-Down to Earth Central environment ministry reports diversion of 11,467 hectares Forest Land in 2019 (up to first week of November) The diversion of Forest Land for other purposes continued throughout India. A total 11,467.83 hectares (114.68 square kilometre) Forest Lands were diverted in 22 states between January 1 and November 6, 2019, the Union government admitted. This diversion was for 932 non-forestry projects under the Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA), 1980, according to...

-The Wire Science NASA released a satellite image last year showing that India, with China, is “greening the world”. The greening has been thanks to the colonial ideologies that have bequeathed the legacy of greening India, which has been upheld by the subsequent governments. The British drafted the first National Forest Policy for India to convert its forests into timber production stands. Decades later, the Indian government safeguarded these stands with...

-Vikalp.ind.in During the late 1950s when villages near the Kyasanur Forest in Karnataka started to become crowded, farmers began to clear the forest to find new land for agriculture as well as for construction of houses and roads. This brought them to close contact with the primates in the forest. When Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) outbreak took place among monkeys, the virus did not take much time to jump species and...

-The Hindu The projects, including mining and a highway, were brought up during virtual conferences; but site inspections are ‘a crucial component’ of project evaluation, say scientists Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh has a decidedly other-worldly feel. “Yeh kaunsi duniya hai,” my colleague exclaimed as we climbed the towering mountains — home to the endemic goat-antelope Mishmi takin, the ‘bright-eyed’ butterfly Callerebia dibangensis, and the Mishmi wren-babbler. I had read about the...

-Livemint.com The line, connecting Hubballi and Ankola, poses a risk to 2,500 endemic species. On March 20, the controversial Hubballi-Ankola railway line project was cleared at the Karnataka State Wildlife Board meeting in Bengaluru amid protests from members. The proposed 164.44-km line will pass through the Western Ghats, a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Heritage Site, and see felling of 2.2 lakh trees, a move that has been opposed...