The Tsunami of 26 December did not invade several coastlines to the degree it did many others because of mangroves and coral reefs. Mangroves offer double protection, but India has seen their rampant cutting down in favour of tourism and shrimp farming, says Devinder Sharma.

For eight years, the Supreme Court has been taking a proactive role in forest conservation. But the court's rulings have been most controversial in the north eastern states, where its actions have been misread as reinforcing centralised power over local communities, say Ritwick Dutta and Kanchi Kohli.

In Kerala's Marayoor forest, the sandalwood tree faces an uphill battle against destruction. With politicians implicated in illegal cutting, and forest officals' hands tied by inadequate legislation, the last remaining tract of the fragrant tree in the state faces elimination. Deepa A reports.

Concerned at the alarming decline in the forest cover of the country, the Supreme Court has sought to regulate the operations of wood-based units. But success has been limited; not all the illegal operations have been shuttered, and many others face the loss of their businesses from the Court's blanket orders. Kanchi Kohli reports.

The widening rift in the conservationist movement has allowed the bigger and more powerful forest encroachers to hide behind the public controversy over tribal lands and sharing of forest resources. While activists for and against 'tribals in forests' argue and bicker, the rich squat pretty on encroached forest lands, says Keya Acharya.

The empowered committee of the Supreme Court and the Central Ministry of Environment and Forests are engaged in a dispute to define the expertise needed to oversee conversion of forest land to non-forest use. Kanchi Kohli notes that the MoEF's recent record of clearing questionable projects does not inspire confidence in its stance.

Buried within the new law's sweeping recognition of the rights of forest dwellers is a thicket of legislation that effectively makes these gains difficult to obtain, in practice. What the law has achieved is to move the struggle for these rights to a higher political plane, notes Aparna Pallavi.

The Kerala government is proposing to construct a new dam only a few kilometres from the site of one of India's great environment struggles in the Silent Valley National Park. But cooked data and ignored court orders have once again invited the wrath of conservationists. M Suchitra reports.

What is the right compensation for forest lands that are converted to non-forest use? How can this be calculated? Increasingly, one finds that project proponents are mounting a range of arguments to plead for the reduction of, or outright exemption from bearing such costs. Kanchi Kohli reports.

For some time now, the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court has been reviewing the decisons of the Forest Advisory Committee, which grants permission for converting forest land for non-forest use. But this oversight may be coming to an end. Kanchi Kohli reports.

A new Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha, ostensibly to re-green India, is actually a blow to the environment. Rather than conserve forests, it advocates market mechanisms to make money off afforestation in degraded lands. Kanchi Kohli writes.

A large number of Ban Gujjar tribal families remaining within the Rajaji National Park are facing constant harassment from the state forest department. Their rehabilitation is mired in red tape. Aparna Pallavi reports.

Defining a clear land-use policy, integrating indigenous people along with their skills, encouraging mutual exchange between tribals and the outside world can help make the process of change easier for the indigenous folk. Malini Shankar digs deeper.

A Jindal group-Government of Tamilnadu firm attempted to get forest clearance for mining in the Eastern Ghats forests of TN. Both the Ministry of Environment and a Supreme Court monitoring committee rejected clearance. Kanchi Kohli has more.

How can forests be protected and sustained during these times of changing climates and the related uncertainties? This question was explored at a recent conference. Darryl D'Monte reports.

Tribal women in Uttarakhand are standing up for their community rights, and resisting the dispossession of their lands by a nexus between powerful landlords and the government machinery. Puja Awasthi reports.

Chandi Prasad Bhatt said that for him every river was a Ganga, a source of life and renewal, abused or ill-treated at one's peril. His work has been an education for others, writes Ramachandra Guha.

The MoEF's decision to have one committee examine the recommendations of another with respect to the protection of the eco-sensitive Western Ghats has resulted in needless contradiction and defeat of the core environmental objective. Shripad Dharmadhikary analyses the reports.

The Cabinet Commitee on Investment, set up with the express aim of expediting projects considered critical to economic growth, has passed several orders overturning regulatory mandates instituted earlier. Kanchi Kohli on where that leaves the environmental laws of the land.

The MoEF’s recent move introducing e-filing of applications for approval of forest land diversion may facilitate procedural agility and efficiency, but precludes the interpretation of environmental and human complexities critical to a fair process. Kanchi Kohli elaborates. 

It has not been easy to keep track of the frequent announcements of modifications in environmental law and regulation since the new government assumed power at the Centre. Kanchi Kohli presents a round-up of these proposed and implemented amendments.

The 2013 rejection of the bauxite mining plan in Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills by the local tribal gram sabhas is hailed as the first successful environmental referendum in the country. Meenal Tatpati and Rashi Misra visit the region to find out what led the people to oppose the proposed ‘development’.

A letter from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs urges states to recognise the habitat rights of vulnerable tribal groups under the FRA. Meenal Tatpati, Rashi Misra and Subrat Kumar Nayak analyse the Dongria Kondh experience to underline what’s necessary to do so effectively.

The central government is pushing state governments to give forest rights to tribals by the end of this year. Kanchi Kohli cautions that the intent behind settling these rights claims under the Forest Rights Act in such haste is not what it appears to be.

Plantations or reforestation cannot replace natural forests, which provides an essential ecosystem. Unless policy makers realise this, our natural forests will continue to be used for various purposes shrinking the forest cover further, says Meenal Tatpati.

