Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Suresh Vs State of Maharashtra & Others issued on 25/09/2013 regarding measures taken for shifting of villages from the forest area, the status about manner in which the contracts are given for collecting Tendu leaves from the forest area and outside the forest area, the annual percentage of fire incidents from the period of filing of the Writ Petition up till the current year, the protection available to the Forest Guards, who are assigned duty to prevent the mischief mongers, who cause fire or indulge in poaching in the forest area

This is a study of three villages in the Aravalli Hills of south Haryana, which have full title over the common lands and forests and have taken three radically different alternatives. One community, Mangar, is on the verge of losing the battle to the allure of real estate. The second village, Zir, is still confi dently preserving the forest as its common property, and the third, Bhondsi, appears to be divided in interests and has decided to let the forest department do the protection for the immediate future.

This article demonstrates the central role of ambiguity in the (re)production process of conservation practice. It argues that some current political economy as well as environmentality approaches to research conservation practice fail to capture the complexity of the lived experience of local conservationists. The article focuses on the multiple identities of rangers in interaction with other residents at the periphery of the W Park in Burkina Faso, as rangers are local conservationists who simultaneously submit to and produce conservation practices.

A two-day workshop, titled “Fishery-dependent Livelihoods, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity: The Case of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas in India”, was held in New Delhi during 1-2 March 2012. The workshop was a follow-up to the one held in Chennai in 2009, which was titled “Social Dimensions of Marine Protected Area (MPA) Implementation in India: Do Fishing Communities Benefit?”.

Despite the legal provisions for the functioning of expert bodies like the National Board of Wildlife and the Forest Advisory Committee, the forest bureaucracy disdains the experts and often overrides scientific evaluations. The training course of the India Forest Service too lacks a social science component that can help new foresters understand the social ramifications of forest-related issues. It is time to create space for scientists and conservationists to liaise with the forest departments in the country.

Gadchiroli in Maharashtra may have acquired the model district status for clearing a record number of community forest rights (CFR) claims, but its 298 villages are angry with the forest department for stripping them of the basic right to manage forest produce.

Taungyas have lived in Uttar Pradesh for decades but law does not recognise them. They have hope from the Forest rights Act 2006 in getting legal identity, as it recognises the traditional rights of scheduled tribes and other forest-dwellers on forest land and resources.

An official committee’s recipe for forest management will, if implemented, have a disastrous impact. (Editorial)

A National seminar on the FRA was organised by the Council for Social Development on 26–27 April, 2010. Most of the participants reported that all of the key features of this legislation have been undermined by a combination of apathy and sabotage during the process of implementation.

A special report by Down To Earth on Koyna sanctuary situated in Satara district, Maharashtra, where the windmills and resorts replace wildlife with government's help.

Pages