Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
As prime minister A B Vajpayee was reminding the nation about threats from across the border in his Independence Day speech from Delhi's Red Fort this year, a group of extreme Leftist outfits, popularly known as Naxalites, were redrawing the internal map of the country. At a secret meeting held …
it could have been a church, with people confessing their sins. Only, it was a consultative meeting, where wildlife mangers and the conservation fraternity confessed that protected area management under Eco Regional Planning (erp) was an abysmal failure. Held on August 6-8, 2001, in New Delhi, the meeting organised by …
Why have you asked for changes in the Forest (Conservation) Act? Actually the entire Forest (Conservation) Act needs to be reviewed with a wider perspective. The overall concept of forest conservation should be given a dynamism so that it changes with the needs of the people. The term forest has …
There are many reasons attributed to the groundfires that incinerated vast oak and pine forest tracts in Pauri Garhwal starting the 3rd week of May. The one among them that stands head and shoulders over the jagged, smouldering stumps of trees is human disenchantment with the laws of the land, …
MAKAR Sankranti, January 14, is an auspicious day for Hindus. In Rajasthan, it is the day of reconciliation. This year, a motley group of 15-odd people set out that day on a 15,000 km walkathon through 18 sanctuaries and national parks (NPs) spread over 5 states. Their moving force was …
The Bhairu Lok Abhyaranya Dakav in Bhanwta, near Sariska, Rajasthan, is a sanctuary with a difference. It is a sanctuary declared, protected and managed by the people. "We call it the sonchidi, since it is as precious as a sone ki chidiya (the golden bird)," says Kanhaiyalal Gujjar, a member …
Our syllabi (for training forest officials) still have manuals written during the Raj S K Mukherjee Acting director, Wildlife Institute, Dehradun Why do you still train foresters in horseriding and shooting, 5 decades after the British have left? Surely, that's teaching them to charge against us. Nanakram Gujjar, a villager …
In the face of severe criticism by Union environment minister Kamal Nath, among others, the Madhya Pradesh government has agreed to defer implementation of its new "nistar policy." The controversial move by the Madhya Pradesh government to limit villagers' access to nistar -- concessional supply of forest produce -- rights …
A PROPOSED forest conservation programme in Thailand has met with fierce resistance from non-governmental organisations, academicians and forestry officials who feel the project may dislocate forest dwellers. The $93-million Conservation Forest Area Protection, Management and Development Project is to be funded partly by a Global Environment Facility grant of $20 …
