-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’,...

-Hindustan Times Among the major concerns of the gram sabhas with the proposed acquisition of the forest land is that it is being done without their consent and even before the land is diverted under the provisions of the Forest Conservation act Ten gram sabhas from Chhattisgarh’s Korba district, mainly consisting of people from the Gond tribe, have raised objections to Centre’s intention to acquire 712.072 hectares (ha) of land for mining...

-Newsclick.in The move is aimed at helping corporate biggies that have recently forayed into the commercial coal mining sector. New Delhi: In yet another attempt to help corporate biggies that have recently forayed into commercial coal mining, the Narendra Modi government has tweaked an environmental law to allow extraction of combustible mineral even before obtaining final forest clearance. The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change...

-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 Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs should create a COVID-19 response cell to monitor issues and provide support, it said The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis has hit the forest dwellers in India hard: The pandemic has led to a loss of livelihood and employment, caused food insecurity and socio-economic distress for the marginalised forest-dwelling communities, according to a new report. Atrocities and injustices faced by these communities due to forest,...