Recently, The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Completed 10 years of its existence. As a specialist environmental court, it holds a critical place in environmental protection actions in India. It has in the past decade given some important directives, passed environmentally sound judgments. But in recent years, its working has been questioned on many counts. In this article, we will analyze the working of NGT in detail.
A Report on Tiger census ahead of International Tiger Day on July 29 was released by the Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar and as per the report the country “has 70 percent of world’s tiger population”. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the tiger population across the world dropped sharply and it is for the first time in conservation history, their numbers are on the rise.
The increased number of big cats in India reflects equilibrium in nature as Tiger is an incredible part of it. The awe-inspiring tiger can be seen as one of the most iconic animals on Earth. Let’s look at a detailed analysis of Tiger conservation efforts of the world in general and India in particular in this context.
Cyclone Amphan caused large scale damages to the state of West Bengal. One of the major loss incurred by the state was the damages to the Sundarban forests. The damage to Sundarbans is not merely an ecological and economic loss. These forests play a key role in protecting the region from the impacts of frequent cyclones. Also, a PIL has challenged the diversion of reserve mangrove forests in Maharashtra for construction activities. In this light, the importance of mangroves in India is to be examined.
The Australian bushfire season has once again put forest fires at the centre of debate as a serious disaster. According to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, exposure to smoke from landscape fires (including forest fires) is estimated to cause 260,000 to 600,000 premature deaths annually. In India too, forest fires occur almost every year though of varying intensities. It is important to understand the phenomenon of forest fires to tackle it effectively.
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The on-going Australia bushfires have already destroyed millions of acres of land, making it worse than that of the last year’s Amazon rainforest fire. The blaze due to these fires have turned the skies orange and made breathing air in Sydney equivalent to smoking 19 cigarettes. It is hard to even fathom the impact on the land and biodiversity. An estimated 1 billion animals have died and the scientists fear long-term damage to many sensitive ecosystems. This is one of the many symptoms of global warming and the blaze may even contribute to it. This disaster is a warning to the world that the extreme fire events like this one will only grow more likely to occur.
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India’s forest cover has increased by 3,976 km2 since 2017. For the second successive time since 2007, the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) has shown an increase in the forest cover. Given the pressure on the forestland and the natural resources, these figures may give a positive outlook but it does not tell how India continues to lose some of its natural forests since this report is including plantations and invasive species under the forest cover.
Forest fire as a disaster is gaining prominence in recent years. Many international forums like G7 are undertaking several measures …
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has released the first draft of the comprehensive amendments to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (IFA). However, the amendments have been criticized as an attempt by the central government to grab natural resources owned by tribals for generations.
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The Parliamentary panel on environment and forests has raised serious concerns regarding the Draft National Forest Policy for its excessive focus on commercialisation of forest and serving industry interests. Once finalized, this document will replace the current National Forest Policy, 1988.
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