-The Hindu Forest communities are being seen as the primary drivers of denudation during lockdown, while we continue to ignore the impacts of fast-tracked environmental clearances for dams and mines A photograph of a young man, presumably tribal, or a returning migrant, or both, with the carcasses of two hares slung over his shoulder, was recently emblazoned on the cover of a report by a reputed wildlife NGO. The report — based...

-Down to Earth The food most associated with biodiversity loss also tends to also be connected to unhealthy diets across the globe As the global population has doubled to 7.8 billion in about 50 years, industrial agriculture has increased the output from fields and farms to feed humanity. One of the negative outcomes of this transformation has been the extreme simplification of ecological systems, with complex multi-functional landscapes converted to vast swaths...

-Down to Earth Inspector General of Forests AK Mohanty sent letter to all states, alleging discrepancies About 70 per cent data on compensatory afForestation was “incorrect or incomplete”, according to a letter Inspector General of Forest, AK Mohanty. The letter, dated August 10, 2020, was sent to principal secretaries for Forests of all states and Union territories. The data in question was for work done under the Compensatory AfForestation Fund Act, 2016 and...

-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),...

-TheWire.in As one village prepares to take the government to court, another claims panchayat land reserved for scheduled castes was auctioned by proxy to ‘upper caste’ families. Chandigarh: One-and-a-half months ago, Amrik Kaur, sarpanch of village Sekhowal in Ludhiana district, was asked to attend a meeting at the Ludhiana deputy commissioner’s office. There, she was asked to give her consent for the transfer of a portion of the village common (shamlat) land...