Even the most ardent proponents of industrialism would acknowledge that we are in the midst of an environment crisis. Rates of species extinction are 1,000 times more than what they were before human beings dominated the earth. The rate of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere today is 30 times more than when the Industrial Revolution started. Urban India is slowly waking up to this inconvenient truth.
The Mine Labour Protection Campaign (MLPC) came into being over a decade ago. It works under the aegis of The School of Desert Sciences (SDS) and draw its strength from its networking partner NGO's, CBO's, experts and individuals. For a decade MLPC has been engaged in organizing mineworkers in Rajasthan, who constitute some of the most deprived sections of society.
The 2002 Amendment to the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972 the bible of the conservation movement calls for a new category of protected areas, a Community Reserve . Recognising communities can take positive action to conserve natural resources,
