-The Hindu MoEF issues fresh guidelines to accelerate environmental appraisal of projects The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) wants to expedite the environment appraisal of industrial projects. These appraisals, as per norms, are conducted by independent panels of experts that have representatives from the government as well as from outside, trained in matters of ecology, wildlife and habitat preservation. The Expert Appraisal Committees (EACs) opine on whether a proposed project beyond a...

-Newsclick.in The state government is said to be formalising plans to give 40% of "degraded Forest land" to private firms, allege activists. New Delhi: Amidst the ongoing battle by tribal communities in India to formalise their land claims, the Madhya Pradesh government has reportedly proposed the privatisation of 40% of “degraded Forest land” to private firms. The government claims that this land is wasteland and has degraded for multiple reasons, and that private...

-The Hindu NGOs fighting for tribal rights claim review was done cursorily and fear that more applications may be rejected MYSURU: Nearly 1,200 tribals in Hunsur taluk of Mysuru district stare at an uncertain future, as their review petition for recognition of their claims over Forest land under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, was rejected by the local authorities. NGOs fighting for tribal rights fear...

-Down to Earth The largest losses, mostly in Forests, occurred in the Sundaland, Indo-Burma and Mesoamerica hotspots, all in developing countries Top biodiversity hotspots of the world lost 148 million hectares (mha) of land to agriculture and urbanisation between 1992 and 2015, a global analysis released October 30, 2020, by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said. Most of the land lost — nearly 40 per cent, or 54 mha — was...

-Down to Earth The proposal seeks to relocate 2,500 families of the community from the Gir protected area within 10 years Maldharis, a traditional pastoral people found in and around the Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, might end up being uprooted from their homes, if the Project Lion proposal takes shape, a Down To Earth (DTE) investigation has shown. The proposal, created by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Gujarat...