Judgment of the Supreme Court in the matter of In Re: Zudpi Jungle Lands. A batch of applications involved a peculiar issue concerning the situation prevailing in the six districts of eastern Vidarbha region namely Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. The issue pertains to the status of the …
FROM its earliest days, the environmental movement in the United States has been animated by competing visions. In the 19th century, it was the clashing approaches of Gifford Pinchot, the founder of the US Forest Service, and John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club. Pinchot supported "wise use" policies, …
How do you convince farmers about the benefits of sustainable agriculture? The best way to convince one farmer is to let another farmer speak to him. I organise get-togethers for the farming community and then move out of the way, allowing successful organic farmers to narrate their experiences and handle …
THE British chapter of Friends of the Earth began with a blaze of publicity: opposing the fur trade and getting pictures on the front pages of newspapers by returning thousands of "non-returnable" bottles. From these beginnings, FoE grew steadily, recruiting student radicals and campaigning on everything from dirty rivers to …
How does FoE International function? For us, democracy for us is a basic requirement for sustainable development. We also want to practise this within the group because we want to have active, aware, idealistic and motivated people. Our campaigns are based very much on links with local groups, which enables …
WHEN German local and regional environment organisations formed the Bund fur Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (German Association for Nature Conservation and the Protection of the Environment), their main objective was to strengthen their influence on the environment policy of the federal government. Today, BUND has become a major opinion leader …
AT ONE time, the Danish Society for the Conservation of Nature (Danmarks Naturfredningsforening -- DN) had more members than Denmark's political parties. Its large support base made DN the most powerful green NGO in Denmark, influencing decision-making at both the local and national levels. For example, an ambitious and costly …
THE logo of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SNF), a peregrine falcon in flight, may not be the most imaginative. But in the minds of many Swedes, the symbol of the threatened predator suggests something honest, close to nature and authentically Swedish. One out of every 40 Swedes is …
REBEL activists in tiny inflatable dinghies stopping major polluters from using the ocean as a waste dump. The image of David against Goliath. Since the early "70s, a group of people has "showed the world there is something wrong with the planet". Greenpeace began when a small group of people …
THE "do nothing" principle of natural farming has resulted in bounteous harvests for Bhaskar Save, whose 14-acre farm, Kalpavruksha, is located in Deheri village in Gujarat"s Valsad district. Three decades ago, Save abandoned chemical fertilisers, pesticides and heavy machinery. "Minimum interference with growth is called natural farming," says Save. "Trees …
FARMER-MANAGED irrigation systems control much more than water -- even conflicts and quarrels are managed with temperate rules. A consensus approach is used, without the complexities of a Western-oriented legal system. The Chherlung Thulo Kulo managing body has developed regulations to mobilise funds and resolve conflicts. Strict fines are imposed …
IN MARCH this year, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), in cooperation with the Indian government and the Confederation of Indian Industry, held a Asian regional seminar on the better use of patent information by industry. According to a paper presented at the seminar by Jean-Michel Ziliox of the European …
GAMBLING, of all our many sins, has finally gone and redeemed itself. Darts, as often a game of chance as of aim and calculated trajectories, has provided theoretical mathematicians -- who casually play ball with tesseracts and other hypothetical objects of more than three dimensions -- a new method of …
THE draft new technology policy (NTP), which the government circulated in 1993 for feedback, lacks clarity, sets some inappropriate priorities and does not adequately address how goals can be achieved, says a recent survey. Some 600 scientists and engineers responded to questionnaires sent out by the Delhi-based National Institute of …
THERE has been a reduction in the emissions of the oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, but the observed decrease in the acidic content of precipitation is less than expected. According to a recent study, the decrease hasn't come about because of the decline in the atmospheric concentration and deposition of …
RICHARD Leakey, director of the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS), resigned again on March 24. Leakey had earlier stepped down from office in January this year, responding to a campaign spearheaded by the minister for local government, William Ole Ntimama and the minister for tourism and wildlife, Noah Katana Ngala, who …
Day before the gigantic Lef-organised rally on April 5, and the only slightly less large demo by the Right with BJP to protest the Indian government's endorsement of the Dunkel draft text for GATT, the Union cabinet decided to use Doordarshan for some intensive propagandising in favour of Dunkel. Viewers …
SCIENTISTS are trying to simulate the generation of hot poisonous gases from the mouth of a volcano in order to minimise the vast destruction they cause. And some scientists posit that volcanic gases, particularly sulphur dioxide, can also help predict eruptions. The most ambitious and sophisticated model so far is …
The "vast potential" of groundwater was either over-exploited or under-utilised, said minister of state for water resources and urban development P K Thungon at a seminar held in Delhi on March 22 to discuss the need for a shift in focus from large and medium surface-water projects to small dams …
NEWBORN children whose mothers suffer from a severe form of AIDS may develop the disease quicker, a recent French study reveals. The finding by Stephane Blanche and his colleagues at the Paris-based Hospital Necker Enfants Malades, could help prevent the pre-natal transmission of the infection (The New England Journal of …
Pro-Narmada dam activists in Gujarat have succeeded in forcing a fact finding team appointed by Union ministry of environment and forest (MEF) to put off its visit to the dam site. The NBA felt that what would be just another project review was not required. The team was to find …
