Mahouts are a specialized class of people with a proud professional background. However, the profession is losing its appeal owing to the dwindling importance of captive elephants. We have assessed their incomes, number elephants, background and human casualties by captive elephants through extensive surveys in three captive elephant management systems - private, Hindu temple and forest department prevalent in Tamil Nadu.

Despite the legal provisions for the functioning of expert bodies like the National Board of Wildlife and the Forest Advisory Committee, the forest bureaucracy disdains the experts and often overrides scientific evaluations. The training course of the India Forest Service too lacks a social science component that can help new foresters understand the social ramifications of forest-related issues. It is time to create space for scientists and conservationists to liaise with the forest departments in the country.

Gadchiroli in Maharashtra may have acquired the model district status for clearing a record number of community forest rights (CFR) claims, but its 298 villages are angry with the forest department for stripping them of the basic right to manage forest produce.

Taungyas have lived in Uttar Pradesh for decades but law does not recognise them. They have hope from the Forest rights Act 2006 in getting legal identity, as it recognises the traditional rights of scheduled tribes and other forest-dwellers on forest land and resources.

An official committee’s recipe for forest management will, if implemented, have a disastrous impact. (Editorial)

A National seminar on the FRA was organised by the Council for Social Development on 26–27 April, 2010. Most of the participants reported that all of the key features of this legislation have been undermined by a combination of apathy and sabotage during the process of implementation.

A special report by Down To Earth on Koyna sanctuary situated in Satara district, Maharashtra, where the windmills and resorts replace wildlife with government's help.

Chunks of Intanki National Park in Nagaland are sold for Rs 2,500 a hectare as the forest department looks on. Read this Down To Earth Report on  encroachers’ settlements in this national park.

There was a wide variability in the levels of awareness about eco-tourism among the tourists, the local villagers and the forest officials. Of the two components, viz. environmental and social welfare, the latter was not understood by many.