by MD Madhusudan, NS Prashanth & Pavithra Sankaran (An edited version of this article appeared in Down To Earth on 24 July, 2019) The Supreme Court petition filed by hardline conservationists questioning the constitutional validity of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) is stoking fears that recognising the land and other rights of […]
Author: M D Madhusudan
The FRA and Deforestation: Myth and Reality
By Sharachchandra Lele & MD Madhusudan (An edited version of this article appeared in the Hindustan Times of 15th July 2019) Ever since the draft Forest Rights Act (FRA) was conceived back in 2004, hardline conservationists have opposed it tooth and nail. Their main claim has been that the FRA would lead, and […]
Rights of passage: highways and wildlife conservation
by Pavithra Sankaran & M. D. Madhusudan The gaur have been trying to cross the highway for a while now. They stand in an alert huddle, their dark coats gleaming in the headlights of trucks and cars passing through Bandipur Tiger Reserve. This stream of traffic between Ooty and Bangalore seems unending and the speed […]
Nobody’s heroes: our forgotten forest watchers
M D Madhusudan & Pavithra Sankaran It was an hour after dawn. Siddarama, a forest watcher, was walking to the Tiger Reserve’s headquarters from his village a good six kilometres away, when he heard the faint sound of voices. Suspicious, he approached quietly, and saw three men sitting by a stream, smoking and chatting. Two […]