A war has broken out in some parts of east-central India, especially some regions of the Dandakaranya Forests that span across the states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh. Reportedly, there are thousands of Maoist guerrillas armed with sophisticated weapons confronting a vast array of paramilitary forces assembled by the government of India. Caught in the crossfire are millions of poor, marginalised and historically isolated adivasis. Their habitat, in which...

NEW DELHI: The environment ministry made a specious argument before the Cuttack bench of Orissa High Court, defending its decision to clearPosco without verifying if the Forest Rights Act had been violated or not in diverting forest land to the Rs 54,000 crore integrated steel plant. It said that the law – also UPA's flagship pro-tribal scheme -- did not provide any mechanism to verify its implementation in a case,...

QUEENSLAND (AUSTRALIA): If you never quite believed government data showing an increase in the country's forest cover, here's research to back your scepticism. While the government claims nearly 5% increase in forest cover from 1997 to 2007, three scientists, two from India and one from Australia, have shown decline in India's natural forest cover by 1.5%-2.7% per year. The government claim is presented in the Forest Survey of India's biennial Status...

Over the last one year, villagers of Ghati in Gadchiroli have kept timber out of the forest department’s reach, saying it belongs to them under the provisions of the FRA, short for Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act. The FRA recognises their rights only on non-timber minor forest produce but the villagers have interpreted it to include all trees. They say minor forest produces like mahua,...

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has decided to take action against Chirayu Medical College and Hospital, a private medical college in Madhya Pradesh set up inside the catchment area of the historic Upper Lake of Bhopal. In a letter to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan last month, a copy of which is withThe Hindu, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh informed Mr. Chauhan that since the project had violated...