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 …
On 17 May 2005, the Government of Gujarat issued a resolution (GR) to bring wastelands under cultivation inviting big corporate houses and rich farmers – a beginning of corporate farming in a big way in the state. The GR has the provision of giving wastelands up to 2000 acres for …
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 …
Since early this year, the news on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Ranthambore, India's flagship conservation areas in Rajasthan, has dominated the media and shocked the Indian public. But few are aware of the parallel decline, rather the near-death, of India's pastoral cultures, even though it concerns the livelihoods of …
India's heritage of natural habitats and wild species is under growing threat from its biomass-dependent rural peoples and its consumeristic urban economy. As the mainstay of its wildlife conservation effort, then, India's wildlife reserves continue to face a range of extractive uses. The Indian conservation/development discourse has, however, drawn a …
The paper describes the effect of rains on vegetal cover, different traditional practices and soil properties in the dry and monsoon period. Seven landuse systems i.e. open pine forests, tea plantation, rainfed agriculture, degraded land, grassland, recently restored site and a bare land were identified in the Bhetagad watershed of …
There is recent evidence to suggest that domestic livestock deplete the density and diversity of wild herbivores in the cold deserts of the Trans-Himalaya by imposing resource limitations. To ascertain the degree and nature of threats faced by Himalayan ibex (Capra sibirica) from seven livestock species, the authors studied their …
Gujjars, a pastoralist community, prefer wilderness for their habitats. In Rajasthan, one tract of Gujjars habitats is mainly scattered around Sariska, a world fame Tiger Reserve, nowadays very much in news because of the tigers vanishing from it. The Sariska is spread over 866 square km areas. The Gujjars are …
The policy discourse on management of protected areas (PAs) has come a long way from purely conservationist strategies to participatory approaches. In between these two there is a wide range of options that combine different elements of resource sharing, market regulation and privatization. Located in western part of India, Gir …
all herders and livestock, who had intruded into the 392-square-kilometre (sq km) Ranthambhore National Park in Sawai Madhopur district, Rajasthan, have been driven out ending one month of drama. The tension between 100-odd villages around the park and the forest department, however, can spark more trouble in the future. There …
Between July 1997 and November 1997, forest fires on islands in Indonesia created smoke that spread over seven nations and was responsible for a plane crash in Sumatra and an oil vessel collision in the strait of Malacca due to low visibility. If there is a forest, there will be …
madhya Pradesh (mp) government has proposed an amendment in land distribution laws, which will override the authority of gram sabha over common property land. This decision comes at a time, when panchayat institutions are clamouring for more power from the Union government. The amendment calls for the redistribution of nistar …
local community members will have the first claim over the forest produce, says the blueprint of Madhya Pradesh's new forest policy. Only after these people consume the forest produce for fodder, fuel and other domestic uses would it be exploited commercially. Forest cover would be increased throughout the state by …
agriculture, including livestock rearing, is of prime importance to India. More than 70 per cent of the country's population subsists solely on agriculture. Therefore, natural grazing lands and cultivated fodder crops are of prime importance and development of forage production systems is vital for livestock maintenance and sustenance. However, the …
sixty million households or some 320 million Indians live below the so-called poverty line. In Andhra Pradesh ( ap ) alone, 16 per cent or one in every six persons come from a family unable to afford two square meals a day. For these people, the much-maligned goat is a …
"In my mountaineering wandering I have not seen a more beautiful valley than this... this valley of peace and perfect beauty where the human spirit may find repose," said Frank Smythe, who came across this valley of dreams during one of his mountaineering trips in 1931. Unfortunately, the Valley of …
While wildlife scientists believe forest officials have very little technical knowledge, the latter feels that scientists are "conducting research for their objectives of impressing funding sources" rather than on need-based criteria. It's a virtual war of words between the two groups. The obvious result: gross mismanagement of protected areas and …
