A latest analysis of the forest and wildlife clearances recommended by expert panels of the environment ministry, in the first six months of 2019, has found that most projects seeking…
Between 2011 and 2014, Maharashtra's legislative assembly saw the rise of Devendra Fadnavis as he galvanised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the then ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine and…
Once every four years the Indian government releases an estimate of the total number of tigers in India. The estimate for 2018 was announced on July 29, 2019, which is…
Controversies and uproar around tribal issues over the past few years failed to make a dent in the recent elections with the tribal community in fact voting to reinstate the…
States with high forest cover, seeking diversion of forest land for non-forestry projects, can now carry out compensatory afforestation in other states, as per a new guideline by the environment…
The implementation of the Forest Rights Act in the Indian Sundarbans, a demand reiterated by a section of fisher and forest-dependent communities in the 2019 national elections, has been hindered…
One of the most biodiverse regions of the Western Ghats, the Nilgiris (the blue mountains) comprise a range of ecosystems including dry deciduous forests at its base, dense evergreen forests…
Who will win India’s parliamentary elections, will be known only on May 23 when the results are announced. But for now, there is a small win for the people of…
Over 90 years after the enactment of the Indian Forest Act (IFA) 1927, a proposed amendment now plans to give more powers to the forest authorities, encourages large scale afforestation…
Stuck in the midst of bureaucracy, politicians and the courts, the biodiversity and coal-rich Hasdeo Arand forest region in Chhattisgarh, stares at a grim future. There are 18 coal blocks…
Just ahead of the election to India’s parliament, the Supreme Court of India, on February 13, asked the state governments to evict the tribal people and other forest-dwellers whose claims…
On December 11, officials will open the seals of thousands of electronic voting machines from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana. Packed in those machines are the electoral fates…
Krishna Birhor often complains of fever and bouts of vomiting. The 22-year-old depends on herbs from the forest to cure his illness. But he rues that it is just a…
This is the third article in a three-part series on the role of environment in the upcoming elections at Chhattisgarh. Part One describes the paradox of development in the resource-rich…
Millions of animals die on the roads every year. With the aim of crowdsourcing data of roadkills, the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) launched a mobile-based application earlier this year. The app…
Dalsai Kunjam a Gond tribal from Junwani village in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh is happy that he can grow crops on his agricultural land without any fear of relocation, now…
On September 5, thousands of farmers, a significant portion of whom are from tribal communities, came from around the country to the national capital for a protest march. Protests are…
Ashish Kothari, activist from Kalpavriksh in Pune, has co-edited with K.J. Joy a large and impressive tome called Alternative Futures: India Unshackled (Authors Upfront, 2017). They boldly attempt to predict…
The national government has initiated the process of revamping the National Forest Policy. The policy that is in place currently was announced 30 years ago and is known as the…