To unearth the priorities in Assam to cope with floods effectively, the prime objective of this research study is on assessment of the adaptation measures, structural and non-structural, to floods in three districts of Assam, viz. Dhemaji, Jorhat and Dhubri representing North Bank Plains, Upper Brahmaputra Valley and Lower Brahmaputra Valley, agro-climatic zones respectively. Bottom up approach was adopted to gather the quantitative data from various concerned departments and qualitative data by holding focus group discussions.

We assessed a donor-funded grassland management project designed to create both conservation and livelihood benefits in the rangelands of Mongolia's Gobi desert. The project ran from 1995 to 2006, and we used remote sensing Normalized Differential Vegetation Index data from 1982 to 2009 to compare project grazing sites to matched control sites before and after the project's implementation.

The mainstream paradigm of understanding grass-root environmentalism in India as “environmentalism of the poor” might be challenged by an alternative prototype forest movement in the Bengal Dooars prior to the Chipko movement. It was fought against the exploitative design of ecosystem governance under the taungya method of artificial regeneration as invented by colonial foresters during the British rule.

Many factors associated with modern society have combined to produce a burgeoning in water demand. This demand can be realized only through efficient management of water sources and supply systems. To achieve sustainable water supply the beneficiary communities should be made to maintain the facilities created in the rural areas.

Orissa is prone to natural disasters, especially floods. Yet, the authorities have not been able to draw up an effective disaster management plan and politicians continue to play politics with relief works. What is needed in dealing with these disasters and the relief and rehabilitation work that follows is the participation of the local community and functionaries of panchayati raj institutions, and coordination with national and international bodies.

The goal of preserving nature is often in conflict with economic development and the aspirations of the rural poor. Nowhere is this more striking than in native grasslands, which have been extensively converted until a mere fraction of their original extent remains. This is not surprising; grasslands flourish in places coveted by humans, primed for agriculture, plantations, and settlements that nearly always trump conservation efforts.

Newly democratic Bhutan pushes community forestry to tackle rural poverty.

Read More : http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/forests-people

The transformation of human settlements over time can affect the relationship between communities and commons when, for example, social geographies change from rural to urban, or from traditional systems of management to modern bureaucratic systems. Communities that were dependent on particular commons could become less dependent, or abandon those commons. New communities of interest might emerge. Examining the transformation of a lake in Bangalore, this paper argues that in the community struggle towards creating and claiming commons, claiming the sphere of planning is fundamental.