-Hindustan Times The “Guidelines on Ecotourism in Forest and Wildlife Areas, 2021”, aimed at promoting better understanding of nature and Wildlife Conservation while generating income and opportunities for local communities New Delhi: The Union environment ministry is set to issue, in around a month's time, guidelines that will open up wildlife rich forest areas across the country to eco-tourism, a move that officials say targets positioning India as a global destination for...

-The Hindu Wildlife Board denotifies Galathea bay sanctuary to build port, trade zone. In what appears to a re-run of recent developments in Little Andaman Island (A bullet through an island’s heart, The Hindu, February 1), more than 150 sq. km. of land is being made available for Phase I of a NITI Aayog-piloted ‘holistic’ and ‘sustainable’ vision for Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost in the Andaman and Nicobar group. This amounts...

-The Hindu The proposed construction of a mega financial-tourist complex on Little Andaman Island will place at risk a fragile ecosystem and result in habitat loss of the vulnerable Onge tribe and rare wildlife A plan for the sustainable and holistic development of the 680 sq km, fragile Little Andaman Island in the Andaman and Nicobar group has raised the alarm among conservationists. The ‘Sustainable Development of Little Andaman Island - Vision Document’,...

-TheWire.in The most blatant example of ecological illiteracy in the name of ‘self-reliance’ is that of coal mining – a sector which is being opened up in parts of central India which were hitherto off-limits. For a government that is tom-tomming its environmental record across the globe, it is interesting that nature, ecology and environment are almost totally absent from the Indian government’s COVID-19 recovery or stimulus package labelled ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant...

-The Indian Express Hardline conservationists fail to see possibilities of people-wildlife coexistence The COVID-19 pandemic has driven migrant workers back to their villages, including many situated inside or on the fringes of forested areas, including sanctuaries and national parks. Even as they seek to remake livelihoods there, a new battle has emerged between the forest department (FD) and these local communities. It pertains to the declaration of a Critical Wildlife Habitat (CWH),...