Judgment of the Supreme Court in the matter of In Re: Zudpi Jungle Lands. A batch of applications involved a peculiar issue concerning the situation prevailing in the six districts of eastern Vidarbha region namely Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. The issue pertains to the status of the …
Ecology sells! Or so refrigerator manufacturers hope. They have launched a spate of eco-friendly CFC-free(Chloro Fluro Carbons) refrigerators in the Indian market in the last few months. And their push line has been 'the eco-frindly refrigerator'. With the Montreal Protocol which says that CFC-based products should be phased out by …
Flouting all environmental norms, vested interests have cut hundreds of trees on the Delhi-Jaiput highway here (Gurgaon). On an area of just a stretch of 1 km starting from the Jharsa crossing to Rajiv Chowk on either side of the national highway, the land-tree mafia has cut at least 500 …
The much vaunted sack craft paper industry in Dhing in Nagaon district, which was a brainchild of the then Industries Minister Digen Bora, has cost the State Government a cool Rs 11 crore since 1987 when it was set up without any foresight, adequate planning and only to subserve the …
The Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) today accused the 'forest bureaucracy' of Uttar Pradesh of trying to sabotage the Global Environment Facility (GEF) approved project for Bio-diversity Conservation through Community Management in the proposed Rajaji National Park.
In forestry lingo, "selective thinning" is what loggers do to woods that are overgrown and vulnerable to disease. It's also what some Congressional Republicans are apprently planning for the U.S. Forest Service if it doesn't allow more cutting of the country's 15-plus national forests.
Agriculture Minister Pongpol Adireksarn yesterday opened up two battlefronts simultaneously against farmers' groups and conservationists with his announced intention to revoke three cabinet resolutions favouring forest encroachers, and to approve the construction of Kaeng Sua Ten Dam. The three resolutions passed during the Chavalit Yongchaiyudh administration allow encroachers to remain …
The Forest department proposes to double its protected forest area from the present 6000 sq km and has sought the sanction of the Ministry of Environment and Forests to declare eight areas in the Tamil Nadu State's forest division as wildlife sanctuaries.
Federal ownership and management of forests began with the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 (also known as the Creative Act) that created forest reserves to protect against excessive logging. In 1905, Congress established the fs under the department of agriculture. It was given the task of managing the national forests …
The wild elephants that once roamed freely over southern China, retreated long ago to the dense tropical rain forests which cover the mountains near the nation's borders with Myanmar (previously Burma) and Laos. The dwindling elephant population that now survives has been further ravaged in recent years by poachers eager …
Thanks to a treatment developed by UK-based firm IBS Viridian, sewage plants can now smell sweeter. The treatment cuts the smell of hydrogen sulphide, the characteristic stench of rotten eggs which people living near sewage plants often find absolutely unbearable. A six-week trial carried out for West of Scotland Water …
The repatriation of thousands of Bangladeshi tribal refugees from northeast India is almost complete, officials said. They said 56,520 refugees, including 11,000 families, have returned to the Chittagong hill tracts from camps in Tripura form last March. The remaining, numbering around 4,000, are expected to return soon. The repatriation began …
Four Greenpeace activists who boarded the shipment of ancient Canadian rainforest timber and pulp were served with an injunction to prevent them from holding up the ship, the 'Saga Wind', run by Saga Forest Carriers International. The activists from Belgium, England and the Netherlands have spent over 50 hours on …
The trial of 18 environmentalists arrested on June 24, 1997 for blockading the clearcut logging operations of International Rainforests Products on King Island in the Great Bear Rainforest begins soon in the province's Supreme Court. The defendants are charged with refusing to obey the court injunction issued by the Supreme …
The Orissa high court has settled the three-month-old controversy over the sale of kendu leaf in favour of the state-owned Orissa Forest Development Corporation (OFDC). On Tuesday, the court dismissed the petition filed by the federation of Bidi, Bidi Leaf &Tobacco; Merchants (FBBTM) challenging the invitation of bids by OFDC …
In an exclusive arrangement, the World Bank has provided around Rs 105 crore in the form of grant to the Industrial development Bank of India (IDBI) for funding phasing out of ozone depletion substances (ODS).
Plantation companies which claimed ownership of thousands of acres in their advertisements for attracting investors are finding the going tough as many states in the country do not permit companies to hold more than 20 to 30 acres of land. With plantation companies now coming under the SEBI control and …
The World Bank team which visited Jabalpur for appraisal of projects under social forestry scheme has expressed its satisfaction over the progress made so far in implementation of the scheme.
Broadly written rules have allowed steel mills, foundries and chemical plants to dispose of toxic waste by selling it to fertilizer companies. According to a report released by the Environmental Working Group, 454 fertilizer companies or farms in 38 states received 271 million pounds of waste that included lead, arsenic, …
