Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Are missing palm trees causing more lighting deaths in Bihar appearing in ‘The Times of India’ dated 29.05.2025". The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Are missing palm trees causing …
AS A professional forester, I feel that the draft Forest Bill is a highly progressive document. The Act, which will come out after the Bill is passed, will greatly improve upon the existing Indian Forest Act of 1927. It is a comprehensive piece of legislation dealing with the preservation of …
IN THE face of mounting public criticism of the Union ministry of environment and forests' draft Forest Bill, environment minister Kamal Nath's quick sidestep to dismiss the document as a "non-paper" is nothing if not adroit strategy. Only this move could have saved his "green" ministry the embarrassment of getting …
OVER the past decade, "social forestry" has become a catchword among the policymakers, environmentalists and development professionals. However, it has not made much headway in becoming a people's programme and continues to be a government initiative. It is now recognised that apart from being an afforestation venture, it involves a …
AFTER dithering for 2 years, the West Bengal government has agreed to restructure its forest administration to increase people's participation in managing forests. The government decision has come under pressure from the World Bank, which in June withheld further disbursement of grants to the Bank-funded, $34-million West Bengal Forestry Project …
THIS book provides a good overall perspective on the world's forests and the political economy of forest management. Authors with broad experience in many fields present diverse views on key forestry issues and the solutions needed to accelerate the transition to sustainable use of forest resources. The book argues that …
IN THE desert state of Rajasthan, forests have always been managed by communities. Over the years, with "modernisation" and flawed official forest management systems, the practice faded. However, traditional forest management is making a comeback in Alwar district and the success of the revival is spreading. And, all this is …
THE INDIAN Forest Act (IFA) of 1927 is going to get a new look and name. The Union ministry of environment and forests (MEF) has distributed to all state governments the draft of a new act that provides for adequate community participation in forests and new concepts such as biodiversity …
It is increasingly evident that without the commitment and cooperation of forest-dependent communities, the forests of India will remain in jeopardy. A conerted effort must now be made to regenerate forest ecosystems. Forest departments, communities, NGOs, research and academic institutions, and other government agencies must come together and mobilize resources …
Which is better: a forest where trees and plants grow wild and free or a plantation of one or two species of trees, lined up neatly? Forests in their natural state are generally regarded as useless and chaotic whereas orderly plantations are considered to be "sustainably yielding" for logging. The …
THOUGH the State of Forest Report 1991 says India's forest cover increased from 6,40,134 sq km in 1989 to 6,40,694 sq km in 1991, the feat the report describes is impossible: Forest products are primarily used for human and livestock consumption, and as human and livestock population increased by about …
• Acknowledge that forests are an inalienable national resource and countries will choose uses of their forest resources according to national priorities and strategies; • assure access to technology through international cooperation to strengthen national capability; • increase financial assistance provided by developed countries and international organisations, including a restructured …
Tropical Forest Action Programme (TFAP) By far the biggest international body in tropical forest management, TFAP was formed on the 1983 decision of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's committee on forest development in the tropics, consisting of about 50 Northern and Southern governments. FAO and some aid agencies expected …
CONFUSION reigns in the hills of Uttar Pradesh (UP) where a decade-old ban on the felling of trees growing above 1,000 metres in the Garhwal Himalaya has been lifted by the state government. However, in the face of protests by environmentalists and the displeasure of the Union ministry of environment …
IN JUNE 1983, the ministry of agriculture recommended certain measures for the protection of the Himalayan ecology, on the basis of which the Uttar Pradesh government imposed a ban on felling of trees above 1,000 metres. The Centre's recommendations were: • Imposition of a complete moratorium, for one growth cycle …
DEVELOPING countries with vast forest reserves took a major step in coordinating a joint position on international cooperation in tropical forest management at the first ministerial conference of the forestry forum for developing countries (FFDC) in New Delhi in September. Indian environment minister Kamal Nath, who chaired the conference, told …
FOREST degradation around a Nepali mountain village has been reversed in a span of 10 years despite an annual population growth rate of 2.5 per cent. In 1980, grazing and fodder collection was a major cause of degradation in Bhogteni, a village in the hills of central Nepal. However, in …
In a chilling reminder of his prowess as an outlaw, sandalwood smuggler and poacher Veerappan and his gang exploded an electronic landmine, which destroyed a van carrying members of a task force set up specially to nab him. Twenty-two policemen died in the April 9 explosion at, which occurred less …
TWENTY years ago, the people of the remote Garhwal village of Mandal decided to resist commercial felling of the trees on which they depended for their basic needs. Their resistance soon spread to other parts of Garhwal and Kumaon, where local pressures on the area's limited grazing resources had reduced …
WHEN ALL the good-sized trees had vanished from the forest around Khudamunda hamlet in Sambalpur district, Orissa, a villager went into a reserve forest nearby in search of poles for his hut. He was caught and beaten by a forest guard, who then took a hefty sum and a goat …
VILLAGERS in Lapanga, Sambalpur district, assert they initiated forest protection as long ago as 1936, making Lapanga one of the first villages to do so. The villagers protect about 250 ha of forest, of which 75 ha. are ryoti (private) land, donated for use as a community-run forest. The protection …
