Affidavit on behalf of Union Territory of Puducherry in the matter of a news item titled "India lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000 Global Forest Watch" which appeared in the Indian Express, April 13, 2024. The report dated April 25, 2025 said that there is no loss …
In a prelude to creating a national expressways authority on the lines of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), road transport and highways minister Kamal Nath has already set a time table of works that the agency would implement. In a report drafted by the ministry, the minister has …
Mendha a tribal village in Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra is showing the way to conserve forests and manage natural resources. Mendha is mainly inhabited by 480 Gond adivasis. Mendha village may be called country's first village to get a legal record of rights to manage its forest, water and forest produce …
This draft of the first ever individual forest policy for Rajasthan acknowledges fast depleting forest cover. It aims to bring additional 45,000 sq km of area under afforestation & pasture development and says that participation of local community shall be central to forest management. The basic objectives of State Forest …
The Open Budget Survey 2010 reveals that 74 of the 94 countries assessed fail to meet basic standards of transparency and accountability with national budgets. This opens the door to abuse and inappropriate and inefficient use of public money. The good news is that all governments -- no matter their …
The right to environment is a recognised human right in Africa. However, despite the legal and institutional frameworks designed to respect, promote, protect and fulfil the right, its enjoyment is still a mirage to majority of African citizens as a result of environmental degradation. This article aims to proffer a …
Joint Forest Management (JFM), the partnership between the Government Forest Department and forest-fringe community (organised through the Forest Protection Committees (FPCs) towards Forest Protection, had its inception in the state of West Bengal and is considered to be the most successful in this state. Bankura (North) Division, being part of …
The objectives of the regional E-discussion on climate change and poverty: Collect and summarize the expert opinions on climate change and poverty issues in CA countries; Exchange information about the state policies and strategies, action plans on climate change and poverty, as well as involve CA experts, the public and …
Involving local communities is a prerequisite to sustainable disaster risk reduction. Local communities are both the primary victims and the first to respond to emergencies when disasters strike. Nobody is more interested in reducing disaster risk than the community whose survival and well-being is at stake. Community-based disaster risk reduction …
This document addresses development projects' impact on the environment, which may be harmful to communities and ultimately increases poverty and makes people more vulnerable to disasters. It contains an environmental assessment template and describes the six steps involved in completing this assessment, in addition to disaster and climate risk reduction …
Specialized environmental courts and tribunals (ECTs) are making major contributions to access to justice, environmental governance, and protection of the environment around the world. Their growth is spectacular
This article draws on research the author carried out in Ghana and Burkina Faso to explore the impact of a transboundary water governance project on poor people
This paper examines the effectiveness of environment courts in the PRC and elsewhere, so that the lessons learned can be applied in the PRC and in other developing countries. It also recommends ways to promote environmental justice in the PRC, given that the 11 environment courts are no longer enough …
In this article the author critically reflect on participatory processes in vulnerability research in the context of community-based adaptation to climate change (CBA). CBA is an emerging form of bottom-up adaptation to climate change. CBA is distinct in that it focuses largely on empowerment or
In the face of increasing disaster events and the ongoing and future impacts of global climate change, a growing body of work is emerging around community-based responses to preventing disasters and adapting to a changing climate (known as
This paper describes a community-based framework for combining different types of knowledge to address climate change. It builds on earlier work by Mercer to develop and pilot a framework for addressing disaster risk reduction in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The 52 SIDS face similar sustainability challenges, including exceptional vulnerability …
Forests play an important role in enhancing livelihood requirements for rural community and also in maintaining ecological balance. Moreover, they provide many tangible and intangible goods and services viz., timber, fuelwood, Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), and have recreation and aesthetic value. The conservation and proper management of NTFPs in their …
One of the major barriers to addressing complex social–ecological issues through integrated coastal management (ICM) is a lack of intergovernmental coordination and cooperation (horizontal and vertical fragmentation). This article describes an effort to overcome the barriers to ICM in Sri Lanka by fostering intergovernmental collaboration and initiating adaptive governance to …
The premise of this paper is that, despite the existence of a well-established regulatory framework to enforce environmental laws and policies in each state of India, there has been a variation in the implementation of environmental judgments. This paper argues that an independent and proactive Court-appointed monitoring committee, namely the …
To save biodiversity, on-the-ground agencies need to set the conservation research agenda, not distant academics and non-governmental organizations, argue Robert J. Smith and colleagues.
The value of biodiversity must be accounted for, says Pavan Sukhdev. It is time for governments to invest to secure the flow of nature's 'public goods'.
