-The Times of India The Chhattisgarh government fudged records, concealed facts, changed policy and altered decisions while the Union environment ministry overlooked all such illegalities to open up 1,899 hectares for mining in Hasdeo Arand, one of the best patches of forests in central India. Initially, the Centre had decided to protect Hasdeo Arand by making it a no-go zone for miners. The Chhattisgarh government too had moved to get the dense...
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UN-backed conference seeks to improve measures to halt wildlife poaching
-The United Nations Some 2,000 representatives from 150 governments, indigenous groups, businesses and civil society today gathered at a United Nations-backed conference in Bangkok, Thailand, which aims to find ways to stop wildlife poaching and illegal trading. At the conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), delegates will examine some 70 proposals to amend the current wildlife trade system, which has been in...
More »Forest advisory body allows mining in Jharkhand elephant reserve-Anubhuti Vishnoi
-The Indian Express The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has recommended diverting over 500 hectares of forest land for an iron ore mining project in the Saranda forest division of Jharkhand, part of the core area of the Singhbhum Elephant Reserve, India's first reserve for Elephants. The FAC is a statutory body that advises the environment ministry on diverting forest land. Its recommendations are not binding. The Singhbhum reserve, created in 2001, is spread...
More »Karnataka is now home to 6,072 Elephants -Saswati Mukherjee B
-The Times of India BANGALORE: Karnataka is now home to 6,072 Asiatic Elephants, 5,945 of which were spotted in the Mysore elephant reserve (MER) alone, according to the latest elephant census. The Karnataka Elephant Census 2012, conducted by the state forest department in May last year and carried out by the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, showed an increase in the state's elephant population since 2010 when their number stood at 5,800. The...
More »How weak checks and balances in mining are destroying forests and livelihoods in India -M Rajshekhar
-The Economic Times When asked where the coal blocks will come up, the forest officer draws a clover-shaped map. Take the right at the traffic intersection, he says, and you will enter Pathriya Dand coal block. Keep going for 11 km and the road turns to the left, which is where Gidhmudi coal block is. Come back to the main road, cross over to the other side, and you will enter...
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