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 …
New Delhi: The government will have to secure the nod of two-thirds of landowners to acquire a patch of land for private/PPP projects while acquisition in tribal areas would be possible only with the approval of local institutions of self-governance. The enshrining of owners’ willingness to sell land forms a …
Nature-based tourism is well recognised as a tool that can be used for neoliberal conservation. Proponents argue that such tourism can provide revenue for conservation activities, and income generating opportunities and other benefits for local people living at the destination. Private-Community Partnerships (PCPs) are a particular form of hybrid intervention …
Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) is a complex undertaking that draws on a range of biophysical and social science disciplines, and involves a wide range of stakeholders operating through multiple processes, and crossing various levels. Conceptually, this means that ICZM represents a significant challenge in terms of improving the way …
Both fortress and community-based approaches to conservation have shown poor (sometimes negative) results in terms of environmental protection and poverty reduction. Either approach can also trigger grassroots resistance. This article is centered on an allegedly 'community-based' conservation and development project (and its successive follow-ups) intended to create a national park …
In early 2010, after 27 years of recovery effort, the orange-bellied parrot (OBP; Neophema chrysogaster) was expected to be extinct in the wild within a few years. Shortly before the imminent wild extinction became evident, we surveyed landholders (114 responses of 783 surveys delivered) in part of the main non-breeding …
The 2012 Sri Lanka human development report examines the social and economic disparities across Sri Lanka’s geographic regions. It also highlights development differences amongst provinces and districts to the extent that data are available, focusing in particular on spatial disparities. It assesses the health, education, employment and governance sectors, and …
With the Convention on Biological Diversity's 11th Conference of the Parties to take place in Hyderabad, this article points out that the treaty's implementation the world over has lacked resolve. India is no exception, with a great gap between the impression given by reports and the reality on the ground.
During the present study it was observed that the Forest Development Agencies and Village Forest Committees play an important role in National Afforestation Programs by protection and conservation of natural resources through their active involvement.
India’s indigenous Adivasi tribes are among the most disadvantaged people south of the Himalayan mountains. To improve their lot, some have begun to set up community-based organisations.
Visits to seven small towns in north India reveal how paucity of funds, slipshod planning and a dearth of capabilities have contributed to poor civic services and inadequate infrastructure. Citizens in some areas have organised themselves into neighbourhood committees to tackle problems that the urban bodies neglect, but this has …
“Science-based” standards are an integral part of modern regulatory systems. Studies on “public understanding of science” mostly focus on high technology areas in advanced economies. In contrast, the present study analyses the public understanding of regulation in the context of standard-setting for bottled water quality in India. Using primary data, …
The large dams being built on the rivers of the eastern Himalayas have become highly controversial. The hydropower that north-east India is expected to produce is meant almost entirely for use elsewhere. That these dams will be exclusively hydropower and not multipurpose dams and that there will be a great …
Can decentralisation reforms in education achieve the goal of universal elementary education without removing the barriers of hierarchical social structure in West Bengal? A study based on fieldwork in Kalipur village of Dhaniakhali block in Hooghly district elucidates that the village education committees which are meant to ensure the participation …
This paper examines what motivates the participation of African slum(1) dwellers in urban social movement activities. This issue is analyzed through a case study of grassroots mobilization around evictions in Kurasini ward, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The paper uses an analytic narrative approach to account for patterns in participatory behaviour, …
Utilising the modern social network theory, the present descriptive article has examined the art of urbanites’ ‘bowling alone’ in concrete jungles and its negative effect on their social and civic life. Mainly, such a process has resulted in the formation of ‘urban tribes’ characterized by their isolation from the mainstream …
This study is part of ICLEI’s contribution to the international preparatory process for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as the Rio+20 Conference. It focuses on the role of local governments in the last two decades of global action for sustainable development, looking back at achievements and …
The overall objective of the Environmental Report Card is to explore citizens’ perspectives on the environment of Bangalore and assess the gap between perceptions and actions by government. In specific terms, objectives of the study are four-fold: Assess the perceptions of the citizens of Bangalore with regard to the key …
A village council in the remote northeastern state of Nagaland has offered a template of investment that can be replicated by financial institutions and banks throughout the hilly and rural regions to harness the renewable energy potential of an area
India’s food and nutrition problems continue to be formidable and malnutrition is still one of the crucial problems in the process of development. The magnitude of malnutrition and the ignorance about the relationship between food and health among a majority of the population at all levels necessitates the need for …
This paper describes the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to map informal settlements in Cuttack, India in ways that enhance and support residents’ participation in the data collection and planning process. Rather than relying on remote sensing to identify informal settlement locations, each settlement is visited individually by …
