Videh Upadhyay urges the SC to take a comprehensive approach, protecting forests and those whose livelihood and culture are tied to nature.

Rasika Dhavse reports on the transition from conventional conservation practices to community based ones.

Vibhuti Patel reviews Manorama Savur's And the Bamboo Flowers in the Indian Forests: What did the Pulp and the Paper Industry Do?, Vol. I & II.

Smriti Van's proximity to bustling urban settlements may have made its land captive to a Rs.370 million flyover project, says Kanchi Kohli.

Towering pylons and high tension wires seem to discourage any idea of resistance to environmental destruction in Tehri Garhwal, but the villagers persist. Bharat Dogra reports.

Surendranath C reports on a power project proposal that threatens to put the Kerala biodiversity hotspot at risk.

Until women are provided adequate access to information, both about their rights and available budgetary resources, Joint Forest Management (JFM) programmes will only lead to more disempowerment for them, says Madhu Sarin.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As Uttarakhand reels in the aftermath of devastating floods, Ammu Joseph underlines the need for greater awareness of the gender dimensions of such calamities and recognition of the special and diverse needs of women and other disadvantaged sections of society.

The pressure of ill-informed popular sentiment coupled with a retributive judicial system may lead to an award of capital punishment for rapists, as it has in the Delhi 2012 case, but that does very little to address the much larger problem of VAW in all its dimensions. Ammu Joseph explains.

The pressure of ill-informed popular sentiment coupled with a retributive judicial system may lead to an award of capital punishment for rapists, as it has in the Delhi 2012 case, but that does very little to address the much larger problem of VAW in all its dimensions. Ammu Joseph explains.

On World Radio Day, Ammu Joseph looks at the representation of women in Indian radio and wonders if the medium can play a more significant role in ensuring empowerment and equal participation.

Limited, quick-fix solutions that do not address the underlying causes of the deep-rooted problem of rape have clearly not worked in the country, writes Ammu Joseph in the first of a two-part article examining the many layers of the issue.