The Orissa government’s agreement with Vedanta Alumina to allow mining of bauxite deposits in the Niyamgiri hills, the home of the Dongaria Kondha tribe, is an example of how corporate interests backed by state support are trampling on tribal livelihoods and threatening an ecologically rich and important region.

The study was undertaken to identify pertinent and emerging issues that have implications for biodiversity conservation and livelihoods and the inter-relationship between them. A detailed review of the current national and state policies was undertaken along with the strategies being implemented by the government and various multi-lateral and bi-lateral agencies and other organizations, focused especially in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa as provided in the scope of the study.

The Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) supported a scoping study to understand the range of post CFR issues in the central Indian landscape,  especially in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. It also proactively sought to draw experiences from states such as Maharashtra and Kerala where established mechanisms related to post CFR issues have been implemented through various partnerships.

The  study is focused on RS and GIS based assessment of forest encroachment in Shimoga district of Karnataka for the years 1990, 2000 and 2010 using Landsat TM/MSS/ETM+ for 1990 and 2000, mid south western part of malnad region of Karnataka state, geographically lies between 13°27' and 14°39' N latitudes and 74°38' and 76°4'E longitudes.

In contrast to the more spectacular ‘land grabs’ for tourism development, the smaller-scale, progressive encroachment by tourist establishments into protected environments has attracted little attention in the literature. This article seeks to highlight the issue by a case study of the Thai authorities’ crackdown on resorts and second homes encroaching upon protected forests in a national park area in Thailand.

The Joint Forest Management circular that took the National Forest Policy (1988) as its basis for people’s involvement in the development and protection of forests, issued more than 18 years ago, has failed in its attempt to utilise forest wealth to improve local livelihoods. The structure of the JFM is skewed towards the forest department and needs to be balanced with equal opportunities and rights to the participating communities.

Author pesents the critical issues of Joint Forest Management in this article.

The Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) for Timor-Leste identifies environmental priorities through a systematic review of environmental issues in natural resources management and environmental health in the context of the country's economic development and environmental institutions. Lack of data has been the main limitation in presenting a more rigorous analysis. Nevertheless, the report builds on the best available secondary data, presents new data on the country's wealth composition, and derives new results on the costs of water and air pollution.

The climate change (CC) caused by increase in atmospheric concentration of CO2 and other Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), can be addressed through adaptation and mitigation strategies. Adaptation consists of strategies which minimize vulnerability to CC. The objective is to increase resilience of the ecosystems and communities through adoption of specific sustainable land management (SLM) techniques that have adaptive benefits. On the other hand, the goal of mitigation strategies is to enhance soil and vegetation (land) sinks for absorbing atmospheric CO2 and to minimize net emissions.

The tsunami that originated from the Indian Ocean in 2004 wreaked massive destruction, killing more than 130,000 people and displacing half a million individuals in Aceh, Indonesia. More than 800 kilometers of coastline was affected, and close to 53,795 land parcels were destroyed. The land administration system sustained significant damage because documentation of land ownership was washed away along with people's houses and other possessions in the affected communities. Physical boundary markers, including trees and fences, also disappeared.

This publication is the result of an initiative to promote an exchange between Brazil and African countries on lessons learned about the role of community forestry as a strategic option to achieve the goals of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). The initiative was supported by the World Bank with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and coordinated by the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS) with support from the National Forestry Agency International (ONFI).

There is global interest in promoting mitigation and adaptation in agriculture, forest, and other land-use (AFOLU) sectors to address the twin goals of climate change and sustainable development. This guideline deals with how to enhance carbon stocks in general in all land-based projects and its specific relationship with agriculture productivity. It outlines specific steps and procedures that need to be followed by project proponents and managers of land-based projects to enhance carbon stocks synergistically with increasing crop productivity.

Tanzania's land, local government and forest laws mean that rural communities have well defined rights to own, manage and benefit from forest and woodland resources within their local areas through the establishment of village forests. This approach, known by practitioners as Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) results in the legal establishment of village land forest reserves, community forest reserves or private forests. By 2008, 1,460 villages on mainland Tanzania1 were involved in establishing or managing village forests covering a total of over 2.345 million hectares.