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 …
An overdose of bloodshed later, the Sri Lankans are taking up green methods to soothe themselves. Celebrating the army takeover of Jaffna from the Tigers, the islanders have taken to sowing plants in every home. Underlying the planting exercise is the fact that when the plants grow into trees, they …
At last the Gujarat government has announced a cash award for those educating the masses about the need for planting trees and taking care of them. The award carries a sum of Rs 70,000. To be eligible for the award, the person has to belong to the state, having contributed …
A QUIET revolution is gradually transforming the landscape in the villages of Rajasthan's Udaipur district, turning barren and denuded land into thriving patches of green vegetation; Sangwa is one such village. On August 4, Jagdish Chandra Ameta proudly received the Indira Priyadarshim Vriksharmtra Award for 1993, given to the Sangwa …
The Bhutan government is conducting study tours for farmers. Twenty farmers from Parop village were recently taken on a 5-day trip to forestry plantations and nurseries in Wangduephodrang, Punakha and Thimphu to launch the "Farmers-Foresters Familiarisation" tour organised by the government's social forestry and extension section. The aim of the …
INDUSTRY SAYS ENVIRONMENTALISTS SAY It'll join national reforestation efforts It is welcome, but should encourage farmers to grow trees on low productivity land Government's reforestation efforts have failed Industry's refusal to buy wood at fair prices led to the failure of form forestry Industry can contribute money Not really. Most …
The Bugasong Greenbelt Foundation (OGF), a voluntary organisation in the Philippines, has launched an ambitious "Plant for Life- campaign. Launched from the Bugasong town of Antique province on June 12 this year, it was started,to return abandoned fields that have been colonised by the useless weed, Imperata cylindrica, or cogon …
JULY 31 came and went, without the first meeting of the special committee of ministers, set up to decide upon the fate of the environment and forest ministry's (MEF) controversial captive plantations proposal, taking place. The issue still hangs fire. The committee of 7 Cabinet ministers was formed on July …
The salient features of the new government scheme which would allow paper plantations to stay on degraded forests are: • The selection of the project area shall be done jointly by the forest department, Forest Development Corporations (FDC), and the industries/entrepreneurs. Only degraded forests of less than 10 per cent …
THE Union Cabinet is masticating over a proposal to allow the Indian paper industry to maintain plantations on degraded forests in India. The process is expected to accelerate although several Union ministers have reservations about anticipated protests by ngos and forest-based communities, especially in view of the Parliamentary elections due …
The pampered paper industry in India is being given another sop. It has consistently lobbied for captive plantations in the country's forest tracts. Success, it seems, is at hand because the Indian government is actively considering such a scheme, ignoring the gross injustice explicit in this demand. On the face …
Looks can deceive. If you saw the meagre frame of 35 year-old Sarojini Pradhan, you would dare not suggest that she had led some 3 score women in tying up a forester who had been surreptitiously felling young sal trees. Pradhan is the president of the Mahila Mandal (women's organisation) …
Asunati Khonara, 65 of village Prapamunda, a mother of 4, is a Kond adivasi woman. With the establishment of NIPDIT in 1982, she became the animator of the Dadaki Cluster Level Organisation. She has been the vital force behind the people of 16 villages giving up shifting cultivation and going …
Forest ministers of the states and union territories of India jointly issued a declaration in Delhi on May 18 at the State Forest Minister's Conference, resolving to clear the backlog of compensatory afforestation by increasing the target for 1995-96 form 56,000 ha to 1 lakh ha. As such, the national …
THE Andaman & Nicobar islands, with their soft green cover, crystal clear water, thick tropical forests, rich marine ecosystems and ancient tribes almost 2,000 years behind modernity, living in harmony with nature are facing crisis at this point of time in history. The pressure on natural resources from a limited …
The greening of Bangladesh's coastline will commence soon. The Asian Development Bank has approved a US $23.4 million loan for a 7-year project for improving Bangladesh's forest cover and alleviating rural poverty by creating income opportunities. Under an aggressive reforestation drive spearheaded by Bangladeshi NGOs and the forestry department, landless …
The Government of India announced its decision in 1973 to set up a 6 million tonne per year Petroleum Oil Refinery at Mathura under the Indian Oil Corporation of India. Some apprehensions were expressed about the possible adverse effects on the historic monuments in the Agra-Mathura region from the gaseous …
THAT biomass can be an antidote against global warming is an optimistic proposition. It seems unlikely that afforestation can keep pace with the rate of pollution of the atmosphere. Even if it did, it appears inconceivable that enough land would be available to grow trees to absorb sufficient volumes of …
In 1986, the Foundation for Community Organisation and Management Technology installed the community management system in 5 municipalities in Negros Occidental -- Bago, Pulupandan, Valliadollid, Salvador-Benedicto and Murcia. The project was supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for 2 years. These 5 municipalities are integrated by a river …
THE sight of young forests in a dry desert is a breathtaking sight. Marusthal par vijay is the story of the Haryana Forest Department's afforestation efforts to block the sinister advance of the Thar desert. The film shows how Hissar in Haryana and Jodhpur in Rajasthan sandbag off the assaults. …
Tiding over tremendous initial resistance from the industry as well as from ministry fifth-columnists, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF) has submitted a fresh proposal with the Union cabinet for involving the industry directly in afforestation of degraded forest lands. But the Kerala government wants the baby killed even …
