When forests are not forests at all, can fire be used to better manage them?
In the last week of February, Bandipur Tiger Reserve lost over 60 square kilometres of forest to a massive fire, despite the best efforts of hundreds of people who tried…
Forests News
The Hasdeo Arand story: Is coal mining a fait accompli for the pristine forests?
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…
Did you ever think that tree plantation drives could threaten an ecosystem?
In many ways, the Western Ghats is a study in contrast. While the foothills and slopes of the mountain range are covered in dense rainforest, the higher reaches are a…
Tiger dead: The big cat that walked from MP to Gujarat dies mysteriously
In the second week of February 2019, the presence of a tiger was confirmed in the Mahisagar area of Gujarat but the happiness was short lived as the big cat…
“No Aravallis no vote”: People want Haryana government to spare the hills
Forests in the northern Indian state of Haryana account for just 3.59 percent of its total geographical area. And a new threat looms which could reduce this cover further as…
Political parties compete for vote of India’s tribal community
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…
Study links declining native vegetation to water stress in Kali basin
A novel approach by Indian scientists to assess the water and ecological footprints in Kali river basin in the Western Ghats of peninsular India has revealed declining native vegetation in…
Elephants in a reserve forest along India-Bangladesh border struggle for survival
A tiny reserve forest in Assam along a fenced stretch of the India-Bangladesh border is facing a unique predicament. Bereft of a male elephant, the population of six remaining border-cruising…
How a poacher turned into a conservationist in the Indian Sundarbans
Mangrove ecosystem conservationist Anil Mistry could have tread the path his predecessors and peers had taken. A path that led to chopping off forests and killing animals for fast cash,…
Will the national government be known for its speedy clearances and neglected environmental priorities?
Ahead of the 2014 parliamentary elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto had promised to “frame the environmental laws in a manner” that will lead to “speedy clearance of proposals…
