Green poetry
On October 15, 2003, the Prime Minister (PM) attended the first meeting of the new all-powerful Indian Wildlife Board. He gave a virtuoso …
"It happened by sheer accident"
More great discoveries in the realm of science get stumbled upon by the unprepared mind than untangled by methodical research. dna fingerprinting,…
Who's to blame?
Management of protected forests is a hotly debated issue. In the absence of a sound policy based on a scientific approach, there are as many …
Mountain biodiversity tops Montreal meet agenda
The entire gamut of activities that threaten ecosystems in the mountain regions dominated discussions at the meeting of the scientific advisory …
Farming fish and mussels
When bad management and increasing demand for inland fish led to plummeting stocks, fishing villages around the Ashtamudi estuary in Kollam …
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 …
Wooing back the salmon
International experiences in effective environmental management have their foundation in strict adherence to legal statutes. In this context, …
Are community reserves the answer to conservation?
The 2002 Amendment to the Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972) -- the bible of the conservation movement -- calls for a new category of …
A green company in a grey market
There was a time when Payinthulasi, a 40-year old herb gatherer of village Utchananthal in Virudunagar district of Tamil Nadu, had to trudge to …
On the Edge
In Vietnam, an astonishing array of species, some never before encountered by humans, are being threatened by deforestation and an illegal trade …
Charming no more
The saperas (snake-charmers) of Delhi loive in a unique colony called Mollarbandhgaon. This community, located next to the Badarpur thermal power …
The vanishing lakes
There is more water than land in north Bihar. The rivers that ramble down from the Himalaya feed numerous depressions scattered all over the …
“Environmental amnesia is constricting our intellect”
Though we are living in a highly degraded environment, we have failed to spot behavioural fallouts. Increasingly, children living in polluted …
Eyeing the coastlines
Further dilution of the rules safeguarding the Indian coastal ecosystem has just been proposed. Under the guise of providing land to poor …
BIG CAT CONUNDRUM
The tiger occupies a hallowed seat in India. Ecologists believe that millions of small ecological processes live out their routine lives under …
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 …
The lake colony
Call them the "lakers". Some 10,000 of them. Parts of the Dal (land and water) belong to them. And when they feel the need to make a …
Pollution of Hinduisim
Simply put it is an amazing gap between theory and practice. Yet it is one of the main reasons why India's environment is as degraded as it is …
High Altitude Dilemma
It is an intriguing view from the high mountains of Bhutan. To the east lies Nepal, grappling large-scale environmental degradation. To the north …
A watershed plan
Recurrent droughts and floods coupled with mass poverty, chronic unemployment and pervasive malnutrition are the major challenges before India. …
MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION
Knowledge without power, and power bereft of knowledge. This, in sum, is the story of mismanagement of wildlife and protected forests in India. …
OFFICIALLY BANKRUPT
June 30, 2004: The India Eco-Development Project -- a project meant to enhance the country's biodiversity and provide people living inside and …
Whitley Award winner's mission hornbill
Hornbills, the awkward-looking birds with over-sized beaks, are important for the regeneration of Himalayan forests in north-east India. They are …
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