Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Nayar river is vanishing - a yatra reveals conservation goes beyond science and policy" appearing in ‘The Down To Earth’ dated 03.06.2025. The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Nayar …
people living in the Sagar taluk of Shimoga district in Karnataka have severely opposed a government move to construct a dam to irrigate nearly 405 hectares of khariff paddy land in the region. According to the non-government organisation ( ngo ) Vriksha Laksha Andolan ( vla ), the project will …
devastating cyclones come and go but nature and humans can help reduce the extent of damage. When we fail to protect nature and do not take preventive and corrective measures all things living suffer immensely. Last year's super cyclone that struck the coast of Orissa with wind-speeds of up to …
The principle objective of this study is to generate economic value of various goods & services provided by the Himachal Forests. It recognizes the multi-stakeholders, multisectoral contribution of forests through their multiple values.
How can there be sustainable development when so many people are dependent on forests for their livelihood? Sustainable development generates revenue. One must understand that there is no trade-off between sustainability and development in the long-term perspective. When sustainability is achieved, there will be a transitional period when you have …
the Burkinabe Energy Institute in Burkina Faso in Africa has introduced several models of stoves that will reduce the consumption of wood for domestic purposes. Around 85 per cent people in Burkina Faso use wood as a source of energy in their homes. This has resulted in largescale deforestation and …
water is scarce in Mauritania, one of the countries in Africa which is worst-hit by drought and desertification. Even in areas where water is available, overgrazing by livestock has led to an acute water scarcity. In a bid to provide water to its people, the government of Mauritania has set …
THE projected rise in sea level due to global warming and climate change is the kind of stuff that makes doomsday stories. The threat from such a rise has ominous portents for a large portion of the human population. Yet several scientists say that problems related to global warming may …
Forest fires have been mainly responsible for wiping out 30 per cent of the orangutan population in the forests of Borneo. The reason for the decline in primate numbers, which presently stands at between 15,000 to 20,000, was the 1997 forest fires in Kalimantan which destroyed 520,000 hectares of land. …
the fund-starved Himachal Pradesh government has decided to lift the 16-year ban on felling of green trees. This move is expected to bring in additional revenue to the tune of Rs 40 crore for the government. The decision was taken at December's cabinet meeting but there was no mention of …
during the 1980s, cyclones ravaged Bangladesh, left millions of people homeless and devastated thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land. Remote sensing maps clearly indicated that wherever mangrove forests were destroyed, there were more damages. In India, too, the pressures of increasing population, food production and industrial and urban development …
it will take up to two centuries to restore France's forests, devastated by freak Christmas weekend storms which killed over 85 people, said the National Forestry Office ( onf ). The onf said gales blowing up to 200 kph uprooted or broke in half 270 million trees, the equivalent of …
How did the idea of ecological restoration (ER) originate? The concept of er has been around for more than a century. The earliest published call for restoration, that one can recall, was made in India by the famous theosophist Helena Blavatsky in 1879. Madame Blavatsky, as she was known, predicted …
Environmentalists in Brazil won a major victory when a legislative proposal to open more areas to logging and harvesting was put on hold till March. If the Congress approved the bill, it would have been "the largest known setback for Brazilian environmental laws", said Andre Lima, a representative from Brazil's …
it is an attempt to achieve environmentally-friendly logging. Mil Madeireira, a Brazil-based forestry company, has evolved a way to cut trees in such a way that when a tree is cut, it falls in an area where few other trees would be affected. The company's logging method has been acknowledged …
Concern for the country's deforestation and resulting damage to the ecosystem is becoming a major issue in China, reports the China Daily. The government and the people are considering it important to improve the forest ecosystem and increase forest cover from the present 13.9 per cent to 19.4 per cent …
Fifteen years ago, Brazilians did not even have a name for the lush, tropical rainforest that tumbles from seaside mountains to the ocean along much of the nation's Atlantic coast. They came up with a name just in time. The Mata Atlantica or the Atlantic rain forest, is now one …
Only one-third of the estimated 4.20 million hectare (ha) forest area, or 4.8 per cent of Pakistan's total geographical area, is productive. The remaining two-third is maintained for environmental protection. According to sources, the forest sector, owing to very small productive forest area in the country, contributed about 0.1 per …
What were your major achievements during your tenure as environment minister? Since 1952, we have been trying to increase forest cover to 33 per cent, but there has been no action plan. I have prepared a very comprehensive action plan and a number of donor agencies have been identified to …
the struggle against the British which finally ended in Independence plunged the villagers of Seed, Rajasthan, into troubled times. After over two decades of helpless suffering, it took a Gandhian from the neighbouring village of Sethwana to dispel the clouds of despondency. The simple step involved converting Seed to a …
After experiencing a 10-year low in economic growth, the cash-starved Sri Lanka government has decided to sell its valuable teak trees. This decision has sparked a major controversy with environmentalists criticising the move. A committee, appointed by president Chandrika Kumaratunge, said the government could earn US $35 million by selling …
