The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
The Ministry of Environment and Forests has withdrawn its latest guidelines for creating inviolate space for wildlife. The guidelines for creating Critical wildlife Habitat (CWH), issued on February 7, violated the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and threatened the interests of the forest dwellers (see: ‘Misguided rules’). The ministry also asked …
Top forest officials and members of the National Forest Rights Act Committee are on a collision course after the panel submitted its report to the government and stated that the Act was not implemented in its true spirit. A war of words ensued after the panel, formed by the environment …
A National seminar on the FRA was organised by the Council for Social Development on 26–27 April, 2010. Most of the participants reported that all of the key features of this legislation have been undermined by a combination of apathy and sabotage during the process of implementation. In the current …
The National Advisory Council (NAC) recognizes that the Scheduled Tribes & Other Traditional Forest Dwellers( Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 was a landmark legislation that aimed to undo the historial injustice done to tribals and other forest dwellers by non-recognition of their forest rights. However, it has not yet …
IN DHINKIA village in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district, residents gathered around fragile bamboo gates, armed with sticks, brooms and lathis. The gates and improvised weapons were meant to keep government officials out. The residents expected a visit from them any day after the Union environment ministry gave environmental clearance to South …
In a major victory for tribals of Lakhimpur Kheri living in 46 villages in and around the Dudhwa forest range, the state government has allowed them to collect forest produce required for their survival. It has also approved in principle the proposal to convert two forest villages
The Union government is reviewing its landmark initiative, the Forest Rights Act, four years after enacting it and two high-level groups submitted their assessment in the first week of January. But the environment ministry is in no mood to accept Forest Rights Act review finds out Down To Earth. The …
THE Union government is reviewing its landmark initiative, the Forest Rights Act, four years after enacting it. The aim is to find how to strengthen the law which was legislated to ensure the traditional rights of 100 million forest dwelling people in the country. Two high-level groups submitted their assessment …
Recently there have been some newspaper reports that the Ministry of Environment & Forests is flouting the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act in tiger reserves and in the critical wildlife habitats. Such reports are false and misleading and as someone who has taken …
Revised guidelines for identification/notification of critical wildlife habitats as per the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
After three decades of sustained struggle with Forest officials, 340 families of the Tharu tribe of Surma village located in the core tiger habitat area of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve are a happy lot. The state government has asked the Lakhimpur Kheri district administration to convert the village into a …
This report takes stock of the current status of forest rights and tenure globally, assesses the key issues and events of 2010 that shape possibilities to improve local rights and livelihoods, and identifies key questions and challenges that the world will face in 2011.
MoEF has granted conditional environmental clearance to POSCO for its steel-cum-captive-power plant & a captive minor port at Orissa and has demanded an assurance from the state government that forest rights are not being violated. The Government of Orissa and Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) signed a MoU on June 22, …
It has been shocking to see the immense pressure that has been developing from various quarters to reduce the NO GO forest zones to allow coal mining. MoEF has been succumbing to the pressure from the various ministries and drastically reducing the areas demarcated as NO GO zones. This move …
The National Mission for a Green India has been approved by the PM’s Council on Climate Change. It aims to increase the quantity and quality of 10 million ha. of forest area, achieving an annual CO2 sequestration of 50 to 60M tonnes by 2020. The National Mission for a Green …
Status report on implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 for the period ending 31st January 2011.