The green bench of the Supreme Court transferred several forest cases to different institutions for decision making, in order to expedite the disposal of these long pending cases. Kanchi Kohli explains how this could influence forest governance in India.

Media reports that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given clearance to Railways to approach the state government regarding the Hubli-Ankola rail link, which will pass through the dense Western Ghats in Karnataka. Kanchi Kohli writes on how the orders of NGT do not necessarily imply a complete go ahead for the railway line as the seems to suggest.

The proposed new Indian Media Council must live up to the best traditions of the press council concept, which is fundamentally based on cooperation between the media and the public to protect key human rights. Many good models for this are available around the world. Ammu Joseph begins a new column.

The challenge before the media is to move beyond clubbing what happens to women with routine crime briefs, on the one hand, and sensational stories, on the other, to cover "the greatest human rights scandal of our times". Ammu Joseph looks at media coverage of violence against women.

Can there possibly be a gender angle to the tsunami story? Certainly, says Ammu Joseph, pointing out that women from economically and socially deprived communities usually bear the brunt of disasters, thanks to the gender dimension of social inequality and inequity.

Access to and control over media are critical for the survival and sustenance of marginalised rural communities. Yet, this is elusive because media policy-makers rarely concern themselves with this, and focus instead on private and corporate media's expectations, notes Ammu Joseph.

The Patents Amendment Bill involved an issue of great concern to citizens. But did the Indian media provide a public forum for debate on the issue and enable individuals and institutions to contribute their thinking? Ammu Joseph doesn't think the media lived up to its responsibilities.

A government panel supports freeing Doordarshan and AIR from having to run socially relevant programming. But what else is public broadcasting for, asks Ammu Joseph, pointing out that all over the world there is growing awareness of the need to keep media honest in serving the public interest.

The media today -- print and television -- reflect little active awareness of the fact that they have an important role to play in enabling children to learn about the highly complex world they live in. Children's voices are missing even in reports and articles on matters directly related and relevant to them, says Ammu Joseph.

A flurry of activities of senior citizen associations and related news coverage usually herald the International (and National) Day of Older Persons, annually observed on 1 October since 1990. However, it will take much more to focus serious attention on the world's fastest growing population group, says Ammu Joseph.

One aspect of the recent south Asian earthquake disaster that has received little media attention so far is its effect on livelihoods. But employment and livelihoods are not the stuff of which headlines are made – unless, of course, it is in the context of the corporate world, or when it cannot be ignored such as a nation-wide strike, says Ammu Joseph.

About 320 million Indians go to bed without food every night, and recent data suggests this already alarming situation is getting worse. Despite the magnitude and intensity of this problem, it remains on the margins of policy planning, public action, intellectual discourse, and media coverage, writes Ammu Joseph.

A newly released report reveals that dialogue with and within the media is needed, not just to get gendered issues or events covered but, more importantly, to promote "a gender vision." Ammu Joseph notes that if accuracy and balance are the hallmarks of good journalism, better representation of women is integral to professionalism in the media.

Few of the reports that appeared in the press in the two-week survey period told readers anything they did not already know. Ammu Joseph surveys media reports of child labour as the Centre's widened ban on employing children in hazardous occupations comes into effect.

Only a systematic review of past policies and efforts can shed light on why child labour continues unabated in the country. Without such analysis, it will be impossible to call the official bluff, and we will continue to witness grandstanding that relies on the short attention span of the media and the public, writes Ammu Joseph.

Newspapers' coverage of the Union budget left little doubt where their class interests lie. The majority of those covering the budget had no clue what it all means for the aam aadmi, or even who this mythical creature might be. Naturally, their hapless readers too were left similarly wondering, writes Ammu Joseph.

There is much wrong with the draft broadcast regulation legislation and the good news is that it is unlikely to be introduced in Parliament during the ongoing monsoon session. The bad news is that in the renewed tug-of-war between the government and the broadcast industry, the public is in danger of being left out once more, writes Ammu Joseph.

The draft Broadcast Bill does not reflect a nuanced understanding of the complex and contentious issues relating to media ownership. At the same time the objections raised by India's media industry do not acknowledge the fact that media regulation in most 'mature democracies' includes restrictions on media ownership, writes Ammu Joseph.

Must government regulate TV content? A Delhi-based TV channel's fraudulent sting operation has brought the recklessness of television journalism to the fore again. The government seems open to some self-regulation even as its own draft legislation sits on the back burner. But time is clearly running out for the broadcast industry, writes Ammu Joseph.

Why are select medical cases hogging media attention? It is a matter of concern that health coverage is all too often susceptible to manipulation that makes a mockery of the ethics of both the media and the medical profession, says Ammu Joseph.

What does it take to make news in these times of 24x7 media? If it's the Northeast, generally, it takes a major eruption of violence or a large-scale disaster. Ammu Joseph reflects on the silence in the media about recent events and issues in Manipur.

Ammu Joseph

For some time there has been an impasse between media and the government over the media regulation and the Broadcast Bill, with citizens left on the sidelines. A set of documents is being released into the public domain to stimulate public debate. Ammu Joseph has more.

The world’s largest and longest-running longitudinal research and action initiative on gender in the news media released in New York on 2 March, where the 54th session of United Nations Commission on the Status of Women is currently on. Ammu Joseph summarises the findings.

In mid-June, the Election Commmission of India directed Chief Electoral Officers of all states and Union Territories to enforce the law against "paid news" during elections. The institutionalised racket has been running into hundreds of crores of rupees. Ammu Joseph brings you up to speed.