“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…
Forest land amounting to 43 million hectares, more than twice the size of the state of Karnataka, was cleared across the tropics and subtropics between 2004 and 2017, largely for commercial…
Global biodiversity is in steep decline, the WWF has warned in its flagship Living Planet Report 2020. The numbers of mammals, birds, fish, plants and insects have fallen an average…
Palm oil finds a way into the lives of Indians, every day. From toothpaste, soap and moisturiser to ice cream, milk powder and chocolate. From margarine to cake and from…
A recent article in Mongabay-India about how to deal with forest fires in India argues that fire suppression should be replaced by fire prevention with the help of local communities.…
In December 2019, the Indian government released its biennial state of forest report highlighting how the country’s forest and tree cover is rising. But a fact that got lost amidst…
The fires raging across Australia from September 2019 and the ones in California in 2018 have brought global attention to wildfires in the recent years. Around 6.3 million hectares of…
Nearly 25 percent (one fourth) of India’s total land area is now under forest and tree cover. However, there is still a long way to go - more than a…
Indonesia, the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, is anticipating a boost in exports of the commodity to China, taking advantage of an opportunity opened up by the escalating trade…
Around one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades and more than ever before in human history, according to a recent report. The unsustainable…
It was around noon when I crossed the mud path and entered the little strip of forest that led to the stream, gingerly picking my way down through the vegetation.…
Natural forests across India are slowly disappearing, with some serious decline in core forest area and large protected forests, says recent research. These finding are contrary to the government’s claims…
In 1980, the social forestry wing of the Assam state forest department in northeastern India launched an experimental programme that aimed to measure how well tree cover could protect against…
We set out before dawn to escape the cruel summer heat of the Tirunelveli plains. By sunrise we had already gained altitude and entered the dense deciduous forests of the…