-Down to Earth Jammu and Kashmir has lost very Dense forests, while the North East is top in terms of total forest area loss There has been an increase in forest loss in India’s mountainous states along its Himalayan frontier, which are already in the throes of climate change, according to the latest report by the Forest Survey of India (FSI). India’s State of Forest Report is a biennial publication. The report for...

-Newsclick.in The move, paving the way for rampant hydrocarbon exploitation in and around some of the densest forests, will potentially benefit corporate bigwigs in the oil and natural gas sector. New Delhi: A wildlife conservation body under the Narendra Modi government has exempted oil and natural gas extraction from the definition of ‘mining’ activity, paving the way for rampant hydrocarbon exploitation in and around some of the densest forests of India which...

-Down to Earth The time to put off the inevitable question about human relationship to nature is long past. Our assumption that we can control and modify nature without repercussions is a fallacy Lofty mountains that touch the azure skies, gentle hills clothed in dense tropical forests and evergreen valleys — the Western Ghats nurture a variety of ecosystems not found in any other part of the world. Spread over 164,280 square kilometres,...

-Down to Earth The region, with eight per cent of India’s total geographical area, has 25 per cent of India’s forest cover India’s northeastern region — comprising Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura — is a unique biodiversity hotspot. The region, however, faces many environmental problems. Successive Indian forest surveys in 2015, 2017 and 2019 reported net deforestation of 628, 630 and 765 square kilometres in the region respectively. This...

-The Hindu Projects in critical forest habitats are being considered or have been given clearance by the Environment Ministry Few countries are witnessing such severe direct and indirect devastation on account of the COVID-19 pandemic as India. Yet, there is little attention on the roots of our vulnerability. Our challenge is hardly limited to escaping a virus with lockdowns and masks in the short term, and vaccination in the long term. It would...