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 …
This report contains information on a rapid field assessment of Boran pastoralists of southern Ethiopia to: (1) gauge local communities’ perceptions of the need for local climate change adaptation strategies and their degree of satisfaction with existing interventions; (2) identify emerging climate risk adaptation strategies; and (3) evaluate how existing …
Ahmedabad: Gujarat foresters are dealing with a new threat to the Gir wildlife sanctuary. Scarcity of fodder on the periphery of the sanctuary is forcing politicians to pressure the forest department to permit Maldharis to bring their cattle inside the sanctuary for grazing. Forest officials said that MLAs from the …
Agitation for cultivators’ right to land ownership yet to reach logical end The death of Bagair Hukum cultivator Thimmaraju at Mekerahalli in Sira taluk of the district on Wednesday has rekindled the agitation in the Bagair Hukum farmers (those cultivating land sans legal ownership). Thimmaraju had consumed poison along with …
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) Project has released a guidebook titled “Technologies for Climate Change Mitigation: Agriculture Sector.” The guidebook describes crop and livestock management technologies and practices that contribute to climate change mitigation while improving crop productivity and reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers. The guidebook …
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court suggested that the state government review its policy regarding gauchar land and its allocation, and asks it to evolve a “workable and practicable” policy. The court said so with observation that it should revisit all resolutions passed time to time particularly if the government cannot …
Centre for Development Finance (CDF) at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Chennai, in collaboration with the Department of Forest Environment and Wildlife Management, Sikkim (DFEWM) conducted this study to evaluate grazing exclusion policy in protected forests in West Sikkim. The goal of the study was to examine …
This article is based on a visit to Mundra taluka of Kutch district, Gujarat in January 2011 to understand first hand the plunder of common property resources. It focuses on the Mundra Port and special economic zone developed by the Adani Group and a thermal power plant of OPG Power …
Methane (CH4) uptake by steppe soils is affected by a range of specific factors and is a complex process. Increased stocking rate promotes steppe degradation, with unclear consequences for gas exchanges. To assess the effects of grazing management on CH4 uptake in desert steppes, we investigated soil-atmosphere CH4 exchange during …
Fungi strongly influence ecosystem structure and functioning, playing a key role in many ecological services as decomposers, plant mutualists and pathogens. The Mediterranean area is a biodiversity hotspot that is increasingly threatened by intense land use. Therefore, to achieve a balance between conservation and human development, a better understanding of …
The Khangchendzonga National Park is a part of the eastern Himalaya global biodiversity hotspot and is located in the Sikkim state of India. Increasing livestock populations coupled with the government policy to ban grazing and its selective implementation resulted in conflict. Hence we undertook this multidisciplinary study involving consultations with …
The Khangchendzonga National Park, located in Sikkim is a part of the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot. Traditional sheep herding practices in the park based on village consultations and field surveys to understand the population trend, migration pattern, fodder preferences, incomes and benefit sharing, ecological impacts and risk mitigation techniques were …
Current paradigms generally assume that increased plant nitrogen (N) should enhance herbivore performance by relieving protein limitation, increasing herbivorous insect populations. We show, in contrast to this scenario, that host plant N enrichment and high-protein artificial diets decreased the size and viability of Oedaleus asiaticus, a dominant locust of north …
There are a wide range of agriculture-based practices and technologies that have the potential to increase food production and the adaptive capacity of the food production system, as well as reduce emissions or enhance carbon storage in agricultural soils and biomass. However, even where such synergies exist, capturing them may …
About fifty literatures published during 1980 to date were reviewed for the common property resources, CPRs, especially pasturelands. They were categorized in three aspects viz. linkages, livelihood and share of income, and effect on CPRs and role of CPRs. It was analyzed for their linkages, the strong and the weak …
An understanding of the factors controlling plant community composition will allow improved prediction of the responses of plant communities to natural and anthropogenic environmental change. Using monitoring data from 1980 to 2009, we quantified the changes in community composition in Leymus chinensis and Stipa grandis dominated grasslands in Inner Mongolia …
Carbon finance offers the potential to change land management and conservation planning priorities. We develop a novel approach to planning for improved land management to conserve biodiversity while utilizing potential revenue from carbon biosequestration. We apply our approach in northern Australia's tropical savanna, a region of global significance for biodiversity …
The Barsey Sanctuary is a part of the larger Khangchendzonga ecosystem, which is the third highest in the world, and is a part of the Eastern Himalayan Conservation landscape including the Khangchendzonga Conservation Area in Nepal, Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary and Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary in Sikkim and Singalila …
THERVOY Kandigai village, 50 km northwest of Chennai in Thiruvallur district, is planning another protest against the Tamil Nadu government’s plan to set up an industrial estate on its 405 hectares (ha) of common forestland. People were encouraged by the recent Supreme Court ruling declaring the transfer of common land …
Some hundred people, men and women, were gathered on the hill. Many more, I could see, were trudging up. Their faces were resolute. I asked why they were opposing the cement plant. Their answer was simple: “We cannot eat cement.” “But the plant will bring you employment and prosperity,” I …
JAGPAL SINGH and Dev Singh of Jagir Rohar village in Patiala have little idea that their enmity has resulted in a landmark judgement by the Supreme Court that would bear implications for the rural population of the country. In its January 28 decision in the case concerning encroachment of common …
