-The Hindu MADPAL (SOUTH CHHATTISGARH): The Chhattisgarh police have killed two activists of the Salwa Judum, a government-backed militia to take on Naxalites, which the Supreme Court declared illegal and unconstitutional. A couple of eyewitnesses told The Hindu that the villagers, of the Muria Gond tribe, were "killed in cold blood by the police." A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident, which has angered the residents of several villages in Bijapur...

-The Hindu Mumbai: Sloppy implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) has resulted in large tracts of forests being cut down and claimed as cultivated land in Maharashtra, according to a study. Data shows that in Jalgaon district alone, more than 79 per cent claims over cultivated forest land were apparently on ineligible lands and about 25 per cent had forest cover. In Thane, adjacent to Mumbai with a high land...

-The Times of India JORHAT: Kaziranga National Park authorities on Sunday launched a rhino census for a headcount. The two-day exercise will be conducted in all the five ranges of the park - Kohora, Bagori, Burapahar, Agoratoli and Biswanathghat. More than 250 personnel from the state forest department, NGOs and media groups have been engaged in the operation. Park director Sanjiv Kumar Bora said the census operation is a scheduled one. "The headcount...

-The Times of India COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu government's move to declare Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve drew strong protests from tribal groups and human rights activists, who said the administration has failed to address survival and livelihood issues of over 10,000 traditional forest dwellers in the former Veerappan lair. They said the notification was illegal as it was not issued in conformity with the Forest Rights Act and...

Groups from across India gathered in Delhi recently to assess the Forest Rights Act’s journey since 2006. The law is often dubbed as ‘landmark’ because it ended the age-old illegality surrounding communities living in Forest areas by entitling them to individual and community land title. It also went beyond the colonial paradigms of the forest bureaucracy to recognise community efforts at protecting and preserving forests. Numerous groups and individuals working...