Barring a few exceptions, the mandate and money meant to free the country’s finest tiger forests of human settlements is going waste in the absence of practical, transparent and sensitive groundwork. Millions are being spent, scores of people are moving out, but very little land is being freed for the forest. The Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka has been notified as a tiger reserve. While this tag will fetch extra conservation funds for the sanctuary, it threatens to displace Soliga tribals from their ancestral habitat. New generations of Soligas may not be content with their forefathers’ way of life, but this forest will lose its soul without them. And India will lose one of its best opportunities to try out a model of coexistence between wildlife and eco-sensitive people Reports The Left Front is a big advocate of the FRA, but the Act has been much abused under the Left rule in north Bengal. Forest villagers dependent on tea garden jobs are indifferent to the FRA. Families inside the Buxa tiger reserve are keen to surrender rights for Rs 10 lakh each. But away from tea gardens and outside the tiger reserve, forest communities have bigger demands than the Act allows. And a desperate forest department twists laws to retain control The Posco project in Orissa is not just about violation of people’s rights and a green disaster. It is easily the biggest loot of India’s natural wealth. It is also the most brazen example of how the country’s who’s who are colluding to mock the rule of law Home | Reports | Related Articles | Resources | Gallery | Feedback | Contact | About Of the total 60,000 claims filed under the Forest Rights Act in Assam, nearly 30,000 came from a single district. Little wonder then that the administration controls less than one-third of Sonitpur's forests. While no political party minds legalising this mass encroachment in the Bodo heartland, the fate of the wilderness hangs by a 2009 high court order The environment ministry's new draft guidelines have corrected some anomalies after Open's investigation flagged key issues plaguing the relocation of 40,000 families from core tiger forests