Forestry News

For the past 14 years, artisan Deepak Dewangan has been weaving magic out of bamboo. Based in Kondagaon district of Chhattisgarh which falls under the Bastar division, Dewangan has been…

“I have never seen this kind of a forest fire before. This year, the fire entered our village, and I could see that it was just 100 meters away from…

A tree-planting frenzy has taken over many countries to counter climate change. In July 2019, Ethiopia announced that they planted more than 350 million trees in one day. A month…

From covering 640,819 square kilometres (19.49 percent) of India’s total land area in 1987 to covering 712,249 sq. km.  (21.67 percent) of the country’s geographical area in 2019, India’s forest…

What is a forest? At present, in India, there is no clear nationally-accepted definition of ‘forest’. States are responsible for determining their definition of forests. In its meeting in September…

It’s the forest fire season and the officials at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka have stepped up the ante on fire preparedness. With fire watchers assigned to look out…

Every year millions of Indians, who belong to scheduled tribes, collect Rs. two trillion (Rs. 200,000 crore) worth of non-timber forest products (NTFP) from the country's forests. However, in the…

When newly-elected Member of Parliament from the east Indian state of Odisha, Pramila Bisoyi spoke in the House in her mother-tongue Odia, it was the subject of many jibes. The…

How do you define a ‘forest’? What are the rules regarding inviolate forests? And when will India get its new national forest policy? Many questions loom even as India pursues…

Reacting to the outrage over a proposal to cut more than 64,000 trees for a Defence Expo in Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh government has issued new norms to protect trees…

As southwest India finally has a respite from the recent heavy rains, the discussions have now turned to what went wrong. In the district of Kodagu, nine days of non-stop…

Fifty-six-year-old Seema Adgaonkar glides through swampy mangroves in ankle-deep muck. The fragrance of Avicennia marina (the grey mangrove), the most widely-spread mangrove species in Mumbai, makes the trail pleasant despite…

The forest panel of the Indian government’s environment ministry has approved guidelines that would allow private industries to be involved in plantation on degraded forest land.  In the June 27,…

When Taimur Ali Khan, the son of Bollywood celebrities and Indian paparazzi’s favourite muse, was gifted a mini forest on his first birthday, it made headlines. Ordering a full-fledged forest…

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…

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…

India’s target to bring 33 percent of its total land under the forest cover is more a result of colonial hangover rather than backed by science, said a study which…

Communities that live around protected areas (PAs) in India have long been held responsible for a substantial percentage of forest and biodiversity degradation. And largely, most of these communities are…

The memorial in the middle of the farm reads: ‘Chetan Dadarao Khobragade. Birth: 8/8/1995. Death: 13/5/2018’. It wasn’t an age to die. It wasn’t a way to die. Death probably…