IT HAS taken almost two decades of consistent research into the northeastern tribal practice of shifting agriculture for P S Ramakrishna, professor of ecology at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, to explode the myth that the system is primitiv

The environment ministers of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Burma and India are likely to meet soon to work out a clean-up programme for the Himalaya. The idea for the 'Save

The Ganga Mukti Andolan is endeavouring to free a stretch of the Ganga and the exploited fisherfolk that derive their livelihood from it from the clutches of landowners and mafia gangs.

PERHAPS no environmental problem affects the poor of the world as much as desertification. The UN Environmental Programme UNEP says this has affected 900 million people and 6.1 billion ha. But desertification is an issue far more complex than just degr

WHAT DOES the International Monetary Fund have to do with land degradation? On the face of it, nothing. But in reality, quite a lot. A degraded landscape in an increasingly integrated world is

Though programmes involving villagers in the regeneration of forest lands have been successful, caution should be exercised while bringing new areas under such programmes

The present land tenure laws do not encourage the conservation of agricultural land and lead to fallow patches, as is evident from the condition of a typical watershed.

SOME 3.6 billion ha of the world's drylands -- about a third of the total -- are today lying in a state of degradation. The world would earn some US $42 billion every year in extra income if these

Are goats responsible for increasing desertification? No, say many environmentalists and researchers. In fact, this hardy animal fertilises degraded land efficiently, besides being a valuable source of income and nutrition for the poor

A N CHATURVEDI, former chief conservator of forests of UP and now with the Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi, is appalled at the attempts to glorify the goat. According to him, the

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