls Gram Sabha ‘illegal’; files FIR against 11
Villagers from the Gram Sabha gathered near Bamini falls on the eve of Birsa Munda’s birthday
Gram Sabha level committees formed in Chhattisgarh’s Abujmarh
The move is the start of the process to grant habitat rights under the Forest Rights Act to the Abujh Mariyas
Dalits, adivasis to protest in Gandhinagar for land rights
The Gujarat government is planning to give 45 lakh hectare of cultivable wasteland to corporates for farming while ignoring the landless Dalits …
Forest dept in Odisha oversteps FRA rules, complain tribal rights activists
They say that Kalahandi district’s divisional forest officer issued a transit permit to take bamboo out of forest land when he has no right …
Denied forest rights, Himachal Pradesh villagers take to awareness campaigns
About 2,614 individual and 54 community claims made under the FRA in 2009-10 were rejected by the District Forest Officer in 2015
Changing gears
Sociology of conflict
New CFR guidelines: Experts say regulations can undo India’s progress on forest governance
Rules show governmental unwillingness to embrace tribal diversity and culture, they say
Village bullied for using its forest
Forest department registers offence against a gram sabha for felling bamboo clusters
History matters
The Forest Rights Act augurs differently for two tribal communities in Kerala
Roundtable on Minor Forest Produce: Introduction
Sunita Narain, Director of the Centre for Science and Environment, discusses the confusion surrounding the Forest Rights Act and forest management.
Why this Maharashtra village is fighting for the long forgotten Gramdan Act?
In a society that is moving towards hyper-individualism, the community here takes a collective approach
IFR review: Lapse in procedure behind rejection of claims in Burhanpur
Claims filed in 2020 through the Van Mitra Portal were rejected without sharing the reason for the same with the claimants
‘Legislated genocide’: Brazil’s new bill restricting recognition of tribal land sparks massive protests
Law will be devastating for indigenous rights, increase illegal deforestation, biodiversity loss, violence against forest dwellers, say experts &…
New law finally gives voice to the Yarra River's traditional owners
New legislation has recognised the Yarra River as a single, living entity. But what does that mean in practice?
How accurate are government’s claims on forest rights in Odisha
A review by the Centre recently found Odisha to be the best performing state in forest rights implementation